ECE Seminar in Nanophotonics
THE “WHY” AND THE “HOW” OF MAKING SEMICONDUCTORS FERROMAGNETIC Jacek K. Furdyna, University of Notre Dame
Development of materials for use in storage and manipulation of information is among the key
challenges of modern technology. Traditionally storage of information involves magnetic
systems (e.g., structures involving giant magnetoresistance, GMR); and manipulation of
information involves semiconductor materials (e.g., the semiconductor chip). However, magnetic
materials are commonly distinct from semiconductors, so that one requires two different systems
to manipulate and to store information. In this talk I will review attempts to achieve both
semiconducting and magnetic properties in a single material, which can then be used to carry out
both these functionalities in a single chip, thus leading to enormous advantages in device size,
processing speed, and storage capacity. To describe these objectives, I will focus primarily on
the properties of alloys of III-V semiconductors with magnetic transition metal ions (e.g.,
GaMnAs), whose semiconductor properties derive from the well-known III-V semiconductor
compoundS, but which also display excellent ferromagnetic properties. I will discuss the crystal
growth of this material; its basic electronic and magnetic properties (including the origin of
ferromagnetism in this family of semiconductors); and examples of several devices based on this
alloy. I will then also discuss the major challenges that still need to be overcome before we can
consider application of this family of materials in practical devices.
Bio: Professor Jacek K. Furdyna received his Ph.D. degree in experimental solid state physics at
Northwestern University in 1960. After two years as a Postdoctoral Research Associate in
Northwestern's Department of Electrical Engineering (1960-62), he joined the staff of the M.I.T.
Francis Bitter National Magnet Laboratory in 1962. In 1966 he joined the Physics Department at
Purdue University as Associate Professor, and was promoted to Professor of Physics in 1972. At
Purdue he served as director of the Materials Research Laboratory from 1982 to 1985. In 1987
he was appointed to the Marquez Endowed Chair of Physics at the University of Notre Dame.
His current research interests include materials preparation of semiconductors by molecular
beam epitaxy (MBE); optical and far infrared spectroscopy of semiconductor superlattices,
quantum wells, and lower-dimensional structures such as quantum dots and nanowires; shortwavelength optoelectronics and blue-green light emitting devices; electron spin resonance and
ferromagnetic resonance of solids; neutron scattering; and spin-electronics (“spintronics”) based
on magnetic semiconductors. Prof. Furdyna is Fellow of the American Physical Society and of
American Association for the Advancement of Science. He is the author or co-author of over 800
publications. For the totality of his scientific accomplishments he was awarded doctorates
honoris causa by Warsaw University in Oct. 2002, and by Purdue University in 2007.
Time: March 27, 2015, Friday, 3:00 - 4:00 pm
Location: Old Petroleum Engineering Rm 121
Hosted by: Jingyu Lin and Hongxing Jiang