Structural and Transport Properties of Thick and Thin Cr ₂ AlC Films

Herein, structural and transport properties of Cr 2 AlC films of thickness t = 500 nm are compared with films of t = 50 nm. Both films exhibit a weak fiber texture; however, columnar grain growth is only observed for the 500 nm film. The films are systematically disordered through ion irradiation with energetic Ar + and Co + ions at fluences ranging from 10 12 to 10 15 ions cm −2 . The ion energy is adjusted to match the penetration depth to the film thickness. For both film thicknesses, a resistivity upturn at low temperatures is observed, with the thin films showing the resistivity minima at temperatures of 20–40 K, compared to the thick films with the resistivity minima close to 10 K. Further decrease of temperature results in an increase of resistivity, which is 10 times larger in the thin film case. The ρ (T) upturns are consistent with the Kondo effect, arising due to Cr atoms being displaced from their lattice sites. Field switching of the magnetoresistance has been observed previously in disordered thick films, but here, thin films show only a parabolic field dependence, which aligns with metal‐like ordinary magnetoresistance.