Study of electronic structure and magnetic properties of epitaxial Co sub(2)FeAl Heusler Alloy Thin Films

This work reports the magnetic and electronic characterization of plane magnetized buried Heusler Co sub(2)FeAl nano thin films of different thickness by X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) and X-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD) measurements. . The spectra on both Fe- and Co L sub(2,3) edges show a pronounced magnetic dichroic signal in remanence, corresponding to a ferromagnetically-aligned moments on Fe and Co atoms conditioning the peculiar characteristics of the Co sub(2)FeAl Heusler compound (a half-metallic ferromagnet). The detailed knowledge of the related magnetic and electronic properties of these samples over a wide range of thickness of films are indispensable for achieving a higher tunnel magnetoresistance ratio, and thus for spintronics device applications.