Metal-silicon junctions are crucial to the operation of semiconductor devices: aggressive scaling demands low-resistive metallic terminals to replace high-doped silicon in transistors. It suggests an efficient charge injection through a low Schottky barrier between a metal and Si. Tremendous efforts invested into engineering metal-silicon junctions reveal the major role of chemical bonding at the interface: premier contacts entail epitaxial integration of metal silicides with Si. Here we present epitaxially grown EuSi2/Si junction characterized by RHEED, XRD, transmission electron microscopy, magnetization and transport measurements. Structural perfection leads to superb conductivity and a record-low Schottky barrier with n-Si while an antiferromagnetic phase invites spin-related applications. This development opens brand-new opportunities in electronics.

The effect of the chromium layer thickness on the magnetic state of an [Fe/Cr/Gd/Cr] n multilayer structure is studied. A series of Fe/Cr/Gd structures with Cr spacer thicknesses of 4-30 Å is studied by SQUID magnetometry and ferromagnetic resonance in the temperature range 4.2-300 K. The obtained experimental results are described in terms of an effective field model, which takes into account a biquadratic contribution to the interlayer coupling energy and a nonuniform magnetization distribution inside the gado linium layer (which was detected earlier). Depending on the magnetic field and temperature, the following types of magnetic ordering are identified at various chromium layer thicknesses: ferromagnetic, antiferro magnetic, and canted ordering. A comparison of the experimental and calculated curves allowed us to deter mine the dependence of the bilinear (J 1 ) and biquadratic (J 2 ) exchange constants on chromium layer thick ness t Cr . Weak oscillations at a period of about 18 Å are detected in the J 1 (t Cr ) dependence in the range 8-30 Å. The interlayer coupling oscillations in the system under study are assumed to be related to the RKKY exchange interaction mechanism via the conduction electrons of Cr.

Thin films of MnxSi1−x alloys with different Mn concentration x ≈ 0.44-0.63 grown by the pulsed-laser deposition (PLD) method onto the Al2O3 (0001) substrate were investigated in the temperature range 4-300 K using ferromagnetic resonance (FMR) measurements in the wide range of frequencies (f = 7-60 GHz) and magnetic fields (H = 0-30 kOe). For samples with x ≈ 0.52-0.55, FMR data show clear evidence of ferromagnetism (FM) with high Curie temperatures TC ∼ 300 K. These samples demonstrate the complex and unusual character of magnetic anisotropy described in the frame of phenomenological model as a combination of the essential second-order easy-plane anisotropy contribution and the additional fourth-order anisotropy contribution with the easy direction normal to the film plane. We explain the obtained results by a polycrystalline (mosaic) structure of the films caused by the film-substrate lattice mismatch.

A set of thin film Mn x Si 1−x alloy samples with different manganese concentration x ≈ 0.44 − 0.63 grown by the pulsed laser deposition (PLD) method onto the Al 2 O 3 (0001) substrate was investigated in the temperature range 4 − 300 K using ferromagnetic resonance (FMR) measurements in the wide range of frequencies ( f = 7 − 60 GHz) and magnetic fields (H = 0 − 30 kOe). For samples with x ≈ 0.52 − 0.55, FMR data show clear evidence of ferromagnetism with high Curie temperatures T C ∼ 300 K. These samples demonstrate complex and unusual character of magnetic anisotropy described in the frame of phenomenological model as a combination of the essential second order easy plane anisotropy contribution and the additional forth order uniaxial anisotropy contribution with easy direction normal to the film plane. We explain the obtained results by a polycrystalline (mosaic) structure of the films caused by the film-substrate lattice mismatch. The existence of extra strains at the crystallite boundaries leads to an essential inhomogeneous magnetic anisotropy in the film plane.

In this study, we employed several experimental techniques to investigate structure and magnetic properties of poly(p-xylylene)–MnSb composites synthesized by low-temperature vapor deposition polymerization technique and MnSb films deposited at various temperatures. The presence of MnSb nanocrystallites in the studied films was verified by the results of X-ray diffraction, electron microscopy and Raman spectroscopy studies. The obtained data revealed the formation of Sb-rich sublayer with well-oriented Sb grains near the susbtrate, which seems to act as a buffer for the consequent poly(p-xylylene)–MnSb or MnSb layer growth. Increasing the polymer content results in qualitative change of surface morphology of studied films. At high polymer content the hybrid nanocomposite with MnSb nanoparticles embedded into poly(p-xylylene) matrix is formed. All investigated samples demonstrated detectable ferromagnetic response at room temperature, while the parameters of this response revealed a complex correlation with nominal composition, presented crystal phases and surface morphology of studied films. Estimated values of the Curie temperature of the samples are close to that of bulk MnSb.