X-ray diffraction (XRD), magnetometry, and ferromagnetic resonance (FMR) measurements were performed on sputtered thin films of the nominal Heusler alloy (Co${}_2$Mn)${}_{1-x}$Ge${}_x$ with varying Ge content and annealing temperatures. XRD indicates some degree of B2 alloy formation, with strong (110) texturing. FMR measurements were performed in a perpendicular geometry that minimized the contribution of two-magnon scattering to the linewidth. The FMR data indicate a significant increase in linewidth for samples that lack a well-defined (220) peak, presumably as a result of inhomogeneous line broadening. Samples annealed at 200 °C exhibit decreasing Landau–Lifshitz damping with increasing Ge content, while samples annealed at 245 and 300 °C have a nonlinear dependence of linewidth on frequency. The nonlinear component of the linewidth data was successfully fit with a generalized theory of slowly relaxing impurities, originally proposed by Van Vleck and Orbach. The modified theory includes the possibility of transverse coherence during the relaxation process. Magnetometry and FMR spectroscopy results were analyzed in the context of Malozemoff's generalized Slater–Pauling (GSP) theory, with the conclusion that the Ge sites support a significant negative-polarized spin density of several tens of percent. The GSP analysis results were consistent with a more conventional analysis of the spectroscopic $g$-factor that is appropriate for alloys. The proportionality of the strength of the slow-relaxer contribution to the damping suggests that the negatively polarized Ge atoms are acting as the slowly relaxing impurities in question.

• Received 3 September 2010

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.84.054424