Crystal orientation and anomalous Hall effect of sputter-deposited non-collinear antiferromagnetic Mn₃Sn thin films

Abstract

We study a growth technique of non-collinear antiferromagnetic Mn3Sn thin films deposited by sputtering with various substrates and underlayers. The relation between their crystal structure and magnetic/transport properties is also investigated. We achieve the formation of epitaxial films with both C-plane and M-plane orientations, whose Kagome lattices are parallel and perpendicular to the plane, respectively. Transverse resistivity originating from the anomalous Hall effect shows different trends reflecting the Kagome lattice orientation of each stack. The established technique and findings offer a platform to study functional devices utilizing the unconventional physical properties of non-collinear antiferromagnets with controlled Kagome lattice orientation.