Observation of magnetic splitting in XPS MnL-spectra of Co2MnSn and Pd2MnSn Heusler alloys

Abstract

The XPS MnL-spectra of Co2MnSn, a nearly half-metallic ferromagnet (HMF) and Pd2MnSn were investigated. The most drastical feature of the spectra observed is the well-defined magnetic splitting of the Mn 2p(3/2), 2p(1/2) lines. This gives direct evidence of the existence of well-defined local magnetic moments in Heusler alloys in comparison with other itinerant-electron ferromagnets. The calculations of Mn2p XPS spectra of these materials were carried out using a fully relativistic generalization of the one-step model of photoemission and show excellent agreement with experiment.