Interstitial Mn in (Ga,Mn)As: Binding energy and exchange coupling

Abstract

We present ab initio calculations of total energies of Mn atoms in various interstitial positions. The calculations are performed by the full-potential linearized plane-wave method. The minimum energy is found for tetrahedral T(As4) position, but the energy of the T(Ga4) site differs by only a few meV. The T(Ga4) position becomes preferable in the p-type materials. In samples with one substitutional and one interstitial Mn the Mn atoms tend to form close pair with antiparallel magnetic moments. We also use the spin-splitting of the valence band to estimate the exchange coupling Jpd for various positions of Mn. It is the same for the substitutional and T(As4) position and it is only slightly reduced for the T(Ga4) position. The hybridization of Mn d-states with six next-nearest neighbors of the interstitial Mn explains the insensitivity of Jpd to the position of Mn.