Ferromagnetism and Electronic Structures of Nonstoichiometric Heusler-Alloy Fe_3-xMn_xSi Epilayers Grown on Ge(111)

Abstract

For the study of ferromagnetic materials which are compatible with group-IV semiconductor spintronics, we demonstrate control of the ferromagnetic properties of Heusler-alloys Fe_3-xMn_xSi epitaxially grown on Ge(111) by tuning the Mn composition x. Interestingly, we obtain L2_1-ordered structures even for nonstoichiometric atomic compositions. The Curie temperature of the epilayers with x ~ 0.6 exceeds 300 K. Theoretical calculations indicate that the electronic structures of the nonstoichiometric Fe_3-xMn_xSi alloys become half-metallic for 0.75 < x < 1.5. We discuss the possibility of room-temperature ferromagnetic Fe_3-xMn_xSi/Ge epilayers with high spin polarization.