Advances in Structure and Properties of Heusler Alloys

Dear Colleagues,

Heusler compounds are being actively studied because of their multifunctional properties, including half-metallicity, high temperature ferri- and ferromagnetism, shape memory effects, perpendicular magnetic anisotropy in tetragonal structure, and spin gapless semiconductivity. In particular, Heusler materials are being extensively investigated for applications in spin-based electronics (spintronics), one of the most actively developing fields of materials science which has a vast landscape of potential technological applications. The fast development of thin-film technology has resulted in practical implementations, such as magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJ) in the read heads of computer hard disks. A high degree of spin polarization in electron transport (ideally 100%, in which case the material is called half-metallic) is one of the fundamental requirements for electrodes of MTJs. For practical applications, Heusler-type materials are especially attractive, since they typically demonstrate higher Curie temperature compared to most of the other reported half-metals, such as oxides (CrO₂ and Fe₃O₄), manganites (La_0.7Sr_0.3MnO₃), double perovskites (Sr₂FeReO₆), chalcogenides (EuN), and pyrites (CoS₂), among others.

The degree of transport spin polarization could be altered by several mechanisms, including atomic disorder, mechanical strain, temperature, and surface/interface termination in thin-film multilayer geometry. The latter is typically reported to have a detrimental effect on half-metallicity although, in some recent studies, 100% spin-polarized surfaces in Heusler materials have been reported.

This Special Issue focuses on the structural, magnetic, and electronic properties of Heusler alloys, in particular, for application in spin-based electronics. The topics of interest include but are not limited to:

1. Structural, magnetic, and electronics properties of Heusler alloys;
2. Half-metallicity in Heusler alloys;
3. Effect of mechanical strain on the properties of Heusler alloys;
4. Effects of atomic disorder on the electronic structure of Heusler alloys;
5. Effects of surface/interface termination in thin-film geometry on the electronic structure of Heusler alloys.

Prof. Pavel V. Lukashev
Guest Editor

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• half-metals
• Heusler alloys
• spintronics