We investigate the local electronic structure and magnetic properties of the group-IV-based ferromagnetic semiconductor, Ge1−xFex (GeFe), using soft X-ray magnetic circular dichroism. Our results show that the doped Fe 3d electrons are strongly hybridized with the Ge 4p states, and have a large orbital magnetic moment relative to the spin magnetic moment; i.e., morb/mspin ≈ 0.1. We find that nanoscale local ferromagnetic regions, which are formed through ferromagnetic exchange interactions in the high-Fe-content regions of the GeFe films, exist even at room temperature, well above the Curie temperature of 20–100 K. We observe the intriguing nanoscale expansion of the local ferromagnetic regions with decreasing temperature, followed by a transition of the entire film into a ferromagnetic state at the Curie temperature.

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Epitaxial CoFe 2 O 4 /Al 2 O 3 bilayers are expected to be highly efficient spin injectors into Si owing to the spin filter effect of CoFe 2 O 4 . To exploit the full potential of this system, understanding the microscopic origin of magnetically dead layers at the CoFe 2 O 4 /Al 2 O 3 interface is necessary. In this paper, we study the crystallographic and electronic structures and the magnetic properties of CoFe 2 O 4 (111) layers with various thicknesses (thickness d = 1.4, 2.3, 4, and 11 nm) in the epitaxial CoFe 2 O 4 (111)/Al 2 O 3 (111)/Si(111) structures using soft X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) and X-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD) combined with cluster-model calculation. The magnetization of CoFe 2 O 4 measured by XMCD gradually decreases with decreasing thickness d and finally a magnetically dead layer is clearly detected at d = 1.4 nm. The magnetically dead layer has frustration of magnetic interactions which is revealed from comparison between the magnetizations at 300 and 6 K. From analysis using configuration-interaction cluster-model calculation, the decrease of d leads to a

In order to investigate the mechanism of ferromagnetic ordering in the new n-type magnetic semiconductor (In,Fe)As codoped with Be, we have performed x-ray absorption spectroscopy and x-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD) studies of ferromagnetic and paramagnetic samples. The spectral line shapes suggest that the ferromagnetism is intrinsic, originating from Fe atoms incorporated into the zinc-blende-type InAs lattice. The magnetization curves of Fe measured by XMCD were well reproduced by the superposition of a Langevin function representing superparamagnetic (SPM) behavior of nanoscale ferromagnetic domains and a T -linear function representing Curie-Weiss paramagnetism even much above the Curie temperatures. The data at 20 K showed a deviation from the Langevin behavior, suggesting a gradual establishment of macroscopic ferromagnetism on lowering temperature. The existence of nanoscale ferromagnetic domains indicated by the SPM behavior suggests spatial fluctuations of Fe concentration on the nanoscale.

RENiO3 (RE=rare-earth element) and V2O3 are archetypal Mott insulator systems. When tuned by chemical substitution (RENiO3) or pressure (V2O3), they exhibit a quantum phase transition (QPT) between an antiferromagnetic Mott insulating state and a paramagnetic metallic state. Because novel physics often appears near a Mott QPT, the details of this transition, such as whether it is first or second order, are important. Here, we demonstrate through muon spin relaxation/rotation (μSR) experiments that the QPT in RENiO3 and V2O3 is first order: the magnetically ordered volume fraction decreases to zero at the QPT, resulting in a broad region of intrinsic phase separation, while the ordered magnetic moment retains its full value until it is suddenly destroyed at the QPT. These findings bring to light a surprising universality of the pressure-driven Mott transition, revealing the importance of phase separation and calling for further investigation into the nature of quantum fluctuations underlying the transition.