Epitaxy of thin films of the Heusler compound Co2Cr0.6Fe0.4Al

Abstract Epitaxial thin films of the highly spin polarized Heusler compound Co 2 Cr 0.6 Fe 0.4 Al are deposited by DC magnetron sputtering. It is shown by XRD and TEM investigations how the use of an Fe buffer layer on MgO(1 0 0) substrates supports the growth of highly ordered Co 2 Cr 0.6 Fe 0.4 Al at low deposition temperatures. The as-grown samples show a relatively large ordered magnetic moment of μ ≃ 3.0 μ B / f . u . providing evidence for a low level of disorder.