Electronic structure of Heusler alloy

Cite as: AIP Conference Proceedings 1512, 842 (2013); https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4791301

Published Online: 06 February 2013

Madhusmita Baral, Soma Banik, Tapas Ganguli, Aparna Chakrabarti, A. Thamizhavel, D. M. Phase, A. K. Sinha, and S.
K. Deb

ARTICLES YOU MAY BE INTERESTED IN

Basics and prospective of magnetic Heusler compounds

APL Materials 3, 041518 (2015); https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4917387

The enhancement of the spin polarization of by Fe doping

Journal of Applied Physics 103, 103904 (2008); https://doi.org/10.1063/1.2930867

Anisotropy in layered half-metallic Heusler alloy superlattices

Journal of Applied Physics 119, 043904 (2016); https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4940878

AIP Conference Proceedings 1512, 842 (2013); https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4791301 1512, 842

© 2013 American Institute of Physics.

 Electronic Structure of Co2MnSn Heusler Alloy
Madhusmita Baral1, Soma Banik1, Tapas Ganguli1, Aparna Chakrabarti1, A.
Thamizhavel2, D. M. Phase3, A. K. Sinha1 and S.K. Deb1
1
Indus Synchrotrons Utilization Division, Raja Ramanna Centre for Advanced Technology, Indore-452013, India
2
Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Homi Bhabha Road, Colaba, Mumbai 400005, India
3
UGC-DAE Consortium for Scientific Research, University Campus, Khandwa Road, Indore-452017, India
madhusmita@rrcat.gov.in

Abstract. The electronic structure of Co2 MnSn Heusler alloy has been investigated by using resonant photoemission
spectroscopy across the 3p-3d transition of Mn and Co. Angle dispersive X-ray diffraction pattern corroborates with the
valence band photoemission spectra and confirms a conventional L21 structure for this system. In addition to Mn and Co
3p-3d transitions, the constant initial-state spectra shows two more features related to the multiplet structure of Mn and
the small impurity phase of Co, which is confirmed by the diffraction data. Theoretical first principle calculation is
performed to understand the features in the valence band and the shape of the resonance profile.
Keywords: Photoelectron Spectroscopy, Electronic Structure, X-ray Diffraction.
PACS: 79.60.-i, 71.15.mb, 61.05.cp

INTRODUCTION level spectrum. Resonant photoemission (RPES)

Half metallic systems are important for selective
spin injection into the semiconductor for possible
spintronic device applications. Many of the Heusler
alloys show half metallicity i. e. metal-like band
structure for the majority-spin electrons and a discrete
energy gap in the minority-spin electron states at the
Fermi level (EF), accompanied by a high Curie
temperature. In this work we have studied a detailed
electronic structure of the half metallic Heusler alloy,
Co2MnSn by resonant photoelectron spectroscopy
(RPES) which has high Curie temperature (Tc ≈ 830 K)
and a net moment of 5.08 μ B per formula unit [1].
measurements were performed at angle integrated
photoelectron spectroscopy (AIPES) beamline (Bl-2)
of Indus-1 in the photon energy range from 45 eV to
72 eV in 2×10-9 mbar vacuum. The sample was
cleaned in-situ by scraping before PES measurements.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The bulk composition of the alloy was found to be
Co2.16Mn0.89Sn 0.95 (Co54Mn22.25Sn23.75) with Curie
temperature of 794 K which is close to the value
reported in the literature [1]. Figure 1 shows the XRD
pattern of the alloy

EXPERIMENTAL DETAILS
Polycrystalline ingot of Co2MnSn was prepared by
arc melting technique followed by annealing in an
evacuated quartz ampoule at 995 K for 24 hours and
then quenching in cold water to get an ordered L21
structure. The bulk composition and Curie temperature
was obtained from EDAX and DSC measurements.
XRD measurements were performed at the XRD
beamline (BL-12) of Indus-2, at 17 keV beam energy
to study the crystal structure. X-ray photoelectron
FIGURE 1. XRD measurement at 17 keV confirms the
spectroscopy (XPS) measurements were carried out ordered l21 phase. In the inset, peaks of impurity phase of Co
using Mg Kα source (1253.6 eV) to measure the core and Sn are indicated by arrow marks.

SOLID STATE PHYSICS: Proceedings of the 57th DAE Solid State Physics Symposium 2012
AIP Conf. Proc. 1512, 842-843 (2013); doi: 10.1063/1.4791301
© 2013 American Institute of Physics 978-0-7354-1133-3/$30.00

842
The XRD peaks are indexed to the reflections of L21
structure with lattice parameters a=b=c= 5.9834Å. The
extra peaks indicated by arrow marks in the inset are
assigned to some impurity phase of Co and Sn.
From the XPS core level spectra the surface
composition of the alloy was found to be
Co2.09Mn0.74Sn 1.17. The surface of the alloy was found
to be Co and Sn excess which is also confirmed from
XRD. Figure 2 shows the background subtracted PES
data recorded at photon energy from 45 to 72 eV. Six
features a, b, c, d, e and f are observed in the valence
band (VB) at 0.5, 1.8, 3, 5.6, 7.6 and 11 eV binding
energies (BE) respectively. These features resonate at
different incident photon energies. The VB spectra of
Co2MnSn matches very well with the reported
experimental and the theoretically calculated VB
spectra corresponding to L21 structure [2].
FIGURE 2. VB PES spectra recorded at photon energy
range from 45 to 72 eV.
In order to understand the origin of these features,
spin-dependent total and partial density of states
(DOS) and constant initial state (CIS) spectra are
plotted in Fig. 3(i) and 3(ii) respectively. Majority-
spin states are metallic like where as there is a gap of
about 0.35 eV around Fermi level in the minority-spin
states. Mn 3d majority spin states are occupied and are
hybridized with Co 3d majority states, while the
minority-spin 3d states of Mn, at 1.8 eV above EF,
seem to be more localized. In the CIS spectra, all the
VB features show an enhancement in the intensity at
about 50 eV (indicated by A) photon energy. This
enhancement corresponds to the Fano like resonance
of the Mn 3d states at Mn 3p-3d absorption threshold,
which is also observed in other Mn based half metallic
system like Ni2MnSb [3]. The lineshape of Fano
resonance changes towards more symmetric
Lorentzian shape and the Fano asymmetry parameter
(q) of the fitted Fano profile increases from 1.6 to 2.3
as we go from features a to f in the VB spectra.
843
FIGURE 3. i) Calculated spin dependent total and partial
DOS, ii) CIS plots of VB features from a to f.
CIS spectra shows enhancement of the intensity at
about 53 eV (indicated by B) for all the features. This
feature is attributed due to the Mn 3d multiplet
structure and also shows resonance behavior at the Mn
3p-3d transition. The atomic and metallic Mn also
shows similar multiplet structures [4]. For features a,
b, c the enhancement of intensities at 65 eV (indicated
by D) corresponds to the resonant excitation of
hybridized Co 3d states at the Co 3p-3d absorption
threshold. Similar type of broad feature is also
observed for Co resonance in K2CoF4 [5]. On the other
hand the resonance for the features d, e and f at 65 eV
are attributed due to the correlated satellite of the
hybridized Co 3d states. The enhancements at 61 eV
(indicated by C) are more prominent for the features c,
d, e and f. This may arise from the resonant excitation
of Co 3d states of the excess Co which segregates on
the surface of the alloy. In conclusion, RPES
measurements show the Co 3d states are more
hybridized than the Mn 3d states. Experimental results
are in good agreement with the calculated DOS which
shows the localized nature of the minority spin 3d
states of Mn and Co which gives rise to the half
metallicity in this system
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
My special thanks to Mr. M.N Singh, Dr. A. M.
Awasthi, Mr. Suresh Bhardwaj and Mr. Avinash
Wadikar for their support during experiments.
REFERENCES
1. A. Okubo et al, Appl. Phys. Lett. 96, 222507
(2010).
2. D. Brown et al, Phys. Rev. B 57, 1563 (1998).
3. S. W. Robey et al, Phys. Rev. B 46, 11697 (1992).
4. R. Bruhn et al, phys. Letters, 69A, 9 (1978).
5. L. Sangaletti et al, Phys. Rev. B 57, 10175 (1998).