Ferromagnetic CrSb thicker films epitaxially grown on NaCl (1 0 0) substrates

Li, Shandong; Duh, Jenq‐Gong; Bao, Feng; Liu, Kaixin; Kuo, Chi-Lung; Wu, Xiaoshan; Lü, Liya; Huang, Zhigao; Du, Youwei

doi:10.1088/0022-3727/41/17/175004

Cited by 14 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…Half-metallicity arises as a result of interplay between the exchange splitting and the hybridization. Some Cr-based chalcogenides and pnictides, 17,[24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34] have been predicted to be not only HM but also potential candidates for possessing high Curie temperatures T c . Akinaga et al 24 have reported growing ZB thin films of CrAs on GaAs (001) substrates via molecular beam epitaxy.…”

Section: Half-metallic (Hm) Ferromagnetismmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These showed ferromagnetic behavior at temperatures in excess of 400 K and magnetic moments of 3µ B per CrAs unit. Thin films of CrSb grown similarly on GaAs, (Al,Ga)Sb, and GaSb substrates have been found to be of ZB structure and ferromagnetic with T c higher than 400 K. 35 Deng et al 36 were successful in increasing the thickness of ZB-CrSb films to ∼ 3 nm using (In,Ga)As buffer layers, and Li et al 25 were able to grow ∼ 4 nm thick ZB-CrSb films on NaCl (100) substrates. Two of the present authors have recently presented an extensive theoretical study of the exchange interactions and Curie temperatures in a series of Cr-based pnictides and chalcogenides in ZB structure as a function of the lattice parameter.…”

Section: Half-metallic (Hm) Ferromagnetismmentioning

confidence: 99%

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First-principles theoretical studies of half-metallic ferromagnetism in CrTe

2010

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Using full-potential linear augmented plane wave method (FP-LAPW) and the density functional theory, we have carried out a systematic investigation of the electronic, magnetic, and cohesive properties of the chalcogenide CrTe in three competing structures: rock-salt (RS), zinc blende (ZB) and the NiAs-type (NA) hexagonal. Although the ground state is of NA structure, RS and ZB are interesting in that these fcc-based structures, which can possibly be grown on many semiconductor substrates, exhibit half-metallic phases above some critical values of the lattice parameter. We find that the NA structure is not half-metallic at its equilibrium volume, while both ZB and RS structures are. The RS structure is more stable than the ZB, with an energy that is lower by 0.25 eV/atom. While confirming previous results on the half-metallic phase in ZB structure, we provide hitherto unreported results on the half-metallic RS phase, with a gap in the minority channel and a magnetic moment of 4.0 µB per formula unit. A comparison of total energies for the ferromagnetic (FM), nonmagnetic (NM), and antiferromagnetic (AFM) configurations shows the lowest energy configuration to be FM for CrTe in all the three structures. The FP-LAPW calculations are supplemented by linear muffin-tin orbital (LMTO) calculations using both local density approximation (LDA) and LDA+U method. The exchange interactions and the Curie temperatures calculated via the linear response method in ZB and RS CrTe are compared over a wide range of the lattice parameter. The calculated Curie temperatures for the RS phase are consistently higher than those for the ZB phase.

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Section: Half-metallic (Hm) Ferromagnetismmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Half-metallic (Hm) Ferromagnetismmentioning

confidence: 99%

First-principles theoretical studies of half-metallic ferromagnetism in CrTe

2010

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“…MnSb is ferromagnetic (FM) with a Curie temperature T C of 587 K. Half-metallic pnictides are especially promising since their SP at the Fermi energy may approach 100% [11][12][13]. While understanding the temperature dependence of their SP remains crucial to exploiting these materials in room-temperature devices [14], it is known that the surfaces [15] and interfaces [16,17] of half-metals may fail to show high SP even at cryogenic temperatures due to localized minority spin states.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Depth-dependent magnetism in epitaxial MnSb thin films: effects of surface passivation and cleaning

Aldous

Burrows

Maskery

et al. 2012

J. Phys.: Condens. Matter

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Abstract. Depth-dependent magnetism in MnSb(0001) epitaxial films has been studied by combining experimental methods with different surface specificity: polarized neutron reflectivity, X-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD), X-ray resonant magnetic scattering and spin-polarized low energy electron microscopy (SPLEEM). A native oxide ∼4.5 nm thick covers air-exposed samples which increases the film's coercivity. HCl etching efficiently removes this oxide and in situ surface treatment of etched samples enables surface magnetic contrast to be observed in SPLEEM. A thin Sb capping layer prevents oxidation and preserves ferromagnetism throughout the MnSb film. The interpretation of Mn L 3,2 edge XMCD data is discussed.

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“…Half-metallic ferromagnets with high (room temperature and above) Curie temperatures T c are ideal for spintronics applications, and as such, much experimental and theoretical [1][2][3] effort has been devoted in recent years to the designing of and search for such materials. Among these, Cr-doped dilute magnetic semiconductors (DMS) 4,5 or Cr-based alloys and in particular CrAs and CrSb [6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16] in Zinc Blende(ZB) structure have attracted particular attention, not only because of the possibility of complete spin polarization of the carriers at the Fermi level, but also for their possible high T c . Akinaga et al 6 were able to grow ZB thin films of CrAs on GaAs (001) substrates by molecular beam epitaxy, which showed ferromagnetic behavior at temperatures in excess of 400 K and magnetic moments of 3µ B per CrAs unit.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, the possibility remains open that such difficulties will be overcome with progress in techniques of film-growth and materials preparation in general. Recently, Deng et al 23 were successful in increasing the thickness of ZB-CrSb films to ∼ 3 nm by molecular beam epitaxy using (In,Ga)As buffer layers, and Li et al 7 were able to grow ∼ 4 nm thick ZB-CrSb films on NaCl (100) substrates.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exchange interactions and Curie temperatures in Cr-based alloys in the zinc blende structure: Volume- and composition-dependence from first-principles calculations

Bose

Kudrnovský

2010

Phys. Rev. B

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We present calculations of the exchange interactions and Curie temperatures in Cr-based pnictides and chalcogenides of the form CrX with X=As, Sb, S, Se and Te, and the mixed alloys CrAs50X50 with X=Sb, S, Se, and Te. The calculations are performed for Zinc Blende (ZB) structure for 12 values of the lattice parameter between 5.44 and 6.62Å, appropriate for some typical II-VI and III-V semiconducting substrates. Electronic structure is calculated via the linear muffin-tin-orbitals (LMTO) method in the atomic sphere approximation (ASA), using empty spheres to optimize ASArelated errors. Whenever necessary, the results have been verified using the full-potential version of the method, FP-LMTO. The disorder effect in the As-sublattice for CrAs50X50 (X=Sb, S, Se, Te) alloys is taken into account via the coherent potential approximation (CPA). Exchange interactions are calculated using the linear response method for the ferromagnetic (FM) reference states of the alloys, as well as the disordered local moments (DLM) states. These results are then used to estimate the Curie temperature from the low and high temperature side of the ferromagnetic/paramagnetic transition. Estimates of the Curie temperature are provided, based on the mean field and the more accurate random phase approximations. Dominant antiferromagnetic exchange interactions for some low values of the lattice parameter for the FM reference states in CrS, CrSe and CrTe prompted us to look for antiferromagnetic (AFM) configurations for these systems with energies lower than the corresponding FM and DLM values. Results for a limited number of such AFM calculations are discussed, identifying the AFM[111] state as a likely candidate for the ground state for these cases.

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Ferromagnetic CrSb thicker films epitaxially grown on NaCl (1 0 0) substrates

Cited by 14 publications

References 26 publications

First-principles theoretical studies of half-metallic ferromagnetism in CrTe

First-principles theoretical studies of half-metallic ferromagnetism in CrTe

Depth-dependent magnetism in epitaxial MnSb thin films: effects of surface passivation and cleaning

Exchange interactions and Curie temperatures in Cr-based alloys in the zinc blende structure: Volume- and composition-dependence from first-principles calculations

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