THEED study of CrTe thin films obtained by pulsed laser deposition

摘要

Ferromagnetic semimetals are valuable materials for spintronic applications. Recently, several theoretical papers reported that a good candidate in this respect is zinc-blende (ZB) CrTe. We report the THEED measurements of thin CrTe layers obtained by pulsed laser deposition on (100) KCl substrate by YAG:Nd~(3＋) laser. Layers were grown from tablets of pressed powder Cr_2Te_3. Films have good mirror-like morphology. High resolution diffraction patterns show a number of sharp Debye rings. Careful analysis points on the complex composition of the layers consisting mainly with hexagonal and cubic CrTe. Hexagonal structure of CrTe shows an lattice constants a = 4.181A, c = 7.324 A, while in the literature (J. Dijkstra et al. J. Phys. Cond. Matter 1. 9141 (1989)) these constants are a=3.997A, c=6.222 A. Inclusions of Te as well as hexagonal Cr are clearly visible. The phases of Cr_2Te_3 and Cr_3Te_4 are observed as well.