Cr doping-induced ferromagnetism in the spin-glass Cd1−xMnxTe studied by x-ray magnetic circular dichroism

The prototypical diluted magnetic semiconductor Cd1−xMnxTe is a spin glass (x < 0.6) or an antiferromagnet (x > 0.6) but becomes ferromagnetic upon doping with a small amount of Cr atoms. To investigate the origin of the ferromagnetism in Cd1−x−yMnxCryTe, we have studied its element specific magnetic properties by x-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) and x-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD). Measured XAS and XMCD spectra indicate that both Cr and Mn atoms are divalent and that the magnetic moments of Cr and Mn are aligned parallel. The magnetization of Mn increases with increasing Cr content, suggesting that ferromagnetic interaction exists between neighboring Mn and Cr ions despite the largely antiferromagnetic interaction between Mn atoms. By analyzing the element-specific magnetization curves, we conclude that Cr doping leads to the formation of ferromagnetic or superparamagnetic clusters consisting of several Cr ions surrounded by a much larger number of Mn ions.