Enhancement of Curie temperature in Ga1−xMnxAs/Ga1−yAlyAs ferromagnetic heterostructures by Be modulation doping

The effect of modulation doping by Be on the ferromagnetic properties of Ga1−xMnxAs is investigated in Ga1−xMnxAs/Ga1−yAlyAs heterojunctions and quantum wells. Introducing Be acceptors into the Ga1−yAlyAs barriers leads to an increase of the Curie temperature TC of Ga1−xMnxAs, from 70 K in undoped structures to over 100 K with the modulation doping. This increase is qualitatively consistent with a multiband mean field theory simulation of carrier-mediated ferromagnetism. An important feature is that the increase of TC occurs only in those structures where the modulation doping is introduced after the deposition of the magnetic layer, but not when the Be-doped layer is grown first. This behavior is expected from the strong sensitivity of Mn interstitial formation to the value of the Fermi energy during growth.