Single-crystalline CrSb(0001) thin films grown by dc magnetron co-sputtering

TL;DR

This paper reports the successful growth and detailed characterization of high-quality, single-crystalline CrSb(0001) thin films using dc magnetron co-sputtering, providing a promising platform for exploring altermagnetism.

Contribution

It introduces a novel fabrication method for epitaxial CrSb films supported by a PtSb buffer, achieving high crystalline quality and defect-free surfaces.

Findings

Films are phase pure with high crystalline quality (~0.05° mosaicity)

Films are free of extended crystallographic defects

Elemental composition is close to stoichiometric

Abstract

The recent discovery of altermagnetism has sparked renewed interest in the growth of epitaxial films of the NiAs-phase polymorph of CrSb. This paper describes the magnetron sputtering-based fabrication and characterization of high-quality single crystalline CrSb(0001) thin films supported by an isostructural nonmagnetic PtSb buffer. X-ray diffraction and scanning transmission electron microscopy show that the films are phase pure and possess a very high crystalline quality (mosaicity ~0.05deg), while also being free of extended crystallographic defects. Both scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy confirm their smooth and homogeneous topography. Additionally, the elemental composition of our films was found to be close to stoichiometric via electron probe microanalysis and x-ray fluorescence. Thus, the developed samples represent an ideal platform for further investigation of the material properties of CrSb.