Temperature dependence of x-ray absorption spectra in the ferromagnetic Heusler alloysMn2VAlandCo2FeAl

2010

We investigate the temperature dependence of the spin-resolved unoccupied density of states (DOS) in ferromagnetic ${\text{Co}}_{2}\text{FeAl}$ and ferrimagnetic ${\text{Mn}}_{2}\text{VAl}$ epitaxial films on MgO(100) using x-ray magnetic circular dichroism. We observe an unexpected strong temperature dependence of the DOS beyond the change expected from the Fermi distribution function. An increase in spectral weight is observed for majority states below the Fermi energy in the case of ${\text{Mn}}_{2}\text{VAl}$ and for minority states above the Fermi energy in the case of ${\text{Co}}_{2}\text{FeAl}$. Reduced atomic order near the interface suppresses the unexpected temperature dependence…