Tuning perpendicular magnetic anisotropy in (Ga,Mn)(As,P) by thermal annealing
Abstract
We have investigated the effects of post growth low temperature annealing on the magnetic, electrical and structural properties of (Ga0.94,Mn0.06)(As0.9,P0.1) layers grown by molecular beam epitaxy. By controlling the annealing time we are able to tune the magnetic anisotropy between an easy axis in the plane for the as-grown samples, to an easy axis perpendicular to the plane for fully annealed samples. The increase of the carrier density, as a result of annealing, is found to be the primary reason for the change in magnetic anisotropy, in qualitative agreement with theoretical predictions.
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