ISSN 0021-3640, JETP Letters, 2006, Vol. 84, No. 9, pp. 502504. Pleiades Publishing, Inc., 2006.

. Original Russian Text A.S. Borukhovich, N.I. Ignateva, A.I. Galyas, S.S. Dorofechik, K.I. Yanushkevich, 2006, published in Pisma v Zhurnal ksperimentalno i Teoretichesko Fiziki, 2006, Vol. 84, No. 9, pp. 592595.

Thin-Film Ferromagnetic Composite Material for Spintronics

A. S. Borukhovicha, N. I. Ignatevaa, A. I. Galyasb, S. S. Dorofechikb, and K. I. Yanushkevichb
of Solid State Chemistry, Ural Division, Russian Academy of Sciences, ul. Pervomaskaya 91, Yekaterinburg, 620219 Russia e-mail: a.s.bor@rsvpu.ru b Joint Institute of Solid State and Semiconductor Physics, National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, ul. Brovki 17, Minsk, 220072 Belarus
Received June 7, 2006; in nal form, September 13, 2006
a Institute

The results of a study of the magnetic and other parameters of thin-lm EuO:Fe composites, which really meet the requirements imposed on the use of them as spin injectors in the developed semiconductor spin-electronic structures capable of operating under normal conditions at room temperatures, are reported. PACS numbers: 75.25.+z, 85.75.-d DOI: 10.1134/S0021364006210077

Previously [1], the results of the synthesis and the magnetic and electric characterization of nely dispersed powder EuO:Fe composite materials versus their composition (depending on the Fe content of the magnetic semiconductor EuO) were presented. In particular, the classical low-temperature ferromagnetic semiconductor EuO was chosen as a composite base matrix because, among all of the known materials from this class, only this compound practically exhibits a 100% degree of spin polarization of current carriers with ferromagnetic ordering of the spins of Eu2+ ions. This circumstance provides an opportunity to perform spin-polarized current transfer in the EuO/nonmagnetic semiconductor spin-electronic structures to a much greater extent and to observe related physical effects [2]. Unlike all of the other extensively studied semiconductor spin-electronic structures based on dilute magnetic semiconductors, spin-orientation effects in them are observed at a level of ~1% with current transfer even at low temperatures [3]. If the above advantage is achieved to a considerable extent with the use of the previously developed materials [1], the above composites can be the injectors of spin-oriented electrons in spintronic structures at room (or higher) temperatures under certain conditions. One of these conditions is the preparation of such a material as thin-lm layers, which can be supported onto nonmagnetic wide-band-gap semiconductors with the retention of characteristics inherent to these materials. In these cases, thin-lm contact structures really become suitable base materials for the development of logic devices for the spin information systems of quantum computers and other solidstate semiconductor spin-electronic devices (spin l-

ters, magnetic-eld-tuned and current-tuned millimeter-wave and submillimeter-wave lasers, etc.). In this article, we report new data on the preparation and magnetic, optical, and electric characterization of thin lms of the above composite materials. Procedures for the preparation of lms with different thicknesses by depositing them onto optically transparent glass substrates under conditions that meet the requirements of industrial technologies were developed. A standard vacuum sputtering technique and the laser sputtering of a pellet or a ash technique (in the case of the preparation of a lm from a loose starting material) were used. The target pellet was presintered from a nely dispersed composite powder. In both cases, the starting composite material for sputtering corresponded to the formula (EuO)0.75Fe0.25, which corresponded to the semiconducting character of conductivity inherent to this composition at room temperature in terms of both rating and the (T) function. This requirement is necessary for the development and stable operation of semiconductor spin-electronic devices [4]. For honesty, note that the true composition of the resulting lm composite material was hardly consistent with the initial powder composition (the kinetics of the process was not studied), because a difference between the partial pressures of evaporated phases occurred. This was evidenced by the positions and intensities of corresponding peaks in the x-ray diffraction patterns of starting and thin-lm composite materials: the amount of metal phase decreased in the lms. Therefore, only the properties of the resulting thin-lm composite could indicate that the aim was achieved. In accordance with the above x-ray data, the resulting composite lms were always crystalline with the lattice parameter a =

502

THIN-FILM FERROMAGNETIC COMPOSITE MATERIAL

503

Fig. 1. Temperature dependence of the specic magnetization of (EuO)0.75Fe0.25 composite powder in the led H = 0.86 T.

0.51250.5140 nm, which is characteristic of europium monoxide (B1 structure). In this respect, with consideration for previous experience in the deposition of EuO lm layers onto various substrates (mica, glass, Al, Be, and Si) [5], we believe that crystallinity will also be retained in the case of the deposition of thin-lm composite layers onto the substrates of these and other materials. Experimental data on the temperature dependence of specic magnetization () for the parent composite powder (Fig. 1) and lms with approximately equal thicknesses prepared from a pellet (Fig. 2) or powder (Fig. 3) are given below. The magnetization was measured using a ponderomotive method in a eld of 0.86 T on a magnetic balance at the Joint Institute of Solid State and Semiconductor Physics, National Academy of Sciences of Belarus. It can be seen that, in

the rst case, the magnetization of the parent powder at temperatures T > 500 K fully corresponds to the presence of -iron particles in it with the inherent Curie point at T ~ 1000 K. In this case, the rated value of of the composite in the region of high temperatures corresponds to the fraction of this metal present in the bulk of the sample. Recall that the ferromagnetic semiconductor monoxide EuO is paramagnetic at T > 70 K [2] and its contribution to the magnetization of the composite at higher temperatures will reach a minimum. However, because the experimental results shown in Figs. 13 belong to magnetic elds with H = 0.86 T, superparamagnetism may be observed in the EuO:Fe composite over the temperature range 70 K < T < 480 K as a consequence of the presence of Fe particles with different sizes in this composite. In particular, this is evidenced by an inection of the (T) curve in the region close to 480 K. In our opinion, there is no other apparent reason for the substantiation of the increased rated magnetization of the composite in the specied temperature region, because europium monoxide does not form solid solutions with transition group metals (Fe, Co, and Ni), which could result in an increase in its Curie temperature [6]. This is likely a peculiar temperature of the superparamagnetismparamagnetism transition in the specied composite material. In this case, the (T) functions are identical on both heating and cooling the sample. The behavior of the (T) functions of lms can be fully explained by the occurrence of ferromagnetism in them, and it closely resembles the data in Fig. 1. Judging from the rated magnetizations of the lms, the fraction of a metal (Fe) component in them is noticeably lower. Nevertheless, superparamagnetism can also manifest itself in relatively thick lms over the above temperature region (Fig. 2). The heating of lms to higher temperatures (to the ferropara Fe transition) resulted in the softening of the substrate and its partial

(G cm3 g1)

cm3 (G cm3 g1) (G cm3 g1)

Fig. 3. Same as in Fig. 1, but for a composite lm 310 nm in thickness prepared from powder by the ash method.

cm3

Fig. 2. Same as in Fig. 1, but for a composite lm 480 nm in thickness prepared from a pellet. JETP LETTERS Vol. 84 No. 9 2006

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interaction with the monoxide. This is evidenced by the reverse trend (cooling) of the magnetizations (T). However, the use of composite lms in technical applications at such high temperatures is not allowed for. Thus, we can state that the above magnetic characteristics of the lm composites fully meet the requirements imposed on their use as spin injectors in spintronic devices capable of operating at ordinary (room or higher) temperatures. Previously, the possibility of reaching a result of this kind was reported in publications [79] concerning the observation of sandwich ferromagnetism in the multilayer structures of GaSb:GaMn (Tk ~ 130C) or TiO2:Co (Tk ~ 150C), as well as in nanocrystalline ZnO:Ni composites (Tk ~ 60C) [10]. However, a comparison of the rated magnetization values of these composites at room temperatures with the above data for the developed composites suggests a possible advantage for using these latter in spintronics. In this case, the enhanced specic magnetization of the composite (probably, due to the manifestation of supermagnetism in it) may be fully indicative of the possibly enhanced degree of spin injection from it in the case of current transfer in contact structures, as compared with the former materials. This can be of critical importance in the practice of the development of these structures. Note that the preparation of thin lms of EuO:M (M is Fe, Co, or Ni) with transition metal contents close to the percentage of iron metal in our parent composite powder using molecular-beam epitaxy was described in a US patent by Ahn in 1972 [11]. However, the phase composition of these lms was interpreted by Ahn as the solid solution Eu1 xMexO with the Curie temperature Tk(x) monotonically increasing from 70 to 180 K. It is evident from the above results of this work that the conclusions of Ahn [11] are not exactly correct. The semiconducting character of conductivity in the synthesized lms was also conrmed. The measurements were performed by the four-probe method on a standard commercial setup. At room temperature, the rated resistivities of lms 200500 nm in thickness, which were prepared from a pellet, had values of ~ 2 1024 103 cm. Films of approximately the same thickness but prepared from powder exhibited the values of from one to several units of cm, which are consistent with the rated of the parent composite pellet. This is an additional support to the fact that the iron metal contents of the lms synthesized from the pellet and powder were essentially different. The band gap (Eg) of the composite was evaluated from the optical absorption spectra of the lms with dif-

ferent thicknesses measured with a GARY 500 photospectrometer over the wavelength range 2003000 nm. According to these data for thick (650 nm) lms with a 1% transmission spectrum, it was Eg 0.75 eV. As the thickness of the lms was decreased, the value of Eg increased signicantly. All of the above facts are consistent with well-known published data for the crystalline monoxide lms of EuO [2]. The synthesized lms are sufciently stable, and they restored their characteristics after long-term storage. They exhibit a domain structure, the study of which is of particular interest. Thus, the reported results indicate that we succeeded in creating a thin-lm ferromagnetic semiconductor composite, which is a real candidate for the use as the injector of spin-oriented electrons in semiconductor spin-electronic devices capable of operating under normal conditions at room temperatures. REFERENCES
1. A. S. Borukhovich, N. I. Ignateva, and V. G. Bamburov, Dokl. Akad. Nauk SSSR 402, 181 (2005) [Dokl. Phys. 50, 239 (2005)]. 2. A. S. Borukhovich, Physics of Materials and Structures of Superconducting and Semiconducting Spin Electronics (Ural. Otd. Ross. Akad. Nauk, Yekaterinburg, 2004) [in Russian]. 3. Y. Ohno, D. K. Young, B. Beschoten, et al., Nature 402, 790 (1999). 4. G. Schmidt, D. Ferrand, L. W. Molenkamp, et al., Phys. Rev. B 63, R4790 (2000). 5. A. S. Borukhovich, V. G. Bamburov, N. N. Efremova, and L. D. Finkelshten, Poverkhnost, No. 10, 142 (1989). 6. A. A. Samokhvalov, in Rare-Earth Semiconductors (Nauka, Leningrad, 1977), p. 5 [in Russian]. 7. R. Flederling, M. Keim, G. Reuscher, et al., Nature 402, 787 (1999). 8. P. A. Stampe, R. J. Kennedy, Yan Xin, and J. S. Parker, Appl. Phys. Lett. 93, 7864 (2003). 9. L. A. Balagurov, S. O. Klimonski, S. P. Kobeleva, et al., Pisma Zh. ksp. Teor. Fiz. 79, 111 (2004) [JETP Lett. 79, 98 (2004)]. 10. P. V. Radovanovich and D. R. Gamelin, Phys. Rev. Lett. 91, 157202 (2003). 11. K. Y. Ahn, U.S. Patent No. 3,639,167 (September 13, 1972).

Translated by V. Makhlyarchuk

JETP LETTERS

Vol. 84

No. 9

2006