Control of Coercivities in (Ga,Mn)As Thin Films by Small Concentrations of MnAs Nanoclusters

Abstract

We demonstrate that low concentrations of a secondary magnetic phase in (Ga,Mn)As thin films can enhance the coercivity by factors up to ~100 without significantly degrading the Curie temperature or saturation magnetisation. Magnetic measurements indicate that the secondary phase consists of MnAs nanoclusters, of average size ~7nm. This approach to controlling the coercivity while maintaining high Curie temperature, may be important for realizing ferromagnetic semiconductor based devices.

arXiv comment8 pages,4 figures. accepted for publication in Appl. Phys. Lett

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• In-plane uniaxial anisotropy rotations in (Ga,Mn)As thin films
• Reorientation Transition in Single-Domain (Ga,Mn)As
• High quality GaMnAs films grown with As dimers
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• Magneto crystalline anisotropies in (Ga,Mn)As: A systematic theoretical study and comparison with experiment
• Spin-transfer physics and the model of ferromagnetism in (Ga,Mn)As
• Enhanced ferromagnetism in cylindrically confined MnAs nanocrystals embedded in wurtzite GaAs nanowire shells
• Evidence of metallic clustering in annealed Ga1-xMnxAs from atypical scaling behavior of the anomalous Hall coefficient
• Electronic phase separation in insulating (Ga,Mn)As with low compensation: Super-paramagnetism and hopping conduction