Influence of the different strains components on the uniaxial magnetic anisotropy constants for (Ga,Mn)As bulk system: a First-Principles Study

Abstract

We present a computational study of the magnetic anisotropy energy for a given concentration of the Mn ions in the GaAs host, in the framework of the density functional theory. We focus on the influence of a different kind of strains on the uniaxial magnetic anisotropy constants $K_1$ and $K_2$, which reflect the magnetic anisotropy energy out- and in- (001) plane, respectively. We have shown that the general trends for the applied biaxial strain on anisotropy constants are consistent with the experimental data. We have predicted the critical strains, for which the magnetization vector changes its direction. Our results have shown that it is not possible to modify considerably the uniaxial magnetic anisotropy constants, exposing (Ga,Mn)As to hydrostatic pressure of a magnitude reasonable from experimental point of view.

9 pages, 11 figures, 1 table