Effect of spin-glass order on magnetic polarons in semimagnetic semiconductors

Abstract

A theory accounting for the specific features of magnetic polarons (MP) in the presence of spin glass order is presented. We derive and solve selfconsistent equations for i) the polaron magnetisation, ii) the thermodynamically averaged carrier--spin, and iii) for the spin glass order parameter. The temperature dependence of these quantities is analysed in detail. The modification of the spin glass phase due to the presence of the exchange field of the carrier inside the magnetic polaron volume is investigated. The onset of spin glass order leads to a plateau--like flattening in the temperature dependence of the MP energy at low temperatures. It is found that solutions of spin glass equations are needed to optimally fit the experimental data of the temperature dependence of the exciton magnetic polaron (EMP) energy in (Cd,Mn)Te. Moreover, the dynamical aspects of the MP formation are discussed. Our model predicts qualitatively different temperature dependences of the MP formation time in different dynamical scenarios.