Perpendicular magnetic anisotropy in Co2Fe0.4Mn0.6Si

We report perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA) in the half-metallic ferromagnetic Heusler alloy Co2Fe0.4Mn0.6Si (CFMS) in a MgO/CFMS/Pd trilayer stack. PMA is found for CFMS thicknesses between 1 and 2 nm, with a magnetic anisotropy energy density of K-U = 1.5 x 10(6) erg/cm(3) for t(CFMS) = 1.5 nm. Both the MgO and Pd layer are necessary to induce the PMA. We measure a tunable anomalous Hall effect, where its sign and magnitude vary with both the CFMS and Pd thickness. Published by AIP Publishing.