Tetragonal zinc-blende MnGa ultra-thin films with high magnetization directly grown on epi-ready GaAs(111) substrates

We report on high quality MnGa epilayers directly grown on GaAs(111)-(1 × 1) reconstructed surface. MnGa layers are characterized by the stacking of (111) planes of tetragonal zinc-blende structure, which are rotated by 11° with respect to the underlying (111) planes of the GaAs lattice. These ultra-thin MnGa epilayers with lattice parameters a = 0.55 nm and c = 0.61 nm are stabilized for thickness between 5 and 20 nm with a net magnetic moment of 3.2 μB per Mn atom. These epilayers are potentially suited for semiconductor spintronics applications due to the reversal of its magnetization in relatively low magnetic fields.