High-Volume Wurtzite MnSe in MnSe/CdSe Superlattices: Structure, Magnetism and Optical Response

Abstract

Polymorphism in Mn-based chalcogenides offers access to magnetic semiconductors with distinct crystal symmetries, polar structures, and different magnetic orders. In particular, wurtzite MnSe exhibits an appealing interplay of electric polarization and several competing magnetic phases including altermagnetic order. However, stabilizing metastable polymorphs, such as wurtzite MnSe, in experimentally useful volumes remains challenging. Here, we show that a nanoscale-period MnSe/CdSe superlattice stabilizes wurtzite MnSe over micrometer-scale total thickness while suppressing the formation of the thermodynamically favored rock-salt phase. The increased magnetic volume enables bulk-sensitive characterization of this polar polymorph. The room-temperature lattice parameters of wurtzite MnSe are studied by independent experimental techniques and determined to be $a=(4.18\pm 0.03)\mathring{A}$ and $c=(6.78\pm 0.03)\mathring{A}$. SQUID magnetometry reveals antiferromagnetic ordering with $T_N=62\text{K}$, which is accompanied by an anomaly of the MnSe lattice parameter, as oberved by temperature-dependent X-ray diffraction. Optical measurements reveal excitonic transitions pointing to the band gap at around 3.4 eV. These results highlight the utility and importance of heterostructure engineering for detailed studies of metastable phases of magnetic semiconductors, in particular wurtzite MnSe.