Magneto-optics in pure and defective Ga1-xMnxAs from first principles
Abstract
The magneto-optical properties of Ga1-xMnxAs including their most common defects were investigated with precise first-principles density-functional full-potential linearized augmented plane wave calculations in order to: (i) elucidate the origin of the features in the Kerr spectra in terms of the underlying electronic structure; (ii) perform an accurate comparison with experiments; and (iii) understand the role of the Mn concentration and occupied sites in shaping the spectra. In the substitutional case, our results show that most of the features have an interband origin and are only slightly affected by Drude-type contributions, even at low photon energies. While not strongly affected by the Mn concentration for the intermediately diluted range ( xtilde 10%) , the Kerr factor shows a marked minimum (up to 1.5°) occurring at a photon energy of ∼0.5eV . For interstitial Mn, the calculated results bear a striking resemblance to the experimental spectra, pointing to the comparison between simulated and experimental Kerr angles as a valid tool to distinguish different defects in the diluted magnetic semiconductors framework.
- Publication:
-
Physical Review B
- Pub Date:
- June 2006
- DOI:
- 10.1103/PhysRevB.73.235207
- arXiv:
- arXiv:cond-mat/0510697
- Bibcode:
- 2006PhRvB..73w5207P
- Keywords:
-
- 75.50.Pp;
- 78.20.Ls;
- Magnetic semiconductors;
- Magnetooptical effects;
- Condensed Matter - Materials Science
- E-Print:
- 10 pages including 2 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. B