Threshold MnAs thickness for the formation of ordered alpha/beta stripes in MnAs/GaAs(001)
Author(s): Sacchi, M (Sacchi, Maurizio); Casaretto, N (Casaretto, Nicolas); Coelho, L (Coelho, Leticia); Eddrief, M (Eddrief, Mahmoud); Ma, JL (Ma, Jialin); Spezzani, C (Spezzani, Carlo); Vidal, F (Vidal, Franck); Wang, HL (Wang, Hailong); Zhao, JH (Zhao, Jianhua); Zheng, YL (Zheng, Yunlin)
Source: JOURNAL OF PHYSICS D-APPLIED PHYSICS Volume: 53 Issue: 26 Article Number: 265005 DOI: 10.1088/1361-6463/ab82da Published: JUN 24 2020
Abstract: Manganese arsenide layers epitaxially grown on GaAs(001) are known to feature a temperature dependent self-assembled microstructure of ordered stripes, alternating the ferromagnetic alpha and paramagnetic beta phases. The surface dipolar fields generated by the alpha/beta stripes have been used for achieving temperature controlled magnetization switching of a ferromagnetic overlayer. For this kind of application, it is advantageous to minimize the MnAs layer thickness. In this work we investigate, using x-ray scattering techniques, the presence of the ordered microstructure as a function of the MnAs layer thickness and we identify a minimum value of similar to 40 nm for the formation of ordered alpha/beta stripes in MnAs/GaAs(001). These results have an impact for envisaging magnetization-switching applications that rely on the control of the temperature-or laser-driven surface dipolar fields in MnAs-based devices.
Accession Number: WOS:000533614500001
Author Identifiers:
Author Web of Science ResearcherID ORCID Number
Zhao, Jianhua 0000-0003-2269-3963
ISSN: 0022-3727
eISSN: 1361-6463
Full Text: https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1361-6463/ab82da