Magnetic and electronic transport properties of antiperovskite Mn3Cu(Ge)N thin films

The antiperovskite structure Mn3Cu(Ge)N thin films were grown on single crystal Si (100) substrates by facing target magnetron sputtering. It is found that the films exhibit (100) preferred orientation. Ge-doping does not change the antiperovskite structure but leads to obvious changes in surface morphologies, magnetic and electronic transport properties. As a function of temperature, the resistivity of the films shows a semiconductor-type behavior. Moreover, it is worth noting that an abrupt change of resistivity is observed and magnetic ordering of the films changes from ferrimagnetic (FI) to antiferromagnetic (AFM) due to Ge-doping. In addition, both the transition temperature (T-t) and Neel temperature (T-N) move towards higher temperature with increasing Ge content. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.