Magnetic behavior of MnAs precipitates in Ga1−xMnxAs diluted magnetic semiconductor

Abstract Ferromagnetic Ga 1− x Mn x As layers (where x ≈4.7–5.5%) were grown on (1 0 0) GaAs substrates by molecular beam epitaxy. These p-type (Ga,Mn)As films were revealed to have a ferromagnetic structure and ferromagnetism is observed up to a Curie temperature of 318 K, which is ascribed to the presence of MnAs secondary magnetic phases within the film. It is highly likely that the phase segregation occurs due to the high Mn cell temperature around 890–920 °C, as it is well established that GaMnAs is unstable at such a high temperature. The MnAs precipitate in the samples with x ≈4.7–5.5% has a Curie temperature T c ≈318 K, which was characterized from field-cooled and zero-field-cooled magnetization curves.