Epitaxial Growth Of The Cubic L2(1)-Mn2.6ga Heusler Alloy On Mgo(001)

The Mn3Ga Heusler alloy possesses different crystalline structures representing a range of properties of interest for spintronic applications. We report on the structural and magnetic characterization of the disordered cubic-fcc L2(1)-Mn2.6Ga thin films grown on MgO(001) substrates. The first two nanometers of thickness of the Mn2.6Ga thin films are highly strained to the substrate with a lattice mismatch of 9.54%, playing the role of a template layer for the subsequent growth of relaxed L2(1)-Mn2.6Ga. Once the films reach a critical thickness of 15nm, the cubic phase reorients its epitaxial relationship from a (001) to a (111) in-plane orientation. Magnetic measurements show that the samples exhibit perpendicular magnetic anisotropy and also that the usually antiferromagnetic L2(1)-Mn3Ga films are ferromagnetic with a Curie temperature >400K due to partially compensated Mn moments. Published under license by AIP Publishing.