High-field Faraday rotation in II-VI-based semimagnetic semiconductors

The effects of d-d exchange interaction have been studied by measuring high-field Faraday rotation in II-VI-based semimagnetic semiconductors. For Cd1-xMnxTe crystals with x = 0.43 and at room temperature a saturation in magnetic field dependence of the Faraday rotation has been observed. In the case of low temperature (T = 4.2 K) and low Mn content (x = 0.05), two steps for Cd1-xMnxTe and one step for Cd1-xMnxSe have been found on this dependence. These steps are interpreted by the nearest-neighbour cluster model. The evaluated exchange constant J(NN) is in agreement with direct magnetization measurements. Peculiarity of high-field Faraday rotation in Fe-and Co-based semimagnetic semiconductors has been discussed. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.