Half metallic digital ferromagnetic heterostructure composed of a $\delta$-doped layer of Mn in Si

Abstract

We propose and investigate the properties of a digital ferromagnetic heterostructure (DFH) consisting of a $\delta$-doped layer of Mn in Si, using \textit{ab initio} electronic-structure methods. We find that (i) ferromagnetic order of the Mn layer is energetically favorable relative to antiferromagnetic, and (ii) the heterostructure is a two-dimensional half metallic system. The metallic behavior is contributed by three majority-spin bands originating from hybridized Mn-$d$ and nearest-neighbor Si-$p$ states, and the corresponding carriers are responsible for the ferromagnetic order in the Mn layer. The minority-spin channel has a calculated semiconducting gap of 0.25 eV. Analysis of the total and partial densities of states, band structure, Fermi surfaces and associated charge density reveals the marked two-dimensional nature of the half metallicity. The band lineup is found to be favorable for retaining the half metal character to near the Curie temperature ($T_C$). Being Si based and possibly having a high $T_C$ as suggested by an experiment on dilutely doped Mn in Si, the heterostructure may be of special interest for integration into mature Si technologies for spintronic applications.

4 pages, 4 figures, Revised version, to appear in Phys. Rev. Lett

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• Half-metallic ferromagnetism and structural stability of zincblende phases of the transition-metal chalcogenides
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• Stable half-metallic ferromagnetism in nonstoichiometric cubic binary chromium chalcogenides
• Absence of halfmetallicity in defect-free Cr, Mn-delta-doped Digital Magnetic Heterostructures
• Adsorption and dissociation of iron phthalocyanine on H/Si(111): Impact of van-der-Waals interactions and perspectives for subsurface doping
• Atomic-scale detection of magnetic impurity interactions in bulk semiconductors
• Electronic structure of boron and aluminum $\delta$-doped layers in silicon
• Transmission through multiple Mott insulator - semiconductor wells