| AVS 54th International Symposium | |
| Magnetic Interfaces and Nanostructures | Wednesday Sessions |
| Session MI-WeM |
| Session: | Magnetic Thin Films and Nanostructures |
| Presenter: | G.J. Mankey, University of Alabama |
| Authors: | G.J. Mankey, University of Alabama M.J. Walock, University of Alabama C.A. Culbert, University of Alabama Z. Lu, University of Alabama M. Pathak, University of Alabama Z.T. Reddy, University of Alabama P. LeClair, University of Alabama S. Gupta, University of Alabama W.H. Butler, University of Alabama |
| Correspondent: | Click to Email |
There is a consensus that read sensors for hard drives will transition from tunnel magnetoresistance based sensors to all metal current perpendicular to the plane giant magnetoresistive sensors. To achieve this goal, a new generation of high spin polarization materials are required. Half-metallic Heusler alloys, combined with carefully chosen spacer materials, are prime candidates for incorporation into these devices. However, robust half-metallic behavior must be established and confirmed. Recently, we have investigated the electronic structure of L21 full Heusler alloys in detail. We can, theoretically, devise an infinite number of periodic systems that are half-metallic, with the hope that at least a handful will be experimentally accessible. Our preliminary calculations of the electronic structure of these materials suggest that they have a robust half-metallic nature. These theoretical results are combined with an experimental study of the half-metallic compound, Co2MnSi. Epitaxial films are deposited using magnetron sputtering on low-index, single-crystal vanadium substrates and their crystal structure, electronic structure and magnetic properties are determined. Films processed under different deposition conditions are compared to determine the optimum conditions for producing half-metallic single-crystal films. This work is funded by NSF-DMR 02-31985.