High spin polarization and spin splitting in equiatomic quaternary CoFeCrAl Heusler alloy

Abstract In this paper, we investigate CoFeCrAl alloy by means of ab-initio electronic structure calculations and various experimental techniques. The alloy is found to exist in the B2-type cubic Heusler structure, which is very similar to Y-type (or LiMgPdSn prototype) structure with space group F-43m (#216). Saturation magnetization ( M S ) of about 2 µ B /f.u. is observed at 8 K under ambient pressure, which is in good agreement with the Slater–Pauling rule. M S values are found to be independent of pressure, which is a prerequisite for half-metals. The ab-initio electronic structure calculations predict half-metallicity for the alloy with a spin slitting energy of 0.31 eV. Importantly, this system shows a high current spin polarization value of 0.67±0.02, as deduced from the point contact Andreev reflection measurements. Linear dependence of electrical resistivity with temperature indicates the possibility of reasonably high spin polarization at elevated temperatures (~150 K) as well. All these suggest that CoFeCrAl is a promising material for the spintronic devices.