Temperature dependent magnetic properties of the GaAs substrate of spin-LEDs

The temperature dependence of the magnetization of a light emitting diode having a ferromagnetic contact (spin-LED) is measured from 2 to 300 K in magnetic fields from 30 to 70 kOe and it is found that it originates from the GaAs substrate. The magnetization of GaAs comprises a van Vleck-type paramagnetic contribution to the susceptibility which scales inversely with the band gap of the semiconductor. Thus, the temperature dependence of the band gap of GaAs accounts for the non-linear temperature dependent magnetic susceptibility of GaAs and thus, at large magnetic fields, for the spin-LED. © IOP Publishing Ltd.