A single layer of Mn in a GaAs quantum well: a ferromagnet with quantum fluctuations

Abstract

Some of the highest transition temperatures achieved for Mn-doped GaAs have been in delta-doped heterostructures with well-separated planes of Mn. But in the absence of magnetic anisotropy, the Mermin-Wagner theorem implies that a single plane of magnetic ions cannot be ferromagnetic. Using a Heisenberg model, we show that the same mechanism that produces magnetic frustration and suppresses the transition temperature in bulk Mn-doped GaAs, due to the difference between the light and heavy band masses, can stabilize ferromagnetic order for a single layer of Mn in a GaAs quantum well. This comes at the price of quantum fluctuations that suppress the ordered moment from that of a fully saturated ferromagnet. By comparing the predictions of Heisenberg and Kohn-Luttinger models, we conclude that the Heisenberg description of a Mn-doped GaAs quantum well breaks down when the Mn concentration becomes large, but works quite well in the weak-coupling limit of small Mn concentrations. This comparison allows us to estimate the size of the quantum fluctuations in the quantum well.

arXiv comment7 pages, 3 figures: to appear in PRB

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Cited by in corpus (5)

• Semiconductor Spintronics
• Noise studies of magnetization dynamics in dilute magnetic semiconductor heterostructures
• RKKY interaction induced by two-dimensional hole gases
• Nature of the Perpendicular-to-Parallel Spin Reorientation in a Mn-doped GaAs Quantum Well: Canting or Phase Separation?
• Pecularities of Hall effect in GaAs/δ<Mn>/GaAs/In\timesGa1-\timesAs/GaAs (\times {\approx} 0.2) heterostructures with high Mn content