Growth and characterization of MnAu2 films

MnAu2 films ranging from 60 to 200 nm thickness are deposited by co-sputtering from elemental targets. X-ray diffraction confirmed these films to be nearly single phase with tetragonal lattice parameters of a=0.336 nm and c=0.872 nm that compare well to the bulk values of a=0.336 nm and c=0.876 nm. The density of the films is analyzed using x-ray reflectivity to be 14.95 g/cm(3) and within experimental error of previously determined value of 15.00 g/cm(3). The films grown on c-plane sapphire, (100)MgO and (100) MgF2 are randomly oriented polycrystalline, while the films grown on a-plane sapphire, (111)MgO and (111)Si/(0001)AIN showed that the (110) plane is parallel to the film plane and there are three sets of domains in equal amount differing by 60 in-plane rotation. Magnetic order is found to become paramagnetic near 360 K which is in close proximity to the bulk value. There are deviations in the slope of hysteresis loops observed at 10 K around 10 kOe that indicate complex magnetic switching. (C) 2016 Published by Elsevier B.V.