Epitaxial growth and characterization of MnAs on InP and In _0.53Ga_0.47As

The heteroepitaxial growth of type-B ferromagnetic MnAs on InP and lattice matched In_0.53Ga_0.47As has been investigated for the first time. In situ reflection high energy electron diffraction during molecular beam epitaxy and atomic force microscopy are used to study the reconstruction and morphology, respectively, of the MnAs surface. The in-plane magnetic properties of the film are studied by magneto-optic Kerr effect measurements. The Curie temperature is estimated to be 315 K. The coercivity of 35 nm films measured at room temperature and 10 K are 860 Oe and 1410 Oe, respectively. The measured in-plane magnetocrystalline anisotropy constants K_u1 and K _u2 for the film are 2.747 × 10⁶ and 7.086 × 10⁶ erg cm^-3, respectively. The magnetization and hysteresis in the out-of-plane direction are characterized by a saturation magnetic field of 1.2 T and coercivity of 1600 Oe at 10 K.