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A15 phase Ta3Sb thin films: Direct synthesis, charge transport, and spin-orbit torque

J. S. Jiang1,*, Qianheng Du1, Yi Li1, Ulrich Welp1, Ramakanta Chapai1, Hanu Arava1, Yuzi Liu2, Yue Li1, John Pearson1 et al.

Ralu Divan2, Anand Bhattacharya1, and Hyowon Park1,3

  • *Contact author: jiang@anl.gov
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Phys. Rev. Materials 9, 084203 – Published 20 August, 2025

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/twfb-d5vd

Abstract

Ta3Sb is one of the A15 compounds that have been predicted to have giant spin Hall conductivities due to the gapped Dirac-like band crossings in their electronic structures. We use co-sputtering to directly synthesize thin films of Ta3Sb and identify a large window of Ta:Sb flux ratio that permits the formation of single-phase A15 structure. These sputtered films have an actual Ta:Sb atomic ratio of 4:1, as determined from Rutherford backscattering spectrometry. Their high resistivity, at the Mott-Ioffe-Regel limit, suggests that the electron mean free path is comparable to interatomic distances. From harmonic Hall and spin-torque ferromagnetic resonance measurements, the intrinsic spin Hall conductivity of thin film Ta3Sb is estimated to be in the range of −526 to −1230(ℏ/e)S/cm at 300 K, lower in magnitude than the predicted value of −1400(ℏ/e)S/cm. First-principles calculations of the electronic structure show that the discrepancy is consistent with an increase of the Fermi level due to the nonideal stoichiometry needed to stabilize the A15 structure.

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Phys. Rev. Materials 9, 084203– Published 20 August, 2025
  • Received 31 March 2025
  • Accepted 4 August 2025
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