Molecular beam epitaxy of the half-Heusler antiferromagnet CuMnSb

Abstract

We report growth of CuMnSb thin films by molecular beam epitaxy on InAs(001) substrates. The CuMnSb layers are compressively strained ($0.6~\text{%}$) due to lattice mismatch. The thin films have a $\omega$ full width half max of $7.7^{{}^{\prime \prime }}$ according to high resolution X-ray diffraction, and a root mean square roughness of $0.14\text{nm}$ as determined by atomic force microscopy. Magnetic and electrical properties are found to be consistent with reported values from bulk samples. We find a Néel temperature of $62\text{K}$, a Curie-Weiss temperature of $-65\text{K}$ and an effective moment of $5.9{\mu }_{\text{B}}/\text{f.u.}$. Transport measurements confirm the antiferromagetic transition and show a residual resistivity at $4\text{K}$ of $35\mu \Omega \cdot \text{cm}$.

6 pages, 5 figures, accepted in PRM