Regensburg 2013 – scientific programme

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MA: Fachverband Magnetismus

MA 25: Magnetic Heusler Compounds

MA 25.11: Talk

Wednesday, March 13, 2013, 12:00–12:15, H10

Different stacking of square layers in tetragonal Heusler compounds (Mn₃X, X=Ga, Ge, Sn) with perpendicular magnetization — •S.-C. Wu, G. H. Fecher, and C. Felser — Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids, Dresden, Germany

Tetragonal Mn₃X (X=Ga, Ge, Sn) compounds attracted attention because of the perpendicular magnetization in thin films. The tetragonal Heusler structure can be built by stacking of square layers. The type of stacking maybe controlled by the conditions at the thin film growth. The most interesting property of binary Heusler alloys Mn₃X with tetragonal structure is the magneto-crystalline anisotropy (MCA). Consider layers as follows: A contains Mn and X, in A’ the positions of Mn and X are exchanged, and B contains only Mn. The tetragonal Heusler type binaries (Al₃Ti-type) are build by ABA’B stacking of square layers, whilst ABAB stacking results in the CuTi₃-type structure. Calculations were performed for both type of structures. The perpendicular magneto-crystalline anisotropy in the CuTi₃ structure was found to be E_MCA = 0.82, 0.95, 1.22 meV for Mn₃Ga, Mn₃Ge, Mn₃Sn. Those values make them promising MCA materials. Furthermore, we report crystalline, electronic, and magnetic structure as well as elastic properties of the compounds.