Basic research studies on the growth and characterization of oriented thin films of magnetic materials on GaAs single crystal substrates will be conducted. The approach uses laser ablation as the primary film growth method, and includes consideration of lattice matching between the substrate and the deposited magnetic films. Permanent magnet compounds that have uniaxial anisotropy and are lattice matched to either (100) or (111) GaAs substrates will be investigated. Examples are the t-MnAl phase(CuAu-type), its related ternary alloys MnAlM(M=Ni, Cu, Zn) which are compatible with (100) GaAs, and the NiAs-type structure such as MnBi, MnSb, and MnBiSb compatible with (111) GaAs substrates. Characterization of the structural, compositional, and magnetic properties of the films is an integral part of the research. %%% This research addresses the epitaxial growth of thin films of magnetic materials on compound semiconductors which offers many possibilities for the discovery of new devices and the integration of magnetic storage media and active electronic or opto-electronic components for improvements in devices and integrated circuits used in computing, information processing, and telecommunications.
