Search

Rare-earth-free perpendicularly magnetized L10-MnxAl alloy holds promise for low-cost permanent magnets and high-performance spintronic devices. In this Letter, we report a large-scale modulation of perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA) in MnxAl films by changing the composition x. Through utilizing a lattice-matching B2-CoGa underlayer and optimizing growth conditions, the 30-nm-thick MnxAl films can maintain excellent PMA in a wide composition range (0.7 ≤ x ≤ 3). Meanwhile, the crystalline structure and magnetic properties exhibit a strong dependence on the composition with saturation magnetization changing from 443.75 to 20.52 kA/m, coercivity from 0.22 to 5.38 T, and PMA constant up to 1.34 × 106 J/m3. Combining experimental and calculation results, we confirm the existence of ferrimagnetic-like state in MnxAl under Mn-rich conditions. Further experiments validate the continued efficacy of our method in ultrathin MnxAl films, and spin–orbit torque induced magnetization switching has been realized. These results offer valuable insights into the modulation of fundamental properties and promote the potential application of MnxAl alloy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Perpendicularly magnetized ferrimagnets have shown potential application in nonvolatile, high-density, and ultrafast spintronic devices. Achieving this requires tuning the material performance of ultrathin ferrimagnetic films. Here, we present an experimental demonstration of tunable perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA) and spin–orbit torque (SOT) switching behavior in a ferrimagnetic Heusler alloy D022-Mn3Ga based multilayers by introducing lattice-matching underlayers. It is found that the highly (001) orientated crystalline structure is well maintained, whereas coercivity, anisotropy field, and PMA constant rely heavily on the specific underlayer. Owing to the strong out-of-plane exchange coupling, the PMA constant of Co2MnSi/D022-Mn3Ga is significantly enhanced by four times and reaches 12.1 Merg/cm3. Moreover, the SOT measurements suggest that Fe/D022-Mn3Ga and Co2MnSi/D022-Mn3Ga exhibit analog and abrupt switching dynamics, respectively. This contrasting SOT switching behavior is attributed to different magnetization switching mechanisms, verified by the direct imaging of the nanoscale magnetic domain. These results provide a deep insight into the manipulation of not only fundamental magnetic properties but also SOT switching of ferrimagnetic Heusler alloys. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]