Browsing by Author "Downes, J"

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    Polarized neutron reflectometry of rare-earth nitride thin films
    (Australian Institute of Physics, 2012-02-02) Brück, S; Cortie, DL; Brown, J; Saerbeck, T; Ulrich, C; Klose, F; Downes, J
    Rare-earth monopnictides like HoN, DyN, or ErN are semiconductors with typical band gaps between 0.73 and 1.3eV. The fact that they exhibit ferromagnetic ordering at low temperatures makes them possible candidates for an intrinsically ferromagnetic semiconductor [1]. Thin, polycrystalline rare-earth nitride films of 15 – 40nm thickness were grown onto c-plane sapphire substrates using low-energy ion assisted deposition. A temperature- and field-dependent polarized neutron reflectometry study in combination with SQUID magnetometry was carried out to characterize the magnetic properties of these films in a depth resolved way. The investigated samples show a homogeneous distribution of the magnetic moment throughout the film with ferromagnetic ordering temperatures comparable to the bulk materials. ErN and HoN films do not show an opening of the magnetic hysteresis loop even for the lowest measured temperature of T=2K. DyN on the other hand clearly shows a coercive field and remnant magnetization at 5K.