Magnetism And Electronic Structure Of Cofecrx (X = Si, Ge) Heusler Alloys

Authors

Y. Jin, University of Nebraska–LincolnFollow
P. Kharel, South Dakota State UniversityFollow
P. Lukashev, University of Northern IowaFollow
S. Valloppilly, University of Nebraska–LincolnFollow
B. Staten, University of Northern IowaFollow
J. Herran, University of Northern IowaFollow
I. Tutic, University of Northern IowaFollow
M. Mitrakumar, South Dakota State University
B. Bhusal, South Dakota State University
A. O'Connell, University of Nebraska–Lincoln
K. Yang, South Dakota State UniversityFollow
Y. Huh, South Dakota State UniversityFollow
R. Skomski, University of Nebraska–LincolnFollow
D. J. Sellmyer, University of Nebraska–LincolnFollow

Document Type

Article

Journal/Book/Conference Title

Journal of Applied Physics

Volume

120

Issue

5

Abstract

The structural, electronic, and magnetic properties of CoFeCrX (X = Si, Ge) Heusler alloys have been investigated. Experimentally, the alloys were synthesized in the cubic L21 structure with small disorder. The cubic phase of CoFeCrSi was found to be highly stable against heat treatment, but CoFeCrGe disintegrated into other new compounds when the temperature reached 402 °C (675 K). Although the first-principle calculation predicted the possibility of tetragonal phase in CoFeCrGe, the tetragonal phase could not be stabilized experimentally. Both CoFeCrSi and CoFeCrGe compounds showed ferrimagnetic spin order at room temperature and have Curie temperatures (TC) significantly above room temperature. The measured TC for CoFeCrSi is 790 K but that of CoFeCrGe could not be measured due to its dissociation into new compounds at 675 K. The saturation magnetizations of CoFeCrSi and CoFeCrGe are 2.82 μB/f.u. and 2.78 μB/f.u., respectively, which are close to the theoretically predicted value of 3 μB/f.u. for their half-metallic phases. The calculated band gaps for CoFeCrSi and CoFeCrGe are, respectively, 1 eV and 0.5 eV. These materials have potential for spintronic device applications, as they exhibit half-metallic electronic structures with large band gaps, and Curie temperatures significantly above room temperature.

Department

Department of Physics

Original Publication Date

8-7-2016

DOI of published version

10.1063/1.4960350

Repository

UNI ScholarWorks, Rod Library, University of Northern Iowa

Language

en

Recommended Citation

Jin, Y.; Kharel, P.; Lukashev, P.; Valloppilly, S.; Staten, B.; Herran, J.; Tutic, I.; Mitrakumar, M.; Bhusal, B.; O'Connell, A.; Yang, K.; Huh, Y.; Skomski, R.; and Sellmyer, D. J., "Magnetism And Electronic Structure Of Cofecrx (X = Si, Ge) Heusler Alloys" (2016). Faculty Publications. 1047.
https://scholarworks.uni.edu/facpub/1047