Multi-Orbital Lattice Model for (Ga,Mn)As and Other Lightly Magnetically Doped Zinc-Blende-Type Semiconductors

Abstract

We present a Hamiltonian in real space which is well suited to study numerically the behavior of holes introduced in III-V semiconductors by Mn doping when the III$^{3+}$ ion is replaced by Mn$^{2+}$. We consider the actual lattice with the diamond structure. Since the focus is on light doping by acceptors, a bonding combination of III and V p-orbitals is considered since the top of the valence band, located at the $Γ$ point, has p character in these materials. As a result, an effective model in which the holes hop between the sites of an fcc lattice is obtained. We show that around the $Γ$ point in momentum space the Hamiltonian for the undoped case is identical to the one for the Luttinger-Kohn model. The spin-orbit interaction is included as well as the on-site interaction between the spin of the magnetic impurity and the spin of the doped holes. The effect of Coulomb interactions between Mn$^{2+}$ and holes, as well as Mn$^{3+}$ doping are discussed. Through large-scale Monte Carlo simulations on a Cray XT3 supercomputer, we show that this model reproduces many experimental results for ${\rm Ga_{\it 1-x}Mn_{\it x}As}$ and ${\rm Ga_{\it 1-x}Mn_{\it x}Sb}$, and that the Curie temperature does not increase monotonically with $x$. The cases of Mn doped GaP and GaN, in which Mn$^{3+}$ is believed to play a role, are also studied.