Structural and magnetic properties of antiferromagnetic Heusler Ru2MnGe Epitaxial thin films

Abstract

Structural and magnetic properties were investigated for Heusler-type alloy Ru2MnGe thin films. Ru2MnGe films on MgO substrate were subjected to an in-plane compressive strain, and exhibited enhanced antiferromagnetic (AFM) transition temperature (T N ) up to 353 K, which exceeds by 37 K from the cubic bulk material (T N = 316 K). We also observed the exchange coupling between Ru2MnGe and Heusler-type ferromagnetic (FM) half-metal Fe2CrSi thin films. The present AFM Heusler alloy with relatively high T N is useful to fabricate high-quality all Heusler-type half-metal AFM/FM junctions and is a promising material for the emerging field of AFM spintronics.