Molecular beam epitaxy of the half-Heusler antiferromagnet CuMnSb

TL;DR

This study successfully demonstrates the epitaxial growth of CuMnSb thin films on InAs substrates, characterizing their structural, magnetic, and electrical properties, and confirming their antiferromagnetic behavior consistent with bulk material.

Contribution

First demonstration of molecular beam epitaxy growth of CuMnSb thin films with detailed structural and magnetic characterization.

Findings

CuMnSb films are compressively strained by 0.6%.

Néel temperature of 62 K confirms antiferromagnetic order.

Transport measurements show residual resistivity of 35 μΩ·cm at 4 K.

Abstract

We report growth of CuMnSb thin films by molecular beam epitaxy on InAs(001) substrates. The CuMnSb layers are compressively strained ($0.6~\text{%}$) due to lattice mismatch. The thin films have a $\omega$ full width half max of $7.7^{''}$ according to high resolution X-ray diffraction, and a root mean square roughness of $0.14~\text{nm}$ as determined by atomic force microscopy. Magnetic and electrical properties are found to be consistent with reported values from bulk samples. We find a N\'eel temperature of $62~\text{K}$, a Curie-Weiss temperature of $-65~\text{K}$ and an effective moment of $5.9~\mu_{\text{B}}/\text{f.u.}$. Transport measurements confirm the antiferromagetic transition and show a residual resistivity at $4~\text{K}$ of $35~\mu\Omega\cdot \text{cm}$.