Magnetic, magnetooptical, and magnetotransport properties of Ti-substituted Co2FeGa thin films

Abstract

ABSTRACT Magnetic, magnetooptical and magnetotransport properties of Co 50.3 Fe 20.3 Ti 5.6 Ga 23.8 thin films were studied for the as-prepared as well as annealed samples. Measurements of transv erse magnetooptical Kerr effect revealed that the spectral response of the films strongly depends on the structural ordering which can be manipulated by annealing conditions. Peculiarities in the magnetic properties of the films were attributed to the coexisting phases with different degree of structural disorder. Magnetoresistance of Co 50.3 Fe 20.3 Ti 5.6 Ga 23.8 thin films was found to be linear in the fields above 1 T which is typical for half-Heusler sy stems as well as for Heusler-based ferromagnetic shape memory alloys. Keywords: thin films, Heusler alloys, Kerr effect, magnetoresistance 1. INTRODUCTION X 2 YZ (where X and Y are transition metals, and Z is a main gr oup element) Heusler alloys are a family of intermetallic compounds which has attracted considerable attention over a ce ntury. The interest in the study of these alloys has been conditioned by the fact that they displa y a number of features such as localized magnetic moment behavior, half-metallic properties, properties of topological insulators, attractive thermoelectric properties, giant magnetic field induced strains and a large magnetocaloric effect (see for a recent review Ref. [1]). A single phase L2