Increasing Mn substitution in magnetic semiconductors through controlled ambient annealing processes

We report on a controlled ambient annealing technique aimed at increasing the amount of Mn incorporation in III-V semiconductors. The aim is to reduce the number of hole carrier and magnetic element compensating entities, such as Mn interstitials and anti-site defects, to increase the magnetic Curie temperature. The idea is (a) to increase the number of Group III vacancies through annealing in Group V vapor rich conditions and (b) judicious use of crystal field theory to reduce/stabilize Mn interstitials. Our experimental results constitute the highest reportedTc (∼130 K) in Mn doped InSb and Mn doped InP. The possibility of ferrimagnetism in Mn and Cr incorporated GaAs, was noted