Transport Characterization of the Magnetic Anisotropy of (Ga,Mn)As

TL;DR

This paper introduces a transport-based method using resistance polar plots to visualize and quantify magnetic anisotropy components in (Ga,Mn)As, revealing multiple anisotropy directions that other techniques may miss.

Contribution

The paper presents a novel, high-resolution transport measurement technique that effectively visualizes and distinguishes multiple magnetic anisotropy components in (Ga,Mn)As.

Findings

Revealed both [-110] and [010] anisotropy components in (Ga,Mn)As layers

Demonstrated higher sensitivity compared to other techniques

Provided a detailed fingerprint of magnetic anisotropy symmetry

Abstract

The rich magnetic anisotropy of compressively strained (Ga,Mn)As has attracted great interest recently. Here we discuss a sensitive method to visualize and quantify the individual components of the magnetic anisotropy using transport. A set of high resolution transport measurements is compiled into color coded resistance polar plots, which constitute a fingerprint of the symmetry components of the anisotropy. As a demonstration of the sensitivity of the method, we show that these typically reveal the presence of both the [-110] and the [010] uniaxial magnetic anisotropy component in (Ga,Mn)As layers, even when most other techniques reveal only one of these components.