Polycrystalline MnGe2 thin films on InAs(001) substrates

We report on the growth of MnGe2 thin films on InAs(001) substrates using radio frequency-magnetron co-sputtering. Polycrystalline thin films were obtained at a substrate temperature of 353 K. X-ray diffractometry was used to identify the tetragonal MnGe2 phase (space group I4/mcm). Measurements of the magnetic field and temperature dependence of the magnetization revealed that the MnGe2 thin films are ferromagnetic with a magnetization of 280 kAm−1 and a Curie temperature of 62 K. Additionally, an antiferromagnetic component is observed at low temperatures, which may arise atomic disorder at the grain boundaries between MnGe2 crystallites.