Growth of Mn₅Ge₃ ultrathin film on Ge(111)

The growth of Mn_5Ge_3 ultrathin films with different thicknesses, prepared by solid phase epitaxy, is studied. The results of scanning tunnelling microscopy and low energy electron diffraction studies show that the film can be formed and it is terminated with a (\sqrt 3\times \sqrt 3) R30^\circ surface reconstruction when the thickness of Mn exceeds 3 monolayers. The magnetic properties show that the Curie temperature is about 300 K and the T^2-dependent behaviour is observed to remain up to 220 K.