arXiv subjects

T. Wojtowicz

Publications and source records attributed to T. Wojtowicz.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

arXiv2007

Spin coherence of a two-dimensional electron gas induced by resonant excitation of trions and excitons in CdTe/(Cd,Mg)Te quantum wells

The mechanisms for generation of long-lived spin coherence in a two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) have been studied experimentally by means of a picosecond pump-probe Kerr rotation technique. CdTe/(Cd,Mg)Te quantum wells with a diluted 2DEG were investigated. The strong Coulomb interaction between electrons and holes, which results in large binding energies of neutral excitons and negatively charged excitons (trions), allows one to address selectively the exciton or trion states by resonant optical excitation. Different scenarios of spin coherence generation were analyzed theoretically, among them the direct trion photocreation, the formation of trions from photogenerated excitons and the electron-exciton exchange scattering. Good agreement between experiment and theory is found.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2006

Magnetic and chemical nonuniformity in Ga[1-x]Mn[x]As films as probed by polarized neutron and x-ray reflectometry

We have used complementary neutron and x-ray reflectivity techniques to examine the depth profiles of a series of as-grown and annealed Ga[1-x]Mn[x]As thin films. A magnetization gradient is observed for two as-grown films and originates from a nonuniformity of Mn at interstitial sites, and not from local variations in Mn at Ga sites. Furthermore, we see that the depth-dependent magnetization can vary drastically among as-grown Ga[1-x]Mn[x]As films despite being deposited under seemingly similar conditions. These results imply that the depth profile of interstitial Mn is dependent not only on annealing, but is also extremely sensitive to initial growth conditions. We observe that annealing improves the magnetization by producing a surface layer that is rich in Mn and O, indicating that the interstitial Mn migrates to the surface. Finally, we expand upon our previous neutron reflectivity study of Ga[1-x]Mn[x]As, by showing how the depth profile of the chemical composition at the surface and through the film thickness is directly responsible for the complex magnetization profiles observed in both as-grown and annealed films.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2006

Exciton spin decay modified by strong electron-hole exchange interaction

We study exciton spin decay in the regime of strong electron-hole exchange interaction. In this regime the electron spin precession is restricted within a sector formed by the external magnetic field and the effective exchange fields triggered by random spin flips of the hole. Using Hanle effect measurements, we demonstrate that this mechanism dominates our experiments in CdTe/(Cd,Mg)Te quantum wells. The calculations provide a consistent description of the experimental results, which is supported by independent measurements of the parameters entering the model.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2006

Optical spin pumping of modulation doped electrons probed by a two-color Kerr rotation technique

We report on optical spin pumping of modulation electrons in CdTe-based quantum wells with low intrinsic electron density (by 10^10 cm^{-2}). Under continuous wave excitation, we reach a steady state accumulated spin density of about 10^8 cm^{-2}. Using a two-color Hanle-MOKE technique, we find a spin relaxation time of 34 ns for the localized electrons in the nearly unperturbed electron gas. Independent variation of the pump and probe energies demonstrates the presence of additional non-localized electrons in the quantum well, whose spin relaxation time is substantially shorter.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2006

An Intermediate Phase at the Metal-Insulator Boundary in a Magnetically Doped Two-Dimensional Electron System

A magnetotransport study in magnetically doped (Cd,Mn)Te 2D quantum wells reveals an apparent metal-insulator transition as well as an anomalous intermediate phase just on its metallic side. This phase is characterized by colossal magnetoresistance-like phenomena, which are assigned to the phase separation of the electron fluid and the associated emergence of ferromagnetic bubbles.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2006

Engineering of spin-lattice relaxation dynamics by digital growth of diluted magnetic semiconductor CdMnTe

The technological concept of "digital alloying" offered by molecular-beam epitaxy is demonstrated to be a very effective tool for tailoring static and dynamic magnetic properties of diluted magnetic semiconductors. Compared to common "disordered alloys" with the same Mn concentration, the spin-lattice relaxation dynamics of magnetic Mn ions has been accelerated by an order of magnitude in (Cd,Mn)Te digital alloys, without any noticeable change in the giant Zeeman spin splitting of excitonic states, i.e. without effect on the static magnetization. The strong sensitivity of the magnetization dynamics to clustering of the Mn ions opens a new degree of freedom for spin engineering.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2006

Linear polarization of the photoluminescence of quantum wells

The degree and orientation of the magnetic-field induced linear polarization of the photoluminescence from a wide range of heterostructures containing (Cd,Mn)Te quantum wells between (Cd,Mn,Mg)Te barriers has been studied as a function of detection photon energy, applied magnetic field strength and orientation in the quantum well plane. A theoretical description of this effect in terms of an in-plane deformation acting on the valence band states is presented and is verified by comparison with the experimental data. We attempted to identify clues to the microscopic origin of the valence band spin anisotropy and to the mechanisms which actually determine the linear polarization of the PL in the quantum wells subject to the in-plane magnetic field. The conclusions of the present paper apply in full measure to non-magnetic QWs as well as ensembles of disk-like QDs with shape and/or strain anisotropy.

cond-mat.other↗

arXiv2005

Magnetic scattering of spin polarized carriers in (In,Mn)Sb dilute magnetic semiconductor

Magnetoresistance measurements on the magnetic semiconductor (In,Mn)Sb suggest that magnetic scattering in this material is dominated by isolated Mn$^{2+}$ ions located outside the ferromagnetically-ordered regions when the system is below $T_{c}$. A model is proposed, based on the $p$-$d$ exchange between spin-polarized charge carriers and localized Mn$^{2+}$ ions, which accounts for the observed behavior both below and above the ferromagnetic phase transition. The suggested picture is further verified by high-pressure experiments, in which the degree of magnetic interaction can be varied in a controlled way.

cond-mat.other↗

arXiv2005

Perpendicular magnetization reversal, magnetic anisotropy, multi-step spin switching, and domain nucleation and expansion in Ga1-xMnxAs films

We present a comprehensive study of the reversal process of perpendicular magnetization in thin layers of the ferromagnetic semiconductor Ga1-xMnxAs. For this investigation we have purposely chosen Ga1-xMnxAs with a low Mn concentration (x ~ 0.02), since in such specimens contributions of cubic and uniaxial anisotropy parameters are comparable, allowing us to identify the role of both types of anisotropy in the magnetic reversal process. As a first step we have systematically mapped out the angular dependence of ferromagnetic resonance in thin Ga1-xMnxAs layers, which is a highly effective tool for obtaining the magnetic anisotropy parameters of the material. The process of perpendicular magnetization reversal was then studied by magneto-transport (i.e., Hall effect and planar Hall effect measurements). These measurements enable us to observe coherent spin rotation and non-coherent spin switching between the (100) and (010) planes. A model is proposed to explain the observed multi-step spin switching. The agreement of the model with experiment indicates that it can be reliably used for determining magnetic anisotropy parameters from magneto-transport data. An interesting characteristic of perpendicular magnetization reversal in Ga1-xMnxAs with low x is the appearance of a double hysteresis loops in the magnetization data. This double-loop behavior can be understood by generalizing the proposed model to include the processes of domain nucleation and expansion.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2005

Zero- and one-dimensional magnetic traps for quasi-particles

We investigate the possibility of trapping quasi-particles possessing spin degree of freedom in hybrid structures. The hybrid system we are considering here is composed of a semi-magnetic quantum well placed a few nanometers below a ferromagnetic micromagnet. We are interested in two different micromagnet shapes: cylindrical (micro-disk) and rectangular geometry. We show that in the case of a micro-disk, the spin object is localized in all three directions and therefore zero-dimensional states are created, and in the case of an elongated rectangular micromagnet, the quasi-particles can move freely in one direction, hence one-dimensional states are formed. After calculating profiles of the magnetic field produced by the micromagnets, we analyze in detail the possible light absorption spectrum for different micromagnet thicknesses, and different distances between the micromagnet and the semimagnetic quantum well. We find that the discrete spectrum of the localized states can be detected via spatially-resolved low temperature optical measurement.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2005

Definitive observation of the dark triplet ground state of charged excitons in high magnetic fields

The ground state of negatively charged excitons (trions) in high magnetic fields is shown to be a dark triplet state, confirming long-standing theoretical predictions. Photoluminescence (PL), reflection, and PL excitation spectroscopy of CdTe quantum wells reveal that the dark triplet trion has lower energy than the singlet trion above 24 Tesla. The singlet-triplet crossover is "hidden" (i.e., the spectral lines themselves do not cross due to different Zeeman energies), but is confirmed by temperature-dependent PL above and below 24 T. The data also show two bright triplet states.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2005

Andreev Reflection and Pair Breaking Effects at the Superconductor/Magnetic Semiconductor Interface

We investigate the applicability of spin polarization measurements using Andreev reflection in a point contact geometry in heavily doped dilute magnetic semiconductors, such as (Ga,Mn)As. While we observe conventional Andreev reflection in non-magnetic (Ga,Be)As epilayers, our measurements indicate that in ferromagnetic (Ga,Mn)As epilayers with comparable hole concentration the conductance spectra can only be adequately described by a broadened density of states and a reduced superconducting gap. We suggest that these pair-breaking effects stem from inelastic scattering in the metallic impurity band of (Ga,Mn)As and can be explained by introducing a finite quasiparticle lifetime or a higher effective temperature. For (Ga,Mn)As with 8% Mn concentration and 140 K Curie temperature we evaluate the spin polarization to be 83+/-17%. PACS numbers: 72.25.Dc,72.25.Mk,74.45.+c

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2004

Ferromagnetic/DMS hybrid structures: one- and zero-dimensional magnetic traps for quasiparticles

We investigated possibility of using local magnetic field originating from ferromagnetic island deposited on the top of semiconductor quantum well to produce zero- and one-dimensional traps for quasi-particles with spin. In particular we considered two shapes of experimentally made magnets - cylindrical and rectangular. In the case of ferromagnetic micro-disk the trap can localize spin in three dimensions, contrary to the rectangular micro-magnet which creates a trap that allows free propagation in one direction. We present in detail prediction for absorption spectrum around the main absorption edge in both type of micro-magnets.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2004

Optical response of a ferromagnetic/DMS hybrid structure

We investigate the possibility of using local magnetic fields to produce one-dimensional traps in hybrid structures for any quasiparticle possessing spin degree of freedom. We consider a system composed of a diluted magnetic semiconductor quantum well buried below a micron-sized ferromagnetic island. Localized magnetic field is produced by a rectangular ferromagnet in close proximity of a single domain phase. We make quantitative predictions for the optical response of the system as a function of distance between the micromagnet and the quantum well, electronic g-factor, and thickness of the micromagnet.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2004

Effects of Capping on the (Ga,Mn)As Magnetic Depth Profile

Annealing can increase the Curie temperature and net magnetization in uncapped (Ga,Mn)As films, effects that are suppressed when the films are capped with GaAs. Previous polarized neutron reflectometry (PNR) studies of uncapped (Ga,Mn)As revealed a pronounced magnetization gradient that was reduced after annealing. We have extended this study to (Ga,Mn)As capped with GaAs. We observe no increase in Curie temperature or net magnetization upon annealing. Furthermore, PNR measurements indicate that annealing produces minimal differences in the depth-dependent magnetization, as both as-grown and annealed films feature a significant magnetization gradient. These results suggest that the GaAs cap inhibits redistribution of interstitial Mn impurities during annealing.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2004

Ferromagnetic resonance study of free hole contribution to magnetization and magnetic anisotropy in modulation-doped Ga$_{1 - x}$Mn$_{x}$As/Ga$_{1 - y}$Al$_{y}$As:Be

Ferromagnetic resonance (FMR) is used to study magnetic anisotropy of GaMnAs in a series of Ga$_{1 - x}$Mn$_{x}$As/Ga$_{1 - y}$Al$_{y}$As heterostructures modulation-doped by Be. The FMR experiments provide a direct measure of cubic and uniaxial magnetic anisotropy fields, and their dependence on the doping level. It is found that the increase in doping -- in addition to rising the Curie temperature of the Ga$_{1 - x}$Mn$_{x}$As layers -- also leads to a very significant increase of their uniaxial anisotropy field. The FMR measurements further show that the effective $g$-factor of Ga$_{1 - x}$Mn$_{x}$As is also strongly affected by the doping. This in turn provides a direct measure of the contribution from the free hole magnetization to the magnetization of Ga$_{1 - x}$Mn$_{x}$As system as a whole.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2004

Interacting many-body systems in quantum wells: Evidence for exciton-trion-electron correlations

We report on the nonlinear optical dynamical properties of excitonic complexes in CdTe modulation-doped quantum wells, due to many-body interactions among excitons, trions and electrons. These were studied by time and spectrally resolved pump-probe experiments. The results reveal that the nonlinearities induced by trions differ from those induced by excitons, and in addition they are mutually correlated. We propose that the main source of these subtle differences comes from the Pauli exclusion-principle through phase-space filling and short-range fermion exchange.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2004

Measurement of Spin Polarization by Andreev Reflection in Ferromagnetic In1-xMnxSb Epilayers

We carried out Point Contact Andreev Reflection (PCAR) spin spectroscopy measurements on epitaxially-grown ferromagnetic In1-xMnxSb epilayers with a Curie temperature of ~9K. The spin sensitivity of PCAR in this material was demonstrated by parallel control studies on its non-magnetic analog, In1-yBeySb. We found the conductance curves of the Sn point contacts with In1-yBeySb to be fairly conventional, with the possible presence of proximity-induced superconductivity effects at the lowest temperatures. The experimental Z-values of interfacial scattering agreed well with the estimates based on the Fermi velocity mismatch between the semiconductor and the superconductor. These measurements provided control data for subsequent PCAR measurements on ferromagnetic In1-xMnxSb, which indicated spin polarization in In1-xMnxSb to be 52 +- 3%.

cond-mat.supr-con↗