A. Trampert et al., Phase-transition-induced residual strain in ferromagnetic MnAs films epitaxially grown on GaAs(001), APPL PHYS L, 78(17), 2001, pp. 2461-2463
We investigate the atomic interface structure and the residual strain state
of ferromagnetic alpha (hexagonal) MnAs layers on cubic GaAs(001) by means
of high-resolution transmission electron microscopy and electron diffracti
on. Despite the different symmetries of the adjacent planes at the heteroin
terface and the large and orientation-dependent lattice mismatch, the hexag
onal MnAs grows epitaxially on GaAs(001) with the (1 (1) over bar .0) prism
plane parallel to the cubic substrate. The atomic arrangement at the inter
face, which is defined by the accommodation of the large lattice mismatch,
explains this extreme case of heteroepitaxial alignment. The anisotropic re
sidual strain distribution is discussed with respect to the particular proc
ess of lattice misfit relaxation in the presence of the ferromagnetic phase
transition. (C) 2001 American Institute of Physics.