Li1.1(Zn1−xCrx)As: Cr doped I–II–V diluted magnetic semiconductors in bulk form

We report the synthesis and characterization of bulk form diluted magnetic semiconductors I–II–V Li1.1(Zn1−xCrx)As (x = 0.03, 0.05, 0.10, 0.15) with a cubic crystal structure identical to that of III–V GaAs and II–VI zinc-blende ZnSe. With p-type carriers created by excess Li, 10% Cr substitution for Zn results in a ferromagnetic ordering below TC ∼ 218 K. Li(Zn,Cr)As represents another magnetic semiconducting system with the advantage of decoupling carriers and spins, where carriers are created by adding extra Li and spins are introduced by Cr substitution for Zn.