Paramagnetic Mn impurities on Ge and GaAs surfaces

Individual Mn impurities deposited on Ge(100), Ge(111), and GaAs(110) substrates present magnetic moments significantly larger compared to the average Mn magnetization in bulklike Ga1–xMnxAs and MnxGe1–x dilute magnetic semiconductors. The Mn magnetic moment is shown to change considerably going from Ge(100), to GaAs(110), and Ge(111). Independently of the substrate, the Mn per atom moment decreases with increasing coverage owing to the formation of antiferromagnetic Mn clusters. We observe no evidence of magnetically ordered surface layers down to a temperature of 5 K. The comparison of x-ray magnetic circular dichroism line shapes with that of a pure Mn d5 configuration reveals the partial delocalization of the Mn d states.