Mn5Ge3 compound, with its room-temperature ferromagnetism and possibility to epitaxially grow on Ge, acts as a potential spin injector into group-IV semiconductors. However, the realization of Ge/Mn5Ge3 multilayers is highly hampered by Mn segregation toward the Ge growing surface. Here, we show that adsorption of some monolayers of carbon on top of the Mn5Ge3 surface prior to Ge deposition allows to greatly reduce Mn segregation. In addition, a fraction of deposited carbon can diffuse down to the underneath Mn5Ge3 layers, resulting in an enhancement of the Curie temperature up to ∼360 K. The obtained results will be discussed in terms of the formation of a diffusion barrier by filling interstitial sites of Mn5Ge3 by carbon.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.