Morphology and magnetic analysis of MnSb films grown by hot-wall epitaxy

Abstract

MnSb epitaxial layers were grown on GaAs (100) substrates by hot-wall epitaxy and the structural, morphology, and magnetic properties of the layers were examined. In this study, three films of different nominal film thicknesses were fabricated. All the films are found to be well-interconnected with low intergrain resistance values being measured. It is observed that the thinnest film has grains elongated along GaAs [011] and the grains in the other two thicker films exhibit two orthogonal domains. The above microstructures of the films have a marked impact on the easy magnetization axis. The easy magnetization axis of the thinnest film is found to be along that of the elongation direction of the grains and that for the thickest film is along GaAs [011̄] (along the [12̄.0] axis of MnSb). The largest measured values for coercivity, remanent magnetization, and squareness ratio of the three films are found in the thinnest film, and the thickest film has the highest saturation magnetization. Finally, the angular variation of coercivity curves indicate that the magnetization reversal mechanism of the three films is an incoherent rotation type, i.e., non-Stoner–Wohlfarth type.

Net-like ferromagnetic MnSb film deposited on porous silicon substrates

“…The coercive field for the net-like MnSb film and the referenced sample are determined to be $60 and 239 Oe, respectively. The coercivity of 239 Oe for the referenced MnSb film is in good agreement with the value of 257 Oe for the epitaxial MnSb film on GaAs substrates reported by Low et al [8]. Obviously, the coercivity of the net-like MnSb film is much smaller than that of the unpatterned counterpart.…”

“…In this work, to obtain magnetic arrays with low coercivity, net-like MnSb ferromagnetic films were deposited on porous silicon substrates due to the modulation effect of the substrates. The MnSb film was selected mainly because it has a high Curie temperature (314 1C) and a high saturation magnetization (4pM s ¼ 9.5 kOe) [8]. These properties of MnSb make it a very promising candidate in the magneto-optical applications.…”

Structural characterization and magnetic response of poly(p-xylylene)–MnSb and MnSb films deposited at cryogenic temperature

“…Different groups reported that increased deposition time result in an increase 44 or a decrease 42 of mean crystallite size, while in both cases it leads to a decrease of and an increase of values. Moreover, the ratio ( is the remanent magnetization value) for corresponding films shows opposite tendencies as a function of 42 , 43 . Thus, the inverse relation of and seems to be the only universality (within a single sample series) observed for MnSb-based systems 50 , while the absolute values may substantially vary.…”

“…For example, for MnSb films, obtained using hot-wall epitaxy technique, an increase of crystallinity, induced by an increase of substrate temperature 43 , results in an increase of coercive force, , and a decrease of values. Thinner MnSb films reveal small compressive strain of crystal structure, which becomes negligible as the film thickness (deposition time) is increased 42 , 44 . Different groups reported that increased deposition time result in an increase 44 or a decrease 42 of mean crystallite size, while in both cases it leads to a decrease of and an increase of values.…”

“…Thinner MnSb films reveal small compressive strain of crystal structure, which becomes negligible as the film thickness (deposition time) is increased 42 , 44 . Different groups reported that increased deposition time result in an increase 44 or a decrease 42 of mean crystallite size, while in both cases it leads to a decrease of and an increase of values. Moreover, the ratio ( is the remanent magnetization value) for corresponding films shows opposite tendencies as a function of 42 , 43 .…”