Surface effects for half-metallic Heusler alloy CrYCoAl

Abstract

Magnetic tunnel junctions are the core component of spintronic devices, and good magnetic tunnel junctions require high tunnel resistance, which is determined by the spin polarization of the thin films of ferromagnetic layers that make up their structure. Therefore, the design of ferromagnetic films with high spin polarization is a current research hotspot in this field. In the current study, we taken the half-metallic CrYCoAl as an object, and studied the influence of surface effect on the half-metallic behavior. Especially, we constructed the CrYCoAl (100), (110), and (111) surfaces to study their stability, electronic and magnetic properties. Results show that the YY and YAl (100) surfaces, and Co (111) surface retain the half-metallic behavior and structural stability of bulk, which provide a basis for CrYCoAl application as a thin films in magnetic tunnel junctions thus, they are likely to be used in the spintronic devices.