@phdthesis{Trabel2019,
  author    = {Trabel, Mirko},
  title     = {Growth and Characterization of Epitaxial Manganese Silicide Thin Films},
  doi       = {10.25972/OPUS-18472},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-184720},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2019},
  abstract  = {This thesis describes the growth and characterization of epitaxial MnSi thin films on Si substrates. The interest in this material system stems from the rich magnetic phase diagram resulting from the noncentrosymmetric B20 crystal structure. Here neighboring spins prefer a tilted relative arrangement in contrast to ferro- and antiferromagnets, which leads to a helical ground state where crystal and spin helix chirality are linked [IEM+85]. This link makes the characterization and control of the crystal chirality the main goal of this thesis. After a brief description of the material properties and applied methods, the thesis itself is divided into four main parts. In the first part the advancement of the MBE growth process of MnSi on Si\((111)\) substrate as well as the fundamental structural characterization are described. Here the improvement of the substrate interface by an adjusted substrate preparation process is demonstrated, which is the basis for well ordered flat MnSi layers. On this foundation the influence of Mn/Si flux ratio and substrate temperature on the MnSi layer growth is investigated via XRD and clear boundaries to identify the optimal growth conditions are determined. The nonstoichiometric phases outside of this optimal growth window are identified as HMS and Mn\(_5\)Si\(_3\). Additionally, a regime at high substrate temperatures and low Mn flux is discovered, where MnSi islands are growing incorporated in a Si layer, which could be interesting for further investigations as a size confinement can change the magnetic phase diagram [DBS+18]. XRD measurements demonstrate the homogeneity of the grown MnSi layers over most of the 3 inch wafer diameter and a small \(\omega\)-FWHM of about 0.02° demonstrates the high quality of the layers. XRD and TEM measurements also show that relaxation of the layers happens via misfit dislocations at the interface to the substrate. The second part of the thesis is concerned with the crystal chirality. Here azimuthal \(\phi\)-scans of asymmetric XRD reflections reveal twin domains with a \(\pm\)30° rotation to the substrate. These twin domains seem to consist of left and right-handed MnSi, which are connected by a mirror operation at the \((\bar{1}10)\) plane. For some of the asymmetric XRD reflections this results in different intensities for the different twin domains, which reveals that one of the domains is rotated +30° and the other is rotated -30°. From XRD and TEM measurements an equal volume fraction of both domains is deduced. Different mechanisms to suppress these twin domains are investigated and successfully achieved with the growth on chiral Si surfaces, namely Si\((321)\) and Si\((531)\). Azimuthal \(\phi\)-scans of asymmetric XRD reflections demonstrate a suppression of up to 92\%. The successful twin suppression is an important step in the use of MnSi for the proposed spintronics applications with skyrmions as information carriers, as discussed in the introduction. Because of this achievement, the third part of the thesis on the magnetic properties of the MnSi thin films is not only concerned with the principal behavior, but also with the difference between twinned and twin suppressed layers. Magnetometry measurements are used to demonstrate, that the MnSi layers behave principally as expected from the literature. The analysis of saturation and residual magnetization hints to the twin suppression on Si\((321)\) and Si\((531)\) substrates and further investigations with more samples can complete this picture. For comparable layers on Si\((111)\), Si\((321)\) and Si\((531)\) the Curie-Weiss temperature is identical within 1 K and the critical field within 0.1 T. Temperature dependent magnetoresistivity measurements also demonstrate the expected \(T^2\) behavior not only on Si\((111)\) but also on Si\((321)\) substrates. This demonstrates the successful growth of MnSi on Si\((321)\) and Si\((531)\) substrates. The latter measurements also reveal a residual resistivity of less then half for MnSi on Si\((321)\) in comparison to Si\((111)\). This can be explained with the reduced number of domain boundaries demonstrating the successful suppression of one of the twin domains. The homogeneity of the residual resistivity as well as the charge carrier density over a wide area of the Si\((111)\) wafer is also demonstrated with these measurements as well as Hall effect measurements. The fourth part shows the AMR and PHE of MnSi depending on the angle between in plane current and magnetic field direction with respect to the crystal direction. This was proposed as a tool to identify skyrmions [YKT+15]. The influence of the higher C\(_{3\mathrm{v}}\) symmetry of the twinned system instead of the C\(_3\) symmetry of a B20 single crystal is demonstrated. The difference could serve as a useful additional tool to prove the twin suppression on the chiral substrates. But this is only possible for rotations with specific symmetry surfaces and not for the studied unsymmetrical Si\((321)\) surface. Measurements for MnSi layers on Si\((111)\) above the critical magnetic field demonstrate the attenuation of AMR and PHE parameters for increasing resistivity, as expected from literature [WC67]. Even if a direct comparison to the parameters on Si\((321)\) is not possible, the higher values of the parameters on Si\((321)\) can be explained considering the reduced charge carrier scattering from domain boundaries. Below the critical magnetic field, which would be the region where a skyrmion lattice could be expected, magnetic hysteresis complicates the analysis. Only one phase transition at the critical magnetic field can be clearly observed, which leaves the existence of a skyrmion lattice in thin epitaxial MnSi layers open. The best method to solve this question seems to be a more direct approach in the form of Lorentz-TEM, which was also successfully used to visualize the skyrmion lattice for thin plates of bulk MnSi [TYY+12]. For the detection of in plane skyrmions, lamellas would have to be prepared for a side view, which seems in principle possible. The demonstrated successful twin suppression for MnSi on Si\((321)\) and Si\((531)\) substrates may also be applied to other material systems. Suppressing the twinning in FeGe on Si\((111)\) would lead to a single chirality skyrmion lattice near room temperature [HC12]. This could bring the application of skyrmions as information carriers in spintronics within reach. Glossary: MBE Molecular Beam Epitaxy XRD X-Ray Diffraction HMS Higher Manganese Silicide FWHM Full Width Half Maximum TEM Tunneling Electron Microscopy AMR Anisotropic MagnetoResistance PHE Planar Hall Effect Bibliography: [IEM+85] M. Ishida, Y. Endoh, S. Mitsuda, Y. Ishikawa, and M. Tanaka. Crystal Chirality and Helicity of the Helical Spin Density Wave in MnSi. II. Polarized Neutron Diffraction. Journal of the Physical Society of Japan, 54(8):2975, 1985. [DBS+18] B. Das, B. Balasubramanian, R. Skomski, P. Mukherjee, S. R. Valloppilly, G. C. Hadjipanayis, and D. J. Sellmyer. Effect of size confinement on skyrmionic properties of MnSi nanomagnets. Nanoscale, 10(20):9504, 2018. [YKT+15] T. Yokouchi, N. Kanazawa, A. Tsukazaki, Y. Kozuka, A. Kikkawa, Y. Taguchi, M. Kawasaki, M. Ichikawa, F. Kagawa, and Y. Tokura. Formation of In-plane Skyrmions in Epitaxial MnSi Thin Films as Revealed by Planar Hall Effect. Journal of the Physical Society of Japan, 84(10):104708, 2015. [WC67] R. H. Walden and R. F. Cotellessa. Magnetoresistance of Nickel-Copper Single-Crystal Thin Films. Journal of Applied Physics, 38(3):1335, 1967. [TYY+12] A. Tonomura, X. Yu, K. Yanagisawa, T. Matsuda, Y. Onose, N. Kanazawa, H. S. Park, and Y. Tokura. Real-Space Observation of Skyrmion Lattice in Helimagnet MnSi Thin Samples. Nano Letters, 12(3):1673, 2012. [HC12] S. X. Huang and C. L. Chien. Extended Skyrmion Phase in Epitaxial FeGe(111) Thin Films. Physical Review Letters, 108(26):267201, 2012.},
  subject      = {Molekularstrahlepitaxie},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Ruester2005,
  author    = {R{\"u}ster, Christian},
  title     = {Magnetotransport effects in lateral and vertical ferromagnetic semiconductor junctions},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-15554},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2005},
  abstract  = {This work is an investigation of giant magnetoresistance (GMR), tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) and tunneling anisotropic magnetoresistance (TAMR)effects in (Ga,Mn) based ferromagnetic semiconductor junctions. Detailed results are published in the following articles: [1] C. R{\"u}ster, T. Borzenko, C. Gould, G. Schmidt, L.W. Molenkamp, X. Liu, T.J.Wojtowicz, J.K. Furdyna, Z.G. Yu and M. Flatt´e, Very Large Magnetoresistance in Lateral Ferromagnetic (Ga,Mn)As Wires with Nanoconstrictions, Physical Review Letters 91, 216602 (2003). [2] C. Gould, C. R{\"u}ster, T. Jungwirth, E. Girgis, G.M. Schott, R. Giraud, K. Brunner, G. Schmidt and L.W. Molenkamp, Tunneling Anisotropic Magnetoresistance: A Spin-Valve-Like Tunnel Magnetoresistance Using a Single Magnetic Layer, Physical Review Letters 93, 117203 (2004). [3] C. R{\"u}ster, C. Gould, T. Jungwirth, J. Sinova, G.M. Schott, R. Giraud, K. Brunner, G. Schmidt and L.W. Molenkamp, Very Large Tunneling Anisotropic Magnetoresistance of a (Ga,Mn)As/GaAs/(Ga,Mn)As Stack, Physical Review Letters 94, 027203 (2005). [4] C. R{\"u}ster and C. Gould, T. Jungwirth, E. Girgis, G.M. Schott, R. Giraud, K. Brunner, G. Schmidt and L.W. Molenkamp, Tunneling anisotropic magnetoresistance: Creating a spin-valve-like signal using a single ferromagnetic semiconductor layer, Journal of Applied Physics 97, 10C506 (2005).},
  subject      = {Galliumarsenid},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Richter2003,
  author    = {Richter, Georg},
  title     = {Nachweis der elektrischen Spin-Injektion in II-VI-Halbleiter mittels Messung des elektrischen Widerstandes},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-10911},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2003},
  abstract  = {Die bisherigen Ergebnisse der elektrischen Spininjektion in Halbleiter im diffusivem Regime werden mit dem Modell von Schmidt et. al gut beschrieben. Eine Folgerung aus diesem Modell ist, dass n-dotierte, verd{\"u}nnte magnetische Halbleiter ("diluted magnetic semiconductors", DMS) als Injektor-Materialien f{\"u}r die elektrische Spininjektion in Halbleiter gut geeignet sind. Im Jahr 1999 wurde dar{\"u}ber hinaus die elektrische Injektion von einem DMS in einem nicht magnetisch dotierten Halbleiter ("non magnetic semiconductors", NMS) mit optischen Mitteln nachgewiesen. Die elektrischen Eigenschaften des Metall-Halbleiter-Kontaktes vom Materialsystem n-(Be,Zn,Mn)Se - n-(Be,Zn)Se wurden untersucht und optimiert, wobei spezifische Kontakwiderst{\"a}nde von bis zu ca. 2 10^-3 Ohm cm^2 bei 4 K erreicht wurden. Der Kontakt zwischen n-(Be,Zn,Mn)Se und n-(Be,Zn)Se ist unkritisch, weil der auftretende Leitungsband-Offset lediglich 40 meV betr{\"a}gt. Die Spininjektionsmessungen wurden an Bauteilen mit einem adaptiertem Design der Transmission-Line Messungen ("TLM") durchgef{\"u}hrt. Bei diesem Materialsystem wurde am Gesamtbauteil ein positiver Magnetowiderstand von bis zu 25 \% detektiert. Da sowohl der intrinsische Magnetowiderstand der einzelnen Halbleiterschichten negativ bzw. konstant war, als auch kein besonderes Magnetowiderstandsverhalten an der Metall-Halbleiter-Grenzschicht festgestellt werden konnte, kann dieser Magnetowiderstand als erster elektrischer Nachweis einer Spininjektion in einen Halbleiter angesehen werden. Die bei geringeren Temperaturen (300 mK und 2 K) bereits bei kleineren B-Feldern eintretende S{\"a}ttigung des Widerstandes ist dar{\"u}berhinaus mit der Temparaturabh{\"a}ngigkeit der Zeeman-Aufspaltung des DMS in Einklang zu bringen. Eine systematische Untersuchung dieses "Large Magnetoresistance" Effektes von der Dotierung der beteiligten Halbleiter zeigt hingegen ein komplexeres Bild auf. Es scheint ein optimales Dotierregime, sowohl f{\"u}r den DMS als auch f{\"u}r den NMS zu geben. H{\"o}here oder geringere Dotierung reduzieren die relative Gr{\"o}ße des positiven Magnetowiderstandes. Auch bei stark unterschiedlich dotierten DMS- und NMS-Schichten tritt eine (partielle) Unterdr{\"u}ckung des Magnetowiderstandes auf, in {\"U}bereinstimmung mit dem Modell. Dies l{\"a}sst den Schluss zu, dass neben einer, der Spininjektion abtr{\"a}glichen, großen Differenz der Ladungstr{\"a}gerdichten, evtl. auch die Bandstrukturen der beteiligten Halbleiter f{\"u}r die Spininjektionseffekte von Bedeutung ist. Um die elektrische Spininjektion auch in der technologisch wichtigen Familie der III/V Halbleiter etablieren zu k{\"o}nnen, wurde die elektrische Spininjektion von n-(Cd,Mn)Se in n-InAs untersucht. Basierend auf den Prozessschritten "Elektronenstrahlbelichtung" und "nasschemisches {\"A}tzen" wurde eine {\"A}tztechnologie entwickelt und optimiert, bei der die {\"A}tzraten {\"u}ber die zuvor durchgef{\"u}hrte EBL kontrollierbar eingestellt werden k{\"o}nnen. Mesas mit Breiten von bis zu 12 nm konnten damit hergestellt werden. Untersuchungen zur elektrischen Spininjektion von (Cd,Mn)Se in InAs wurden mit Stromtransport senkrecht zur Schichtstruktur durchgef{\"u}hrt. Erste Messungen deuten bei niedrigen Magnetfeldern (B< 1,5 T) auf eine {\"a}hnliche Abh{\"a}ngigkeit des Gesamtwiderstand vom externen Feld hin wie im Materialsystem (Be,Zn,Mn)Se - (Be,Zn)Se. Allerdings tritt bei h{\"o}heren Feldern ein stark negativer Magnetowiderstand des Gesamtbauteils auf, der qualitativ einen {\"a}hnlichen Verlauf zeigt wie die (Cd,Mn)Se-Schicht allein. Da die I/U Kennlininen des Gesamtbauteils Nichtlinearit{\"a}ten aufweisen, k{\"o}nnen Tunneleffekte an einer oder mehrerer Barrieren eine wichtige Rolle spielen. Ob durch diese Tunneleffekte eine elektrische Spinijektion induziert wird, kann noch nicht abschließend gekl{\"a}rt werden. W{\"u}nschenswert ist daher eine weitere Charakterisierung der Einzelschichten. Ein weiteres Ziel ist, in Verbindung mit den oben angef{\"u}hrten technologischen Vorbereitungen, eine durch Nanostrukturierung erm{\"o}glichte, delokale Messung des Magnetowiderstand. Durch dieses Messverfahren k{\"o}nnten etwaige Tunnel-Effekte an der Metall-DMS Schicht zwanglos von denen an der DMS-NMS Grenzschicht getrennt werden.},
  subject      = {Zwei-Sechs-Halbleiter},
  language  = {de}
}
@phdthesis{BrandensteinKoeth2010,
  author    = {Brandenstein-K{\"o}th, Bettina},
  title     = {Nichtlinearer Magnetotransport und memristive Funktionen von nanoelektronischen Bauteilen},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-53643},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2010},
  abstract  = {Gegenstand dieser Arbeit sind Transportuntersuchungen an nanoelektronischen Bauelementen, wobei der Schwerpunkt in der Analyse von nichtlinearen Transporteigenschaften hybrider Strukturen stand. Zum Einsatz kamen auf GaAs basierende Heterostrukturen mit zum Beispiel kleinen Metallkontakten, die zu Symmetriebrechungen f{\"u}hren. Die Untersuchungen wurden bei tiefen Temperaturen bis hin zu Raumtemperatur durchgef{\"u}hrt. Es kamen zudem magnetische Felder zum Einsatz. So wurden zum einen der asymmetrische Magnetotransport in Nanostrukturen mit asymmetrischer Gateanordnung unter besonderer Ber{\"u}cksichtigung der Phononstreuung analysiert, zum anderen konnte ein memristiver Effekt in InAs basierenden Strukturen studiert werden. Des Weiteren konnte ein beachtlicher Magnetowiderstand in miniaturisierten CrAu-GaAs Bauelementen beobachtet werden, der das Potential besitzt, als Basis f{\"u}r extrem miniaturisierte Sensoren f{\"u}r den Betrieb bei Raumtemperatur eingesetzt zu werden.},
  subject      = {Magnetowiderstand},
  language  = {de}
}
@phdthesis{Frey2011,
  author    = {Frey, Alexander},
  title     = {Spin-Dependent Tunneling and Heterovalent Heterointerface Effects in Diluted Magnetic II-VI Semiconductor Heterostructures},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-78133},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2011},
  abstract  = {The contribution of the present thesis consists of three parts. They are centered around investigating certain semiconductor heterointerfaces relevant to spin injection, exploring novel, diluted magnetic single barrier tunneling structures, and further developing diluted magnetic II-VI resonant tunneling diodes.},
  subject      = {Zwei-Sechs-Halbleiter},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Scheibner2007,
  author    = {Scheibner, Ralf},
  title     = {Thermoelectric Properties of Few-Electron Quantum Dots},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-26699},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2007},
  abstract  = {This thesis presents an experimental study of the thermoelectrical properties of semiconductor quantum dots (QD). The measurements give information about the interplay between first order tunneling and macroscopic quantum tunneling transport effects in the presence of thermal gradients by the direct comparison of the thermoelectric response and the energy spectrum of the QD. The aim of the thesis is to contribute to the understanding of the charge and spin transport in few-electron quantum dots with respect to potential applications in future quantum computing devices. It also gives new insight into the field of low temperature thermoelectricity. The investigated QDs were defined electrostatically in a two dimensional electron gas (2DEG) formed with a GaAs/(Al,Ga)As heterostructure by means of metallic gate electrodes on top of the heterostructure. Negative voltages with respect to the potential of the 2DEG applied to the gate electrodes were used to deplete the electron gas below them and to form an isolated island of electron gas in the 2DEG which contains a few ten electrons. This QD was electrically connected to the 2DEG via two tunneling barriers. A special electron heating technique was used to create a temperature difference between the two connecting reservoirs across the QD. The resulting thermoelectric voltage was used to study the charge and spin transport processes with respect to the discrete energy spectrum and the magnetic properties of the QD. Such a two dimensional island usually exhibits a discrete energy spectrum, which is comparable to that of atoms. At temperatures below a few degrees Kelvin, the electrostatic charging energy of the QDs exceeds the thermal activation energy of the electrons in the leads, and the transport of electrons through the QD is dominated by electron-electron interaction effects. The measurements clarify the overall line shape of thermopower oscillations and the observed fine structure as well as additional spin effects in the thermoelectrical transport. The observations demonstrate that it is possible to control and optimize the strength and direction of the electronic heat flow on the scale of a single impurity and create spin-correlated thermoelectric transport in nanostructures, where the experimenter has a close control of the exact transport conditions. The results support the assumption that the performance of thermoelectric devices can be enhanced by the adjustment of the QD energy levels and by exploiting the properties of the spin-correlated charge transport via localized, spin-degenerate impurity states. Within this context, spin entropy has been identified as a driving force for the thermoelectric transport in the spin-correlated transport regime in addition to the kinetic contributions. Fundamental considerations, which are based on simple model assumptions, suggest that spin entropy plays an important role in the presence of charge valence fluctuations in the QD. The presented model gives an adequate starting point for future quantitative analysis of the thermoelectricity in the spin-correlated transport regime. These future studies might cover the physics in the limit of single electron QDs or the physics of more complex structures such as QD molecules as well as QD chains. In particular, it should be noted that the experimental investigations of the thermopower of few-electron QDs address questions concerning the entropy transport and entropy production with respect to single-bit information processing operations. These questions are of fundamental physical interest due to their close connection to the problem of minimal energy requirements in communication, and thus ultimately to the so called "Maxwell's demon" with respect to the second law of thermodynamics.},
  subject      = {Quantenpunkt},
  language  = {en}
}