Effect of doping and disorder on the half metallicity of full Heusler alloys

Heusler alloys containing Co and Mn are amongst the most heavily studied half metallic ferromagnets for future applications in spintronics. Using state-of-the-art electronic structure calculations, we investigate the effect of doping and disorder on their electronic and magnetic properties. Small degrees of doping by substituting Fe or Cr for Mn scarcely affect the half metallicity. A similar effect is also achieved by mixing the sublattices occupied by the Mn and sp atoms. Thus the half metallicity is a robust property of these alloys.