Significant growth-temperature dependence of ferromagnetic properties for Co2FeSi/Si(111) prepared by low-temperature molecular beam epitaxy

Abstract

We study ferromagnetic properties of Heusler-alloy Co2FeSi epilayers grown on silicon (Si). The magnetic moment and in-plane magnetic anisotropy of the Co2FeSi/Si(111) epilayers vary significantly with the growth temperature (TG) even in the low-temperature region (TG 200 °C). These features are induced by reaction phases formed at the interface between Co2FeSi and Si. At TG =100 °C, however, we can obtain both highly ordered L21 structures on Si and high-quality Co2FeSi/Si heterointerfaces at the same time. This fact will open a road to realize a Co-based half-metallic spin injector and detector for Si-based spintronic devices. © 2010 American Institute of Physics.