Manipulation of crystalline structure, magnetic performance, and topological feature in Mn3Ge films

Abstract

The Mn3X (where X = Ga, Ge, Sn, etc.) compounds have appealing prospects for spintronic applications due to their various crystal structures and magnetic properties for the design of reliable high-density memories. However, controlled growth of high-quality Mn3X thin films remains challenging in material science. Here, we reported the controlled film growth of Heusler alloy Mn3Ge, which could crystallize in respective tetragonal and hexagonal structures. The tetragonal D022-type Mn3Ge film exhibits strong perpendicular ferromagnetic anisotropy, while the hexagonal D019-type Mn3Ge film indicates non-collinear triangular antiferromagnetic order. From our experimental observations of structure characterizations, magnetic properties, anomalous Hall effect, and magnetoresistance measurements, we realized the manipulation of spin orientations and topological features. Majority/minority spin polarized Fermi surface and density of states of both tetragonal and hexagonal Mn3Ge structures were investigated by density functional theory calculations. Our work not only opens up technology routes toward the development of Mn3X-based devices for applications in topological spintronics and spin-torque memories but also leads to engineer the physical properties for fundamental study.