MnBi Thin Films Prepared by Molecular-Beam Epitaxy Technique

Abstract

The Epitaxial growth of MnBi films has been studied by means of molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) technique. Single crystals of MgO (001) and Al2O3 (00.1) were employed as substrates. Without any buffer layers, MnBi thin films grown on these substrates were polycrystalline. We then prepared MnBi films using either a Au or a Cu layer as a buffer on the substrates. Using Au buffer layers (10.2)-oriented MnBi films were obtained, yet the magnetic property of these films are poor. On the other hand, using Cu (111) buffer layers MnBi films with a sufficient flatness and better magnetic property were obtained, although some trace of (10.2)-orientated grains was observed.