We present an experimental investigation of the magnetic, electrical and structural properties of Ga0.94Mn0.06As1-yPy layers grown by molecular beam epitaxy on GaAs substrates for y less than or equal to 0.3. X-ray diffraction measurements reveal tha
t the layers are under tensile strain which gives rise to a magnetic easy axis perpendicular to the plane of the layers. The strength of the magnetic anisotropy and the coercive field increase as the phosphorous concentration is increased. The resistivity of all samples shows metallic behaviour with the resistivity increasing as y increases. These materials will be useful for studies of micromagnetic phenomena requiring metallic ferromagnetic material with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy.
We demonstrate sensitivity of the Mn 3d valence states to strain in the ferromagnetic semiconductors (Ga,Mn)As and (Al,Ga,Mn)As, using x-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD). The spectral shape of the Mn $L_{2,3}$ XMCD is dependent on the orientati
on of the magnetization, and features with cubic and uniaxial dependence are distinguished. Reversing the strain reverses the sign of the uniaxial anisotropy of the Mn $L_3$ pre-peak which is ascribed to transitions from the Mn 2p core level to p-d hybridized valence band hole states. With increasing carrier localization, the $L_3$ pre-peak intensity increases, indicating an increasing 3d character of the hybridized holes.
