Measurement by antilocalization of interactions between InAs surface electrons and magnetic surface species
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Abstract
We show that antilocalization measurements can be used to experimentally study the interactions between InAs surface electrons and local moments of the rare earth ions Sm3+, Gd3+, and Ho3+ on the surface. Magnetic spin-flip scattering and spin-orbit scattering of the accumulation layer electrons are affected by the proximity of the rare earth ions. The spin-flip rate carries information about magnetic interactions. Within the temperature range studied, Sm3+ and Gd3+ yield temperature-independent electron spin-flip rates in proportion to their magnetic moments. In proximity to Ho3+ the InAs electrons however show a spin-flip rate increasing with temperature. We interpret the spin-flip rate due to Ho3+ as resulting from transitions between closely spaced energy levels of the ion on the surface. The experiments also show that the strength of spin-orbit interaction can be modified by the surface species. DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.87.054430