title: Magnetic properties of epitaxial Heusler alloy (Co(2/3)Fe(1/3))(3+x)Si(1-x)/GaAs(001) hybrid structures.
abstract: The magnetic properties of full Heusler alloy (Co(2/3)Fe(1/3))(3+x)Si(1-x)/GaAs(001) hybrid structures grown by molecular beam epitaxy have been investigated. The magnetic moment, the coercive field and the in-plane magnetic anisotropy of (Co(2/3)Fe(1/3))(3+x)Si(1-x) films with various Si compositions (-0.46≤x≤1) are discussed. The increase in amount of Si results in a significant reduction in the cubic magnetocrystalline anisotropy constant |K(1)(eff)|. K(1)(eff) changes sign and saturates near the stoichiometric composition of Co(2)FeSi and the easy axis of the cubic component changes from the [Formula: see text] direction to the [Formula: see text] direction accordingly. However, due to the presence of a dominating uniaxial magnetic anisotropy component, the easy axis of magnetization in total is shifted to the [110] direction. The saturation magnetization of stoichiometric Co(2)FeSi films turned out to be 1250 ± 120 emu cm(-3), being equivalent to 6.1 ± 0.57 (μ(B)/formula unit (fu)). The relatively close value of magnetic moment to the theoretically expected integer value (6 μ(B)) suggests that Co(2)FeSi films could be half-metallic ferromagnets.
authors.affiliation: Paul-Drude-Institut für Festkörperelektronik, Hausvogteiplatz 5-7, 10117 Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hashimoto
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Herfort
authors.forename: H-P
authors.initials: HP
authors.lastname: Schönherr
authors.forename: K H
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Ploog