383 research outputs found
Spin- and time-resolved photoemission studies of thin Co2FeSi Heusler alloy films
We have studied the possibly half metallic Co2FeSi full Heusler alloy by
means of spin- and time-resolved photoemission spectroscopy. For excitation,
the second and fourth harmonic of femtosecond Ti:sapphire lasers were used,
with photon energies of 3.1 eV and 5.9 eV, respectively. We compare the
dependence of the measured surface spin polarization on the particular
photoemission mechanism, i.e. 1-photon-photoemission (1PPE) or 2-photon
photoemission (2PPE). The observed differences in the spin polarization can be
explained by a spin-dependent lifetime effect occurring in the 2-photon
absorption process. The difference in escape depth of the two methods in this
context suggests that the observed reduction of spin polarization (compared to
the bulk) cannot be attributed just to the outermost surface layer but takes
place at least 4-6 nm away from the surface.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures; submitted to Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic
Material
Kitaev interactions between j=1/2 moments in honeycomb Na2IrO3 are large and ferromagnetic: insights from ab initio quantum chemistry calculations
NaIrO, a honeycomb 5 oxide, has been recently identified as a
potential realization of the Kitaev spin lattice. The basic feature of this
spin model is that for each of the three metal-metal links emerging out of a
metal site, the Kitaev interaction connects only spin components perpendicular
to the plaquette defined by the magnetic ions and two bridging ligands. The
fact that reciprocally orthogonal spin components are coupled along the three
different links leads to strong frustration effects and nontrivial physics.
While the experiments indicate zigzag antiferromagnetic order in NaIrO,
the signs and relative strengths of the Kitaev and Heisenberg interactions are
still under debate. Herein we report results of ab initio many-body electronic
structure calculations and establish that the nearest-neighbor exchange is
strongly anisotropic with a dominant ferromagnetic Kitaev part, whereas the
Heisenberg contribution is significantly weaker and antiferromagnetic. The
calculations further reveal a strong sensitivity to tiny structural details
such as the bond angles. In addition to the large spin-orbit interactions, this
strong dependence on distortions of the IrO plaquettes singles out the
honeycomb 5 oxides as a new playground for the realization of
unconventional magnetic ground states and excitations in extended systems.Comment: 13 pages, 2 tables, 3 figures, accepted in NJ
Ferrimagnetism and disorder in epitaxial Mn(2-x)Co(x)VAl thin films
The quaternary full Heusler compound Mn(2-x)Co(x)VAl with x = 1 is predicted
to be a half-metallic antiferromagnet. Thin films of the quaternary compounds
with x = 0...2 were prepared by DC and RF magnetron co-sputtering on heated MgO
(001) substrates. The magnetic structure was examined by x-ray magnetic
circular dichroism and the chemical disorder was characterized by x-ray
diffraction. Ferrimagnetic coupling of V to Mn was observed for Mn2VAl (x = 0).
For x = 0.5, we also found ferrimagnetic order with V and Co antiparallel to
Mn. The observed reduced magnetic moments are interpreted with the help of band
structure calculations in the coherent potential approximation. Mn2VAl is very
sensitive to disorder involving Mn, because nearest-neighbor Mn atoms couple
anti-ferromagnetically. Co2VAl has B2 order and has reduced magnetization. In
the cases with x >= 0.9 conventional ferromagnetism was observed, closely
related to the atomic disorder in these compounds.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figure
Brillouin light scattering study of CoCrFeAl and CoFeAl Heusler compounds
The thermal magnonic spectra of CoCrFeAl (CCFA) and
CoFeAl were investigated using Brillouin light scattering spectroscopy
(BLS). For CCFA, the exchange constant A (exchange stiffness D) is found to be
0.48 erg/cm (203 meV A), while for CoFeAl the corresponding values
of 1.55 erg/cm (370 meV A) were found. The observed asymmetry in the
BLS spectra between the Stokes and anti-Stokes frequencies was assigned to an
interplay between the asymmetrical profiles of hybridized Damon-Esbach and
perpendicular standing spin-wave modes, combined with the optical sensitivity
of the BLS signal to the upper side of the CCFA or CoFeAl film
Electronic structure, magnetism, and disorder in the Heusler compound CoTiSn
Polycrystalline samples of the half-metallic ferromagnet Heusler compound
CoTiSn have been prepared and studied using bulk techniques (X-ray
diffraction and magnetization) as well as local probes (Sn M\"ossbauer
spectroscopy and Co nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy) in order to
determine how disorder affects half-metallic behavior and also, to establish
the joint use of M\"ossbauer and NMR spectroscopies as a quantitative probe of
local ion ordering in these compounds. Additionally, density functional
electronic structure calculations on ordered and partially disordered
CoTiSn compounds have been carried out at a number of different levels of
theory in order to simultaneously understand how the particular choice of DFT
scheme as well as disorder affect the computed magnetization. Our studies
suggest that a sample which seems well-ordered by X-ray diffraction and
magnetization measurements can possess up to 10% of antisite (Co/Ti)
disordering. Computations similarly suggest that even 12.5% antisite Co/Ti
disorder does not destroy the half-metallic character of this material.
However, the use of an appropriate level of non-local DFT is crucial.Comment: 11 pages and 5 figure
Searching for hexagonal analogues of the half-metallic half-Heusler XYZ compounds
The XYZ half-Heusler crystal structure can conveniently be described as a
tetrahedral zinc blende YZ structure which is stuffed by a slightly ionic X
species. This description is well suited to understand the electronic structure
of semiconducting 8-electron compounds such as LiAlSi (formulated
Li[AlSi]) or semiconducting 18-electron compounds such as TiCoSb
(formulated Ti[CoSb]). The basis for this is that [AlSi]
(with the same electron count as Si) and [CoSb] (the same electron
count as GaSb), are both structurally and electronically, zinc-blende
semiconductors. The electronic structure of half-metallic ferromagnets in this
structure type can then be described as semiconductors with stuffing magnetic
ions which have a local moment: For example, 22 electron MnNiSb can be written
Mn[NiSb]. The tendency in the 18 electron compound for a
semiconducting gap -- believed to arise from strong covalency -- is carried
over in MnNiSb to a tendency for a gap in one spin direction. Here we similarly
propose the systematic examination of 18-electron hexagonal compounds for
semiconducting gaps; these would be the "stuffed wurtzite" analogues of the
"stuffed zinc blende" half-Heusler compounds. These semiconductors could then
serve as the basis for possibly new families of half-metallic compounds,
attained through appropriate replacement of non-magnetic ions by magnetic ones.
These semiconductors and semimetals with tunable charge carrier concentrations
could also be interesting in the context of magnetoresistive and thermoelectric
materials.Comment: 11 pages, 6 figures, of which 4 are colou
Geometric, electronic, and magnetic structure of CoFeSi: Curie temperature and magnetic moment measurements and calculations
In this work a simple concept was used for a systematic search for new
materials with high spin polarization. It is based on two semi-empirical
models. Firstly, the Slater-Pauling rule was used for estimation of the
magnetic moment. This model is well supported by electronic structure
calculations. The second model was found particularly for Co based Heusler
compounds when comparing their magnetic properties. It turned out that these
compounds exhibit seemingly a linear dependence of the Curie temperature as
function of the magnetic moment. Stimulated by these models, CoFeSi was
revisited. The compound was investigated in detail concerning its geometrical
and magnetic structure by means of X-ray diffraction, X-ray absorption and
M\"o\ss bauer spectroscopies as well as high and low temperature magnetometry.
The measurements revealed that it is, currently, the material with the highest
magnetic moment () and Curie-temperature (1100K) in the classes of
Heusler compounds as well as half-metallic ferromagnets. The experimental
findings are supported by detailed electronic structure calculations
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