Strain-engineered ferromagnetic in 1-xMn xAs films with in-plane easy axis

Abstract

Ferromagnetic In 1-xMn xAs semiconductor films (x=0.12) were grown by low-temperature molecular beam epitaxy on In 1-yAl yAs-AlSb-GaAs hybrid substrates. The built-in compressive strain induced by the In 1-yAl yAs buffer leads to an in-plane easy axis of magnetization. Detailed studies of magnetic anisotropy by ferromagnetic resonance and by direct magnetization measurements unambiguously show the existence of a uniaxial anisotropy in the layer plane, similar to that observed in compressively strained GaMnAs. This suggests that the difference between [110] and [11̄0] directions is general for III-Mn-As systems. © 2005 American Institute of Physics.