A theory of localized magnetic polarons in diluted magnetic semiconduc
tors is developed. The theory involves below band gap states and alloy
fluctuations utilizing the optimal fluctuation method. A comparison o
f the theoretical calculations with published experimental results is
performed. The implications of the comparison are discussed and the ne
ed for extending the theory to include an additional impurity/native l
attice defect potential described. The magnetic field and temperature
dependence of the polaron energies are also evaluated. (C) 1997 Americ
an Institute of Physics.