Berlin 2012 – scientific programme
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O: Fachverband Oberflächenphysik
O 72: [MA] Joint Session "Surface Magnetism III" (jointly with O)
O 72.8: Talk
Thursday, March 29, 2012, 17:00–17:15, BH 243
Growth mode and atomic structure of MnSi thin films on the Si(111) surface — •Benjamin Geisler1, Peter Kratzer1, Takayuki Suzuki2,3, Theresa Lutz2, Giovanni Costantini2,4, and Klaus Kern2,5 — 1Fakultät für Physik and Center for Nanointegration, Universität Duisburg-Essen, 47048 Duisburg, Germany — 2Max-Planck-Institut für Festkörperforschung, D-70569 Stuttgart, Germany — 3Department of Electronics Engineering and Computer Science, Fukuoka University, Fukuoka 814-0180, Japan — 4Department of Chemistry, University of Warwick, Coventry, CV4 7AL, United Kingdom — 5Institut de Physique de la Matière Condensée, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
Thin films of MnSi, epitaxially grown on Si(111), are interesting in the field of spin injection into semiconductors. However, due to the complexity of the material, little is known about the film atomic structure and its dependence on the growth conditions. We performed DFT calculations for thin films of MnSi on Si(111) in their ground state crystal structure (B20) to analyze experimental STM images which recently revealed the coexistence of different surface terminations. We give an explanation for the atomic structure behind this observation and present evidence that the film structure depends on the growth protocol (codeposition vs. reactive epitaxy). Furthermore, our calculations indicate an increased magnetic moment of the films due to the biaxial strain induced by the substrate and a preference of ferromagnetic alignment over antiferromagnetic orderings. This makes the material promising for applications in Si-based spintronics.