Magnetic anisotropy of Ga1-xMnxAs thin films on GaAs (311)A probed by ferromagnetic resonance

We have studied the magnetic anisotropy of Ga1-xMnxAs thin films grown by low-temperature molecular beam epitaxy on GaAs (311)A substrates by means of ferromagnetic resonance spectroscopy. The angular dependence of the ferromagnetic resonance fields observed can be explained by two main contributions to the magnetic anisotropy: a cubic magnetic anisotropy field oriented along the crystallographic < 001 > axes caused by the symmetry of the GaAs host lattice, and an effective uniaxial magnetic anisotropy field along [311] presumably caused by the homoepitaxial growth of the layer. Additional smaller magnetic anisotropy contributions are discussed. Consequently, the dominating magnetic anisotropy of Ga1-xMnxAs on GaAs (311)A substrate appears to have the same origin as on GaAs (100) substrate. (c) 2006 American Institute of Physics.