Soft Ferromagnetic Properties of Half-Metallic Mn2CoAl Heusler Alloy Nanoparticles for Spintronics Applications

The ternary full Heusler alloy Mn2CoAl nanoparticles were synthesized by using co-precipitation technique. The as-prepared sample was observed for amorphous nature and further increased at various annealing temperatures (like 700 degrees C, 800 degrees C and 900 degrees C) in argon gas atmosphere for 5 h. X-ray diffraction studies were performed, and the pattern confirms the formation of Hg2CuTi-type structure of the XA or X alpha disorder structure. Williamson-Hall plot (W-H plot) was used to find the uniform deformation model so as to get low value of strain-induced broadening. The presence of Mn2CoAl with the particle size approximate to 50 nm was obtained from high-resolution scanning electron microscopy (HR-SEM), and the elemental analysis study confirms the presence of Mn, Co, and Al. UV-Visible absorption spectrum shows the wide absorption peak at 470 nm and the estimated band gap energy value at E-g = 0.8 eV (from Tauc plot) for 900 degrees C annealed sample. Synthesized Mn2CoAl nanoparticles induced ferromagnetic behavior due to composition deviation and as a result displayed low coercivity of soft magnetic behavior. Half-metallic ferromagnetic Heusler alloys have a wide range of applications from medical imaging to data storage, and also it has profound spintronics applications.