Magnetic properties of transition metals in semiconductors are of great interest for development of magnetoelectronic devices. Among materials under study are semi-magnetic semiconductors (diluted magnetic semiconductors, DMS) which combine the properties of magnetic materials and semiconductors. The materials behave like conventional non-magnetic semiconductors until an external magnetic field is applied. Instead of relying on the charge of conduction electrons, DMS uses spin-polarized electrons which occur in ferromagnetic materials and can be injected from a ferromagnet into non-magnetic materials under the influence of an external magnetic field.Interest in spin electronics is growing dramatically. One possible outcome from applying spin injection to a semiconductor is a possible spin-polarized field effect transistor. This is said to be achievable with technologies now existing. Ferromagnetic/semi-conductor heterostructures could also be exploited in applications such as nonvolatile memory and magnetic field sensors.
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