Abstract
Embedding magnetic moments into semiconductor heterostructures offers a tuneable access to various forms of magnetic ordering and phase transitions in low-dimensional electron systems. In general, the moments are introduced artificially, by either doping with ferromagnetic atoms, or electrostatically confining odd-electron quantum dots1,2,3,4. Here, we report experimental evidence of an independent, and intrinsic, source of localized spins in high-mobility GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructures with large setback distance (≈80 nm) in modulation doping. Measurements reveal a quasi-regular distribution of the spins in the delocalized Fermi sea, and a mutual interaction via the Ruderman–Kittel–Kasuya–Yosida (RKKY) indirect exchange below 100 mK. We show that a simple model on the basis of the fluctuations in background potential on the host two-dimensional electron system can explain the observed results quantitatively, which suggests a ‘disorder-templated’ microscopic origin of the localized moments.
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Acknowledgements
The work was supported by an EPSRC funded project. A.G. acknowledges discussions with C. J. B. Ford, G. Gumbs, M. Stopa, P. B. Littlewood, H. R. Krishnamurthy, B. D. Simons, C. M. Marcus, D. Goldhaber-Gordon and K. F. Berggren. C.S. acknowledges financial support from the Gottlieb Daimler and Karl Benz Foundation.
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Experimental work and data analysis were carried out by C.S. and A.G., project planning by A.G. and M.P. and wafer growing by I.F. and D.A.R.
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Siegert, C., Ghosh, A., Pepper, M. et al. The possibility of an intrinsic spin lattice in high-mobility semiconductor heterostructures. Nature Phys 3, 315–318 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/nphys559
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nphys559
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