We show that effective electrical control of the magnetic properties in the ferromagnetic semiconductor (Ga,Mn)As is possible using the strain induced by a piezoelectric actuator even in the limit of high doping levels and high Curie temperatures, where direct electric gating is not possible. We demonstrate very large and reversible rotations of the magnetic easy axis. We compare the results obtained from magneto-transport and SQUID magnetometry measurements, extracting the dependence of the piezo-induced uniaxial magnetic anisotropy constant upon strain in both cases and detailing the limitations encountered in the latter approach.
We study the effects of growth temperature, Ga:As ratio and post-growth annealing procedure on the Curie temperature, Tc, of (Ga,Mn)As layers grown by molecular beam epitaxy. We achieve the highest Tc values for growth temperatures very close to the 2D-3D phase boundary. The increase in Tc, due to the removal of interstitial Mn by post growth annealing, is counteracted by a second process which reduces Tc and which is more effective at higher annealing temperatures. Our results show that it is necessary to optimize the growth parameters and post growth annealing procedure to obtain the highest Tc.
We present an experimental and theoretical study of magnetocrystalline anisotropies in arrays of bars patterned lithographically into (Ga,Mn)As epilayers grown under compressive lattice strain. Structural properties of the (Ga,Mn)As microbars are investigated by high-resolution X-ray diffraction measurements. The experimental data, showing strong strain relaxation effects, are in good agreement with finite element simulations. SQUID magnetization measurements are performed to study the control of magnetic anisotropy in (Ga,Mn)As by the lithographically induced strain relaxation of the microbars. Microscopic theoretical modeling of the anisotropy is performed based on the mean-field kinetic-exchange model of the ferromagnetic spin-orbit coupled band structure of (Ga,Mn)As. Based on the overall agreement between experimental data and theoretical modeling we conclude that the micropatterning induced anisotropies are of the magnetocrystalline, spin-orbit coupling origin.
We present a systematic study on the influence of epitaxial strain and hole concentration on the magnetic anisotropy in (Ga,Mn)As at 4.2 K. The strain was gradually varied over a wide range from tensile to compressive by growing a series of (Ga,Mn)As layers with 5% Mn on relaxed graded (In,Ga)As/GaAs templates with different In concentration. The hole density, the Curie temperature, and the relaxed lattice constant of the as-grown and annealed (Ga,Mn)As layers turned out to be essentially unaffected by the strain. Angle-dependent magnetotransport measurements performed at different magnetic field strengths were used to probe the magnetic anisotropy. The measurements reveal a pronounced linear dependence of the uniaxial out-of-plane anisotropy on both strain and hole density. Whereas the uniaxial and cubic in-plane anisotropies are nearly constant, the cubic out-of-plane anisotropy changes sign when the magnetic easy axis flips from in-plane to out-of-plane. The experimental results for the magnetic anisotropy are quantitatively compared with calculations of the free energy based on a mean-field Zener model. An almost perfect agreement between experiment and theory is found for the uniaxial out-of-plane and cubic in-plane anisotropy parameters of the as-grown samples. In addition, magnetostriction constants are derived from the anisotropy data.
A small fraction of phosphorus (up to 10 %) was incorporated in ferromagnetic (Ga,Mn)As epilayers grown on a GaAs substrate. P incorporation allows reducing the epitaxial strain or even change its sign, resulting in strong modifications of the magnetic anisotropy. In particular a reorientation of the easy axis toward the growth direction is observed for high P concentration. It offers an interesting alternative to the metamorphic approach, in particular for magnetization reversal experiments where epitaxial defects stongly affect the domain wall propagation.
The dependence of the magnetic anisotropy of As-capped (Ga,Mn)As epilayers on the annealing parameters - temperature and time - has been investigated. A uniaxial magnetic anisotropy is evidenced, whose orientation with respect to the crystallographic axes changes upon annealing from [-110] for the as-grown samples to [110] for the annealed samples. Both cubic an uniaxial anisotropies are tightly linked to the concentration of charge carriers, the magnitude of which is controlled by the annealing process.
A. Casiraghi
,A. W. Rushforth
,J. Zemen
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(2012)
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"Piezoelectric strain induced variation of the magnetic anisotropy in a high Curie temperature (Ga,Mn)As sample"
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Arianna Casiraghi
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