Spin orbit driven perpendicular magnetic anisotropy and near half metallic ferromagnetism in HfZCo₂ (Z = Al, Ga, In) inverse Heusler alloys for spintronic memory.
4 affiliations
- 1Department of Chemistry, College of Science and Humanities in Al-Kharj, Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University Al-Kharj 11942 Saudi Arabia.
- 2Department of Physics, Division of Science and Technology, University of Education Lahore Lahore 54770 Pakistan [email protected].
- 3Department of Physics, Qilu Institute of Technology Jinan 250200 Shandong P.R. China [email protected].
- 4Department of Chemistry, Thomas J. R. Faulkner College of Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change, University of Liberia 00231 Monrovia Montserrado County Liberia [email protected].
Abstract
The development of multifunctional magnetic materials combining high spin polarization with controllable magnetic anisotropy is essential for next-generation spintronic technologies, particularly for efficient spin injection as well as non-volatile memory applications. Despite extensive research on lighter transition-metal Heuslers, the specific impact of heavy 5d elements on relativistic electronic structure and magnetic anisotropy in inverse Heusler configurations remains less explored. To address this gap, we report comprehensive first-principles study of electronic structure, magnetic behavior and magnetic anisotropy of inverse full-Heusler HfZCo₂ alloys using density functional theory with fully relativistic spin-orbit coupling. All compounds are found to be structurally stable in XA phase and exhibit robust ferromagnetic ground states with total magnetic moments close to 1.0µ B per formula unit, consistent with Slater-Pauling rule. Spin-resolved band structures and density of states reveal HfAlCo₂ as true half-metallic ferromagnet, while HfGaCo₂/HfInCo₂ illustrate near-half-metallic behavior with pronounced pseudogaps at the Fermi level. The calculated spin polarization reaches approximately 89.5%, 68.5%, and 57.8% for Z = Al, Ga, and In, respectively. Orbital-resolved analysis shows that magnetism is dominated by Co-3d states, with strong Co-3d to Hf-5d hybridization stabilizing the electronic structure. Magnetic anisotropy calculations further reveal nearly isotropic behavior in HfAlCo₂, in-plane magnetic anisotropy in HfGaCo₂ and weak perpendicular magnetic anisotropy in HfInCo₂, reflecting sensitivity of SOC-induced anisotropy to chemical substitution and electronic structure. These results identify HfZCo₂ alloys as theoretically interesting candidates for further investigation in spintronic applications, particularly as potential spin-polarized materials for spin-injection as well as magnetic-anisotropy studies.
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BibTeX
@article{hammouda2026spin,
title = {{Spin orbit driven perpendicular magnetic anisotropy and near half metallic ferromagnetism in HfZCo₂ (Z = Al, Ga, In) inverse Heusler alloys for spintronic memory.}},
author = {Gehan A Hammouda and Tauseef Anwar and Muhammad Tauqeer and Sana Ullah Asif and Asmaa F Kassem and Kakul Husain and Nusiba M M Alshik and Ebraheem Abdu Musad Saleh and M M Moharam and Gideon F B Solre},
journal = {RSC advances},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1039/d6ra07195c},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42846830},
note = {CC BY-NC},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Spin orbit driven perpendicular magnetic anisotropy and near half metallic ferromagnetism in HfZCo₂ (Z = Al, Ga, In) inverse Heusler alloys for spintronic memory.
AU - Gehan A Hammouda
AU - Tauseef Anwar
AU - Muhammad Tauqeer
AU - Sana Ullah Asif
AU - Asmaa F Kassem
AU - Kakul Husain
AU - Nusiba M M Alshik
AU - Ebraheem Abdu Musad Saleh
AU - M M Moharam
AU - Gideon F B Solre
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/07
JO - RSC advances
DO - 10.1039/d6ra07195c
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42846830
AB - The development of multifunctional magnetic materials combining high spin polarization with controllable magnetic anisotropy is essential for next-generation spintronic technologies, particularly for efficient spin injection as well as non-volatile memory applications. Despite extensive research on lighter transition-metal Heuslers, the specific impact of heavy 5d elements on relativistic electronic structure and magnetic anisotropy in inverse Heusler configurations remains less explored. To address this gap, we report comprehensive first-principles study of electronic structure, magnetic behavior and magnetic anisotropy of inverse full-Heusler HfZCo₂ alloys using density functional theory with fully relativistic spin-orbit coupling. All compounds are found to be structurally stable in XA phase and exhibit robust ferromagnetic ground states with total magnetic moments close to 1.0µ B per formula unit, consistent with Slater-Pauling rule. Spin-resolved band structures and density of states reveal HfAlCo₂ as true half-metallic ferromagnet, while HfGaCo₂/HfInCo₂ illustrate near-half-metallic behavior with pronounced pseudogaps at the Fermi level. The calculated spin polarization reaches approximately 89.5%, 68.5%, and 57.8% for Z = Al, Ga, and In, respectively. Orbital-resolved analysis shows that magnetism is dominated by Co-3d states, with strong Co-3d to Hf-5d hybridization stabilizing the electronic structure. Magnetic anisotropy calculations further reveal nearly isotropic behavior in HfAlCo₂, in-plane magnetic anisotropy in HfGaCo₂ and weak perpendicular magnetic anisotropy in HfInCo₂, reflecting sensitivity of SOC-induced anisotropy to chemical substitution and electronic structure. These results identify HfZCo₂ alloys as theoretically interesting candidates for further investigation in spintronic applications, particularly as potential spin-polarized materials for spin-injection as well as magnetic-anisotropy studies.
SN - 2046-2069
ER -