Apparent split between magnetic and structural phase transitions in epitaxial MnAs films

Abstract We investigate the magnetic field dependence of the magnetic and structural phase transition of an epitaxial MnAs layer grown on GaAs (1 0 0) by using SQUID magnetometry and X-ray diffraction. The phase transition temperatures obtained from magnetic and structural results revealed an apparent splitting for magnetic field less than ∼1 kOe, while for higher magnetic fields a behavior similar to that reported for bulk MnAs is observed.