High spin polarization in epitaxial Fe4N thin films using Cr and Ag as buffer layers

Li, Hongshi; Li, Xuan; Kim, Dongrin; Zhao, Gejian; Zhang, Delin; Diao, Zhitao; Chen, Tingyong; Wang, Jian -Ping

doi:10.1063/1.5023698

Title: High spin polarization in epitaxial Fe₄N thin films using Cr and Ag as buffer layers

Journal Article · Wed Apr 18 00:00:00 EDT 2018 · Applied Physics Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5023698· OSTI ID:1503634

Li, Hongshi ^[1]; Li, Xuan ^[1]; Kim, Dongrin ^[2]; Zhao, Gejian ^[2]; Zhang, Delin ^[1]; Diao, Zhitao ^[3];

^[2]; Wang, Jian -Ping ^[1]

Univ. of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN (United States)
Arizona State Univ., Tempe, AZ (United States)
Western Digital Corp., San Jose, CA (United States)

Fe₄N thin films with (001) texture were prepared by reactive sputtering on MgO substrates, utilizing either a Cr or Ag buffer layer to facilitate the epitaxial growth. X-ray diffraction, atomic force microscopy, and vibrating sample magnetometry measurements show that the Fe₄N thin film grown on the Ag buffer layer is superior to that grown on the Cr buffer layer. The point contact Andreev reflection measurement was then conducted, and the spin polarizations were determined to be 61.1% and 81.3% for Fe₄N thin films with Cr and Ag buffer layers, respectively. The 81.3% spin polarization is significantly higher than the ratio reported previously for Fe₄N and is comparable with that of state-of-the-art Heusler alloys. This result is in agreement with the theoretical prediction on the discrepancy between the two differently defined spin polarizations for Fe₄N. Moreover, our study indicates that an optimized growth process for Fe₄N thin films is crucial for achieving a high spin polarization and that true half-metallicity could potentially be realized with Fe₄N. Furthermore the high spin polarization of Fe₄N combined with its low fabrication temperature and simple composition makes Fe₄N a competitive candidate to be a half-metallic ferromagnet in spintronic devices.

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Research Organization:: Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRC) (United States). Spins and Heat in Nanoscale Electronic Systems (SHINES); Univ. of California, Riverside, CA (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)

Grant/Contract Number:: SC0012670

OSTI ID:: 1503634

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1433574

Journal Information:: Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 112, Issue 16; ISSN 0003-6951

Publisher:: American Institute of Physics (AIP)Copyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Cited by: 16 works

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Effect of interfacial interdiffusion on magnetism in epitaxial ${Fe}_{4} N$ films on ${LaAlO}_{3}$ substrates Pandey, Nidhi; Pütter, S.; Amir, S. M. Physical Review Materials, Vol. 3, Issue 11 https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevmaterials.3.114414	journal	November 2019
In-situ growth of iron mononitride thin films studied using x-ray absorption spectroscopy and nuclear resonant scattering Gupta, Mukul; Pandey, Nidhi; Reddy, V. R. Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron, DESY, Hamburg https://doi.org/10.3204/pubdb-2019-03223	text	January 2019

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Title: High spin polarization in epitaxial Fe4N thin films using Cr and Ag as buffer layers

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