Magnetic Properties and Electronic Origin of the Interface between Dilute Magnetic Semiconductors with Orthogonal Magnetic Anisotropy

Published

May 15, 2020

Author(s)

Ryan F. Need, Seul-Ki Bac, Xinyu Liu, Sanghoon Lee, Brian Kirby, Margaret Dobrowolska, Jacek Kossut, Jacek K. Furdyna

Abstract

Controlling changes in magnetic anisotropy across epitaxial film interfaces is an important prerequisite for many spintronic devices. For the canonical dilute magnetic semiconductor GaMnAs, magnetic anisotropy is highly tunable through strain and doping, making it a fascinating model system for exploration of anisotropy control in a carrier-mediated ferromagnet. Here, we have used transmission electron microscopy and polarized neutron reflectometry to characterize the interface between GaMnAs-based layers designed to have anisotropy vectors oriented at right angles from one another. For a bilayer of G_1-xMn_xAs_1-yP_y and Ga_1-xMn_xAs, we find that the entirety of the Ga_1-xMn_xAs layer exhibits in-plane magnetic anisotropy, and that the majority of the G_1-xMn_xAs_1-yP_y exhibits perpendicular anisotropy. However, near the Ga_1-xMn_xAs interface, we observe a thin Mn-rich region of the nominally perpendicular G_1-xMn_xAs_1-yP_y that instead exhibits in-plane anisotropy. Using first-principle energy considerations, we explain this sub-layer as a natural consequence of interfacial carrier migration.

Citation

Physical Review Materials

Volume

4

Issue

5

Pub Type

Journals

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Keywords

neutron scattering, dilute magnetic semiconductors

Citation

Need, R. , Bac, S. , Liu, X. , Lee, S. , Kirby, B. , Dobrowolska, M. , Kossut, J. and Furdyna, J. (2020), Magnetic Properties and Electronic Origin of the Interface between Dilute Magnetic Semiconductors with Orthogonal Magnetic Anisotropy, Physical Review Materials, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=929865 (Accessed April 25, 2024)