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Low-Temperature Growth of NiMnSb Heusler Alloy Thin Films

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 February 2011

J.R. Childress ,
J.A. Caballero ,
W.J. Geerts ,
F. Petroff ,
P. Galtier ,
Y. Suzuki ,
J.-U. Thiele  and
D. Weller
J.R. Childress
Affiliation:
Department of Materials Science and Eng., University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32611
J.A. Caballero
Affiliation:
Department of Materials Science and Eng., University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32611
W.J. Geerts
Affiliation:
Department of Materials Science and Eng., University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32611
F. Petroff
Affiliation:
UMR CNRS/Thomson, LCR Thomson-CSF, Domaine de Corbeville, 91404 Orsay, France
P. Galtier
Affiliation:
UMR CNRS/Thomson, LCR Thomson-CSF, Domaine de Corbeville, 91404 Orsay, France
Y. Suzuki
Affiliation:
Nat. Inst. for Advanced Interdisciplinary Research, Higashi, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305, Japan.
J.-U. Thiele
Affiliation:
IBM Almaden Research Center, 650 Harry Road, San Jose CA 95120–6099.
D. Weller
Affiliation:
IBM Almaden Research Center, 650 Harry Road, San Jose CA 95120–6099.
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Abstract

Ferromagnetic Heusler alloys such as NiMnSb may have unique applications to magnetoresistive devices because of their predicted half-metallic band-structure (i.e., 100% spin-polarized at the Fermi level). However, the high temperatures (>500°C) used to date for the synthesis of the ordered alloy in bulk or thin-film form is incompatible with the reliable fabrication of nanoscale multilayer structures from this material. We report on the growth of high-quality polycrystalline thin films, 200–1000Å thick, of Clb-structured NiMnSb by RF-magnetron sputtering of a composite NiMnSb target onto glass and silicon substrates at temperatures as low as 250°C. We have established that substrate temperature, deposition rate and argon gas pressures all play a critical role in obtaining the Clb-structured phase by direct deposition. Optimal conditions result in films whose properties, including lattice parameter, saturation magnetization, resistivity and magneto-optical Kerr rotation spectrum are identical to those of bulk NiMnSb. Additionally, coercive fields as low as a few oersteds make these films compatible with low-field applications.

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 475: Symposium M – Magnetic Ultrathin Films, Multilayers, and Surfaces – 1997 , 1997 , 15
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1997

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References

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