MnAs Nanocrystals Embedded in GaAs

In the last years a lot of effort has been devoted to a search for hybrid ferromagnet–semiconductor structures in aim of novel information storage and spin electronics applications. Nanocomposites with ferromagnetic above room temperature MnAs nanoclusters, embedded in GaAs matrix (MnAs/GaAs), are promising candidates for this type of material (e.g. [1–3]). Recently, it has been reported that thermal annealing of Ga1−xMnxAs layers leads to formation of MnAs dots (e.g. [4, 5]). In this work we performed systematic studies of a series of Ga1−xMnxAs layers, annealed at different temperatures, in order to find correlations between structural and magnetic properties of resulting composite (Mn,Ga)As material.