Magnetic domain patterns in as-grown and annealed (Ga,Mn)As epilayers with perpendicular easy axis

A. Dourlat , Catherine Gourdon (1) , V. Jeudy , Christophe Testelin (1) , L. Thevenard (1) , A. Lemaitre

1 INSP - Institut des Nanosciences de Paris

Magnetic properties of ferromagnetic (GaMn)As epilayers grown with tensile strain are investigated using combined experimental techniques including Kerr microscopy, transport measurements, and SQUID magnetometry. We show that post-growth annealing substantially increases the Curie temperature, strengthens the perpendicular anisotropy, weakens the in-plane anisotropy and drastically changes the magnetic domain pattern.

Mots clés: magnetic semiconductors; GaMnAs; annealing; magnetic anisotropy; domain effects

Domaines: Matière Condensée [cond-mat]

A. Dourlat, Catherine Gourdon, V. Jeudy, Christophe Testelin, L. Thevenard, et al.. Magnetic domain patterns in as-grown and annealed (Ga,Mn)As epilayers with perpendicular easy axis. 28th International Conference on the Physics of Semiconductors (ICPS-28), Jul 2006, Vienna, Unknown Region. pp.1211-1212. ⟨hal-01288167⟩