IOP Publishing, Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics, 16(46), p. 165502, 2013
DOI: 10.1088/0022-3727/46/16/165502
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Metallic trilayers are successfully used to fabricate spintronic devices. To pursue an analogue of layer-structured spintronic materials, we demonstrate that it is possible to obtain attractive magnetic properties in hole-doped Mn/Si trilayers. We found that by forming a trilayer structure, with Mn-occupying interstitial sites, and by introducing a layer of holes in between, the sample can be a half-metal. This new finding should open a viable route to grow Si-based half-metallic spintronic materials because doping Mn at interstitial sites significantly reduces the formation-energy barrier as compared with the transition metal element occupying substitutional sites. An argument is also presented that a finite width of an Mn layer may not destroy the half-metallic property. (Some figures may appear in colour only in the online journal)