Magnetization steps in iron-based diluted magnetic semiconductors

The high-field magnetization of diluted magnetic semiconductors (DMS) has been calculated for magnetic ions with spin and orbital momenta. In particular, it is shown that, in addition to the spin-only case (Mn2+), also for Fe-based DMS characteristic steps in the low-temperature magnetization should be detectable. The position of the first step in the magnetization, being almost insensitive for crystal-field parameters and sample orientation, can be used to establish the nearest-neighbor interaction (JNN), provided that ¿JNN¿ exceeds a critical value.