Adjustable anisotropy in ferromagnetic (Ga,Mn) (As,P) layered alloys

M. Cubukcu (1) , H. J. Von Bardeleben (1) , Kh. Khazen (1) , J. L. Cantin , O. Mauguin , L. Largeau , A. Lemaître

1 INSP - Institut des Nanosciences de Paris

We show that the extension of the widely studied GaMnAs system to quaternary Ga(1-x)Mn(x)As(1-y)P(y) alloys allows to change and inverse the Mn doping induced uniaxial strain and thus the uniaxial magnetocrystalline anisotropy fields. In particular for typical Mn concentrations of x=0.07 the Mn dopant induced strain can be completely compensated by phosphorous alloying in the y=0.06 range and layers with both in-plane or out-of-plane easy axes of magnetizations with extremely low barriers for magnetization switching can be obtained.

Domaines: Matière Condensée [cond-mat]

M. Cubukcu, H. J. Von Bardeleben, Kh. Khazen, J. L. Cantin, O. Mauguin, et al.. Adjustable anisotropy in ferromagnetic (Ga,Mn) (As,P) layered alloys. Physical Review B: Condensed Matter and Materials Physics (1998-2015), 2010, 81 (4), pp.041202. ⟨10.1103/PhysRevB.81.041202⟩. ⟨hal-01237484⟩