Magnetic and Transport Properties of Mn0.98Cr0.02Te Epitaxial Films Grown on Al2O3 Substrates

The epitaxial Mn0.98Cr0.02Te films on single crystal Al2O3 (0001) substrates were prepared by pulsed laser deposition. The X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy results showed that the good continuous epitaxial film was obtained with substrate temperature of 500 °C. When the substrate temperature reached 700 °C, the film was island growth and the manganese oxides phase appeared. The temperature dependence of both the magnetization and electrical resistance showed a sharp rise at around 60 K due to the magneto-elastic coupling. The temperature dependence of the electrical resistance of Mn0.98Cr0.02Te provided evidence for a transition from the metallic to semiconducting state at 305 K due to the spin disorder scattering with a large contribution from the influence of magnon drag.