Evidence of local moment formation in Co-based Heusler alloys

Abstract

In this work we use a combination of x-ray magnetic circular and linear dichroism (XMCD and XMLD) techniques to examine the formation of local moments in Heusler alloys of the composition Co{sub 2}MnX (where X=Si or Al). The existence of local moments in a half-metallic system is reliant upon the band gap in the minority-spin states. By utilizing the element-specific nature of x-ray techniques we are able to explore the origin of the minority-spin band gap in the partial density of states (PDOS), via the degree of localization of moments on Co and Mn atoms. We observe a crucial difference in the localization of the Co moment when comparing Co{sub 2}MnSi (CMS) and Co{sub 2}MnAl (CMA) films that is consistent with the predicted larger minority-spin gap in the Co PDOS for CMS. These results provide important evidence for the dominant role of the Co minority-spin states in realizing half-metallic ferromagnetism (HMF) in these Heusler alloys. They also demonstrate a direct method for measuring the degree of interfacial HMF in the raw materials without the need for fabricating spin-transport devices.