Structural, magnetic, and transport investigations of CrTe clustering effect in (Zn,Cr)Te system

Abstract

We investigate the structural, transport, and magnetic behaviors of (Zn,Cr)Te system without additional carrier doping grown by low temperature molecular-beam epitaxy on GaAs (100) substrates. For the growth of Zn1-x Crx Te with x=0.14, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy shows the possibility of zinc-blende (ZB)-CrTe phase being embedded in the Zn1-x Crx Te matrix. Our detailed analysis of the magnetization results in Zn0.86 Cr0.14 Te using scaling theory and modified Arrott plots suggests that the ferromagnetic ordering cannot be described by mean-field theory. Additionally, the resistivity behavior indicates that ZB-CrTe clusters could possibly provide a percolative conduction path that gives rise to high Curie temperature. We discussed the ferromagnetism in (Zn,Cr)Te system on the basis of clustering effect. © 2007 American Institute of Physics.