Interaction of Mn with GaAs and InSb: incorporation, surface reconstruction and nano-cluster formation

Abstract

The deposition of Mn on to reconstructed InSb and GaAs surfaces, without coincident As or Sb flux, has been studied by reflection high energy electron diffraction, atomic force microscopy and scanning tunnelling microscopy. On both Ga-and As-terminated GaAs(0 0 1), (2 × n) Mn-induced reconstruction domains arise with n = 2 for the most well ordered reconstructions. On the Ga-terminated (4 × 6), the Mn-induced (2 × 2) persists up to around 0.5 ML Mn followed by Mn nano-cluster formation. For deposition on initially β2(2 × 4)-reconstructed GaAs(0 0 1), the characteristic trench structure of the reconstruction is partially preserved even beyond 1 monolayer Mn coverage. On both the β2(2 × 4) and c(4 × 4) surfaces, MnAs-like nano-clusters form alongside the reconstruction changes. In contrast, there are no new Mn-induced surface reconstructions on InSb. Instead, the Sb-terminated surfaces of InSb (0 0 1), (1 1 1)A and (1 1 1)B revert to reconstructions characteristic of clean In-rich surfaces after well defined coverages of Mn proportional to the Sb content of the starting reconstruction. These surfaces are decorated with self-assembled MnSb nanoclusters. These results are discussed in terms of basic thermodynamic quantities and the generalized electron counting rule.

Interface Characterization of Current-Perpendicular-to-Plane Spin Valves Based on Spin Gapless Semiconductor Mn2CoAl

“…L1 and L2 indicate the interface and subinterface, respectively. It can be seen that the interfacial Mn A atom has an obvious outward extension in MnCo B , MnCo T , MnMn T1 , and MnMn B1 structures, revealing that the interface Mn atom prefers to bond with the interface atom from the spacer layer, and such behavior is also reported in previous theoretical and experimental studies [33,34]. As for the interfacial Mn B atom, it slightly stretches outward in MnMn T2 and MnMn B2 , and keeps its ideal position in MnAl T , while it even shrinks inward in MnAl B , showing that its bonding ability is weaker than interfacial Mn A .…”

Growth and characterisation of MnSb(0 0 0 1)/InGaAs(1 1 1)A epitaxial films

“…Using estimated enthalpies of formation for Mn (As,Sb) [32] and In Ga . A simple thermodynamic argument was used to explain trends in surface reactivity for Mn deposition on to different GaAs and InSb reconstructed surfaces [34], but in that case there was no incident group V flux and the temperature was fixed. In the present case the Sb 4 flux clearly has a powerful influence in determining the degree of metal exchange and group V kinetics cannot be neglected.…”