Raising the operating temperature of (Ga,Mn)As/GaAs spin light emitting diodes by applying post-growth treatment

Spin light emitting diodes (spin-LEDs) containing (Ga,Mn)As ferromagnetic layers are fabricated based on InGaAs/GaAs heterostructures and studied. We achieve increases in the operating temperatures of our spin-LEDs by subjecting the surface of the structures, prior to depositing an ohmic metal contact, to pulsed laser annealing. The fabricated devices produce circularly polarized electroluminescence when placed in an external magnetic field. The temperatures at which circularly polarized electroluminescence is still observed is raised from 30 K for unprocessed structure to 110 K for laser-annealed structures. The observed effect is linked to an increase in the Curie temperature of the (Ga,Mn)As layer as a result of laser impact.