No Arabic abstract
Our Introduction starts with a short general review of the magnetic and structural properties of the Heusler compounds which are under discussion in this book. Then, more specifically, we come to the discussion of our experimental results on multilayers composed of the Heusler alloys Co2MnGe and Co2MnSn with V or Au as interlayers. The experimental methods we apply combine magnetization and magneto-resistivity measurements, x-ray diffraction and reflectivity, soft x-ray magnetic circular dichroism and spin polarized neutron reflectivity. We find that below a critical thickness of the Heusler layers at typically dcr = 1.5 nm the ferromagnetic order is lost and spin glass order occurs instead. For very thin ferromagnetic Heusler layers there are peculiarities in the magnetic order which are unusual when compared to conventional ferromagnetic transition metal multilayer systems. In [Co2MnGe/Au] multilayers there is an exchange bias shift at the ferromagnetic hysteresis loops at low temperatures caused by spin glass ordering at the interface. In [Co2MnGe/V] multilayers we observe an antiferromagnetic interlayer long range ordering below a well defined Neel temperature originating from the dipolar stray fields at the magnetically rough Heusler layer interfaces.
All-Heusler multilayer structures have been investigated by means of high kinetic x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and x-ray magnetic circular dichroism, aiming to address the amount of disorder and interface diffusion induced by annealing of the multilayer structure. The studied multilayers consist of ferromagnetic Co$_2$MnGe and non-magnetic Rh$_2$CuSn layers with varying thicknesses. We find that diffusion begins already at comparably low temperatures between 200 $^{circ}$C and 250 $^{circ}$C, where Mn appears to be most prone to diffusion. We also find evidence for a 4 {AA} thick magnetically dead layer that, together with the identified interlayer diffusion, are likely reasons for the small magnetoresistance found for current-perpendicular-to-plane giant magneto-resistance devices based on this all-Heusler system.
Density-functional studies of the electronic structures and exchange interaction parameters have been performed for a series of ferromagnetic full Heusler alloys of general formula Co$_2$MnZ (Z = Ga, Si, Ge, Sn), Rh$_2$MnZ (Z = Ge, Sn, Pb), Ni$_2$MnSn, Cu$_2$MnSn and Pd$_2$MnSn, and the connection between the electronic spectra and the magnetic interactions have been studied. Different mechanisms contributing to the exchange coupling are revealed. The band dependence of the exchange parameters, their dependence on volume and valence electron concentration have been thoroughly analyzed within the Green function technique.
First-principles calculations are used in order to investigate phonon anomalies in non-magnetic and magnetic Heusler alloys. Phonon dispersions for several systems in their cubic L2$mathrm{_1}$ structure were obtained along the [110] direction. We consider compounds which exhibit phonon instabilities and compare them with their stable counterparts. The analysis of the electronic structure allows us to identify the characteristic features leading to structural instabilities. The phonon dispersions of the unstable compounds show that, while the acoustic modes tend to soften, the optical modes disperse in a way which is significantly different from that of the stable structures. The optical modes that appear to disperse at anomalously low frequencies are Raman active, which is considered an indication of a stronger polarizability of the unstable systems. We show that phonon instability of the TA$_{2}$ mode in Heusler alloys is driven by interaction(repulsion) with the low energy optical vibrations. The optical modes show their unusual behavior due to covalent interactions which are additional bonding features incommensurate with the dominating metallicity in Heusler compounds.
We have investigated the electronic and thermoelectric properties of half-Heusler alloys NiTZ (T = Sc, and Ti; Z = P, As, Sn, and Sb) having 18 valence electron. Calculations are performed by means of density functional theory and Boltzmann transport equation with constant relaxation time approximation, validated by NiTiSn. The chosen half-Heuslers are found to be an indirect band gap semiconductor, and the lattice thermal conductivity is comparable with the state-of-the-art thermoelectric materials. The estimated power factor for NiScP, NiScAs, and NiScSb reveals that their thermoelectric performance can be enhanced by appropriate doping rate. The value of ZT found for NiScP, NiScAs, and NiScSb are 0.46, 0.35, and 0.29, respectively at 1200 K.
HRTEM, nano-beam electronic diffraction, energy dispersive X-rays scanning spectroscopy, Vibrating Sample Magnetometry (VSM) and FerroMagnetic Resonance (FMR) techniques are used in view of comparing (static and dynamic) magnetic and structural properties of Co2MnGe (13 nm)/Al2O3 (3 nm)/Co (13 nm) tunnel magnetic junctions (TMJ), deposited on various single crystalline substrates (a-plane sapphire, MgO(100) and Si(111)). They allow for providing a correlation between these magnetic properties and the fine structure investigated at atomic scale. The Al2O3 tunnel barrier is always amorphous and contains a large concentration of Co atoms, which, however, is significantly reduced when using a sapphire substrate. The Co layer is polycrystalline and shows larger grains for films grown on a sapphire substrate. The VSM investigation reveals in-plane anisotropy only for samples grown on a sapphire substrate. The FMR spectra of the TMJs are compared to the obtained ones with a single Co and Co2MnGe films of identical thickness deposited on a sapphire substrate. As expected, two distinct modes are detected in the TMJs while only one mode is observed in each single film. For the TMJ grown on a sapphire substrate the FMR behavior does not significantly differ from the superposition of the individual spectra of the single films, allowing for concluding that the exchange coupling between the two magnetic layers is too small to give rise to observable shifts. For TMJs grown on a Si or on a MgO substrate the resonance spectra reveal one mode which is nearly identical to the obtained one in the single Co film, while the other observed resonance shows a considerably smaller intensity and cannot be described using the magnetic parameters appropriate to the single Co2MnGe film.