Ultra-fast solid phase epitaxy of Mn5Ge3 on (001) Ge substrate

In the present work, we report on epitaxial growth of ferromagnetic Mn5Ge3 thin films on (001) Ge substrates induced by Mn in-diffusion during non-equilibrium flash lamp annealing for 20 ms. The ferromagnetic Mn5Ge3/Ge samples with very sharp interface between the Mn5Ge3 layer and the Ge substrate can be used to fabricate spintronic devices. Temperature-dependent magnetization reveals a Curie temperature of 282 K which can be tuned much above room temperature by strain engineering and/or co-doping with C. The microstructural properties of the fabricated films were investigated by X-ray diffraction, cross-sectional TEM and Rutherford backscattering spectrometry. Both used material and technology are highly compatible with complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) technology and can be used for spintronics.