Structural, magnetic, and transport properties of thin films of the Heusler alloy Co_(2)MnSi

摘要

Thin films of Co_(2)MnSi have been grown on a-plane sapphire substrates from three elemental targets by dc magnetron cosputtering. These films are single phase, have a strong (110) texture, and a saturation magnetization of 4.95μ_(B)/formula unit at 10 K. Films grown at the highest substrate temperature of 715 K showed the lowest resistivity (47 μΩ cm at 4.2 K) and the lowest coercivity (18 Oe). The spin polarization of the transport current was found to be of the order of 54% as determined by point contact Andreev reflection spectroscopy. A decrease in saturation magnetization with a decrease in film thickness and different transport behavior in thinner films indicate graded disorder in these films grown on nonlattice matched substrates.