This study reports the development of ferrimagnetic cubic Heusler compound

{Mn}_{2} {Fe}_{x} Ga

(MFG) thin films with large perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA). By growing MFG on a Cr buffer layer, a cubic

X_{a}

phase with a tetragonal distortion

c / a \approx 1.04

induced by the buffer layer was obtained in the range of

x = 1.0 - 1.3

, leading to large PMA which exceeds

0.75 MJ m^{- 3}

in stoichiometric

{Mn}_{2} FeGa

(x = 1)

. Synchrotron Mössbauer spectroscopy revealed that these cubic MFG thin films show good chemical ordering close to the

X_{a}

-ordered state. First-principles calculations demonstrated that, in

X_{a}

-ordered cubic MFG, the characteristic electronic structure of Fe around the Fermi level causes a large uniaxial magnetocrystalline anisotropy under the tetragonal strain consistent with experiment. The half-metallic-like band structure of cubic MFG was also shown to be preserved under the strain. Cubic

{Mn}_{2} FeGa

with its small saturation magnetization, large PMA, and possibility of being highly spin polarized make this material an ideal candidate for the development of magnetic random-access memory and other spintronic devices.

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