Magnetization-Switched Metal-Insulator Transition in a (Ga,Mn)As Tunnel Device

Abstract

We observe the occurrence of an Efros-Shklovskii gap in (Ga,Mn)As based tunnel junctions. The occurrence of the gap is controlled by the extent of the hole wave-function on the Mn acceptor atoms. Using k.p-type calculations we show that this extent depends crucially on the direction of the magnetization in the (Ga,Mn)As (which has two almost equivalent easy axes). This implies one can reversibly tune the system into the insulating or metallic state by changing the magnetization.