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We investigate the quasi-static magnetic behavior of ensembles of ferromagnetic nanoparticles consisting of MnP nanoclusters embedded in GaP(001) epilayers grown at 600, 650, and 700 °C. We use a phenomenological model, in which surface effects are included, to reproduce the experimental hysteresis curves measured as a function of temperature (120-260K) and direction of the applied field. The slope of the hysteresis curve during magnetization reversal is determined by the MnP nanoclusters size distribution, which is a function of the growth temperature. Our results show that the coercive field is very sensitive to the strength of the surface anisotropy, which reduces the energy barrier between the two states of opposite magnetization. Notably, this reduction in the energy barrier increases by a factor of 3 as the sample temperature is lowered from 260 to 120K. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several studies are conducted to explain the giant magneto-optical Faraday effect observed in the different GaP epilayers containing the MnP magnetic nanoclusters. The effect is shown to be completely dependent on the magnetization of the sample.

Angle dependent ferromagnetic resonance (FMR) spectroscopy has shown that MnP clusters are crystallographically oriented along specific GaP directions and possess high magnetic anisotropy fields. The results have shown that the clusters are monodomains and have shown that the growth temperature are used for adjusting the magnetic properties of the GaP:MnP structures, consisting of GaP(001) epilayers with embedded MnP nanoclusters.

The angular dependence of ferromagnetic resonance (FMR) of GaP(001) epilayers with embedded MnP nanoclusters (GaP:Mn) grown on a GaP(001) substrate using metal-organic vapor phase epitaxy (MOVPE) is examined. The angle dependent FMR spectra of a polycrystalline MnP thin film grown on a GaP(001) substrate has shown that the crystals b-axis is oriented favorably along the GaP [001] direction.