Silicon and germanium based magnetic semiconductors

The main objective of this project is to develop silicon and germanium based magnetic semiconductor materials which can be seamlessly integrated into the mature and widespread silicon based technology. Magnetic manganese atoms can be introduced into silicon-germanium hetero- and nano-structures in molecular beam epitaxy with atomic layer control. This opens a large horizon to combine the use of carrier spin with the possibility to rely on well studied and existing heterostructure concepts in silicon materials to develop spintronics devices. In a first focus our project concentrates on the development of diluted magnetic semiconductors where an optimised dispersion of manganese atoms in a silicon-germanium matrix should lead to the appearance of ferromagnetism in the film while conserving the electrical properties of a semiconductor. Such films could be used as very efficient spin-injectors in silicon-germanium heterostructures. In a second focus we will explore the possibilities to use intermetallic phases of silicon, germanium and manganese in the form of selectively dispersed nanomagnets or thin films as spin-injectors as well as for memory and sensing devices.