No Arabic abstract
We study magnetization reversal processes of in-plane magnetized (Ga,Mn)As epilayers with different hole concentrations in out-of-plane magnetic fields using magnetotransport measurements. A clear difference in the magnetization process is found in two separate samples with hole concentrations of 10^20 cm^-3 and 10^21 cm^-3 as the magnetization rotates from the out-of-plane saturation to the in-plane remanence. Magnetization switching process from the in-plane remanence to the out-of-plane direction, on the other hand, shows no hole concentration dependence, where the switching process occurs via domain wall propagation. We show that the balance of <100> cubic magnetocrystalline anisotropy and uniaxial [110] anisotropy gives an understanding of the difference in the out-of-plane magnetization processes of (Ga,Mn)As epilayers.
Kerr rotation and Superconducting QUantum Interference Device (SQUID) magnetometry measurements were performed on ultrathin (Ga$_{0.95}$Mn$_{0.05}$)As layers. The thinner layers (below 250 AA) exhibit magnetic properties different than those of thicker ones, associated with different microstructure, and some degree of inhomogeneity. The temperature dependence of the field-cooled-magnetization of the layers is recorded after successive low temperature annealings. While the Curie temperature of the thicker layer (250 AA) is nearly unchanged, the critical temperature of the thinner layers is enhanced by more than 23 K after two annealings. Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (SIMS) experiments on similar layers show that Mn is displaced upon annealing. The results are discussed considering a possible segregation of substitutional and interstitial Mn atoms at the surface of the (Ga,Mn)As layers.
Electrical current manipulation of magnetization switching through spin-orbital coupling in ferromagnetic semiconductor (Ga,Mn)As Hall bar devices has been investigated. The efficiency of the current-controlled magnetization switching is found to be sensitive to the orientation of the current with respect to the crystalline axes. The dependence of the spin-orbit effective magnetic field on the direction and magnitude of the current is determined from the shifts in the magnetization switching angle. We find that the strain induced effective magnetic field is about three times as large as the Rashba induced magnetic field in our GaMnAs devices.
We report single-color, time resolved magneto-optical measurements in ferromagnetic semiconductor (Ga,Mn)As. We demonstrate coherent optical control of the magnetization precession by applying two successive ultrashort laser pulses. The magnetic field and temperature dependent experiments reveal the collective Mn-moment nature of the oscillatory part of the time-dependent Kerr rotation, as well as contributions to the magneto-optical signal that are not connected with the magnetization dynamics.
We study a possible mechanism of the switching of the magnetic easy axis as a function of hole concentration in (Ga,Mn)As epilayers. In-plane uniaxial magnetic anisotropy along [110] is found to exceed intrinsic cubic magnetocrystalline anisotropy above a hole concentration of p = 1.5 * 10^21 cm^-3 at 4 K. This anisotropy switching can also be realized by post-growth annealing, and the temperature-dependent ac susceptibility is significantly changed with increasing annealing time. On the basis of our recent scenario [Phys. Rev. Lett. 94, 147203 (2005); Phys. Rev. B 73, 155204 (2006).], we deduce that the growth of highly hole-concentrated cluster regions with [110] uniaxial anisotropy is likely the predominant cause of the enhancement in [110] uniaxial anisotropy at the high hole concentration regime. We can clearly rule out anisotropic lattice strain as a possible origin of the switching of the magnetic anisotropy.
We report dynamic control of magnetization precession by light alone. A ferromagnetic (Ga,Mn)As epilayer was used for experiments. Amplitude of precession was modulated to a large extent by tuning the time interval between two successive optical pump pulses which induced torques on magnetization through a non-thermal process. Nonlinear effect in precession motion was also discussed.