| The high resolution X-ray difraction measurements of (Ga,Mn)As and (Ga,Mn)(As,P) epilayers showed a structural anisotropy in the form of stacking faults which are present in the (-1-11) and (111) planes and absent in the (-111) and (1-11) planes. Our full-potential density functional calculations explain the energetic preference of substitutional Mn to decorate the stacking faults. This preference energy is comparable with the formation energy of the faults in a pure GaAs. We surmise that the enhanced Mn density along the common [1-10] direction of the stacking fault planes represents the micro-structural origin of the in-plane uniaxial magnetocrystalline anisotropy of these semiconductors. |
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