Spin and orbital magnetic moments of Fe in the n-type ferromagnetic semiconductor (In,Fe)As
The electronic and magnetic properties of Fe atoms in the ferromagnetic semiconductor (In,Fe)As codoped with Be have been studied by x-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) and x-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD) at the Fe L{sub 2,3} edge. The XAS and XMCD spectra showed simple spectral line shapes similar to Fe metal, but the ratio of the orbital and spin magnetic moments (M{sub orb}/M{sub spin}) estimated using the XMCD sum rules was significantly larger than that of Fe metal, indicating a significant orbital moment of Fe 3d electrons in (In,Fe)As:Be. The positive value of M{sub orb}/M{sub spin} implies that the Fe 3d shell is more than half-filled, which arises from the hybridization of the Fe{sup 3+} (d{sup 5}) state with the charge-transfer d{sup 6}L{sub ¯} states, where L{sub ¯} is a ligand hole in the host valence band. The XMCD intensity as a function of magnetic field indicated hysteretic behavior of the superparamagnetic-like component due to discrete ferromagnetic domains.