Epitaxy of thin films of the Heusler compound Co2Cr0.6Fe0.4Al

Epitaxial thin films of the highly spin polarized Heusler compound Co2Cr0.6Fe0.4Al are deposited by DC magnetron sputtering. It is shown by XRD and TEM investigations how the use of an Fe buffer layer on MgO(1 0 0) substrates supports the growth of highly ordered Co2Cr0.6Fe0.4Al at low deposition temperatures. The as-grown samples show a relatively large ordered magnetic moment of μ≃3.0μB/f.u. providing evidence for a low level of disorder.