An attractive way to change direction

Access through your institution Buy or subscribe The device is based on a thin film of the magnetic semiconductor gallium manganese arsenide (GaMnAs). Magnetic semiconductors combine

interesting ferromagnetic and semiconducting properties, and GaMnAs is a well-studied example. When manganese atoms are introduced into the GaAs host material, they replace individual

gallium atoms; but as manganese has one fewer valence electron, this results in positively charged 'holes', which are free to move about in the material and contribute to its

conductive properties. Importantly, the holes provide a mechanism for long-range ferromagnetic interactions between the magnetic manganese ions, which behave like localized spins. The

hole-mediated spin–spin interaction is sensitive to the charge-carrier concentration and thus the material's ferromagnetic properties can be controlled using an electric field — as has

been demonstrated, for example, for the ferromagnetic transition temperature. This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution ACCESS OPTIONS Access through your

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our FAQs * Contact customer support Authors * Dan Csontos View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar RIGHTS AND PERMISSIONS Reprints and permissions

ABOUT THIS ARTICLE CITE THIS ARTICLE Csontos, D. An attractive way to change direction. _Nature Phys_ 4, 754 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/nphys1079 Download citation * Issue Date:

October 2008 * DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nphys1079 SHARE THIS ARTICLE Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content: Get shareable link Sorry, a shareable

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