Structural Stability and Magnetic and Electronic Properties of Co_2MnSi(001)/MgO Heterostructures: A Density-Functional Theory Study
In: Physical Review Letters, Vol. 103 (2009), S. 046802/1-4
Title:
Structural Stability and Magnetic and Electronic Properties of Co_2MnSi(001)/MgO Heterostructures: A Density-Functional Theory Study
Author:
Hülsen, Björn;Scheffler, Matthias;Kratzer, PeterUDE
- GND
- 1266252894
- LSF ID
- 14826
- ORCID
- 0000-0001-5947-1366
- Other
- connected with university
Year of publication:
2009
Abstract:
A computational study of the epitaxial Co_2MnSi(001)/MgO(001) interface relevant to tunneling magnetoresistive devices is presented. Employing ab initio atomistic thermodynamics, we show that the Co or MnSi planes of bulk-terminated Co_2MnSi form stable interfaces, while pure Si or pure Mn termination requires nonequilibrium conditions. Except for the pure Mn interface, the half-metallic property of bulk Co_2MnSi is disrupted by interface bands. Even so, at homogeneous Mn or Co interfaces these bands contribute little to the minority-spin conductance through an MgO barrier, and hence such terminations could perform strongly in tunneling magnetoresistive devices.