Novel Spintronic Devices Using Local Anisotropy Engineering in (Ga,Mn)As

• Published in: Journal of superconductivity and novel magnetism Vol. 23; no. 1; pp. 69 - 73
• Main Authors: Gould, C., Wenisch, J., Pappert, K., Hümpfner, S., Ebel, L., Brunner, K., Schmidt, G., Molenkamp, L. W.
• Format: Journal Article Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Published: Boston Springer US 2010; Springer
• Subjects: Characterization and Evaluation of Materials; Condensed Matter Physics; Condensed matter: electronic structure, electrical, magnetic, and optical properties; Electronic transport in condensed matter; Exact sciences and technology; Magnetic Materials; Magnetic properties and materials; Magnetic semiconductors; Magnetism; Original Paper; Physics; Physics and Astronomy; Spin polarized transport; Strongly Correlated Systems; Studies of specific magnetic materials; Superconductivity; (Ga,Mn)As; Magnetic semi-conductors; Magnetic anisotropy; Spintronics; Gallium arsenides; Patterning; Lithography; Doping; Ferromagnetic materials; Manganese additions; Semimagnetic semiconductors; Stress relaxation; Non volatile memory; Spin-orbit interactions; Nanotechnology
• ISSN: 1557-1939; 1557-1947
• DOI: 10.1007/s10948-009-0571-9

The prototypical ferromagnetic semi-conductor (Ga,MnAs) is interesting for spintronics devices, largely because of its rich magnetic and transport anisotropy. The lack of local anisotropy control has until recently limited device options to structures where all elements have the anisotropy characteristic of the parent layer. We describe here a novel approach to anisotropy control using lithographically engineered strain relaxation. By patterning the layer to create local strain relaxation, we allow for a controlled deformation of the crystal. The strong spin orbit coupling then leads to a new anisotropy term that can be independently tuned for each element of a compound device. We use this technique to demonstrate a novel non-volatile memory element.