Open AccessStructural, magnetic, transport, and half-metallic properties of Fe2Co1-xCrxSi Heusler alloys
Author(s) -
Ye Du,
WH Wang,
Zhang Xm,
Enke Liu,
Gai Wu
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
wuli xuebao
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.199
H-Index - 47
ISSN - 1000-3290
DOI - 10.7498/aps.61.147304
Subject(s) - materials science , condensed matter physics , spintronics , alloy , curie temperature , lattice constant , magnetic moment , spin polarization , fermi level , magnetization , saturation (graph theory) , ferromagnetism , diffraction , magnetic field , electron , metallurgy , physics , optics , mathematics , quantum mechanics , combinatorics
The structural, the magnetic, the transport and the half-metallic properties of quaternary Heusler alloy Fe2Co1-xCrxSi are investigated. The studies of X-ray diffraction and temperature dependence of magnetization reveal that Fe2Co1-xCrxSi alloy always maintains a high degree of order, while the Curie temperature decreases gradually with the increase of Cr concentration x. Importantly, the lattice constant and the saturation magnetic moment of Fe2Co1-xCrxSi alloy follow the Vegard law and half-metallic Slater-Pauling rule, respectively. Based on the band structure calculation, Fe2Co1-xCrxSi alloy keeps a 100% spin polarization and Fermi level moves from the top of valence band to the bottom of conduction band, depending on Cr concentration x. Our results indicate that quaternary Fe2Co1-xCrxSi Heusler alloy is a promising robust half-metallic candidate for spintronics applications.