Half-metallic ferrimagnetism in Full-Heusler alloy Mn2CuMg

In the paper Ab initio electronic structure calculations are applied to study the electronic structure and magnetism properties of a new Mn-based Heusler alloy Mn₂CuMg. We take into account both possible L 2₁ structures (CuHg₂Ti and AlCu₂Mn types). The CuHg₂Ti-type structure is found to be energetically more favorable than the AlCu₂Mn-type structure and presents half-metallic ferrimagnetism. However, the case of exchanging X with Y atoms in generic formula loses its half-metallicity due to the symmetric surroundings. Calculations show that their total spin moment is −1μ_B for a wide range of equilibrium lattice constants and the total spin magnetic moment is attributed mainly to the two Mn atoms, while the Cu atom is almost non-magnetic. A small total spin moment origins from the antiparallel configurations of the Mn partial moments. The CuHg₂Ti-type Mn₂CuMg alloy keeps a 100% of spin polarization of conduction electrons at the Fermi level, thus opening the way to engineer new half-metallic alloys with the desired magnetic properties.     

A first principles study on the full-Heusler compound Mn2CuSi

Using a state-of-the-art full-potential electronic structure method within the generalized gradient approximation (GGA), we study the electronic structure and magnetic properties of the Mn₂CuSi full-Heusler alloy. Calculations show that CuHg₂Ti-type structure alloy is a half-metallic ferrimagnet with the Fermi level (ε_F) being located within a tiny gap of the minority-spin density of states. The conduction electron at ε_F keeps a 100% spin polarization. A total spin moment, which is mainly due to the antiparallel configurations of the Mn partial moments, is −1.00μ_B for a wide range of equilibrium lattice parameters. Simultaneously, the small spin magnetic moments of Cu and Si atoms are antiparallel. The gap mainly originates from the hybridization of the d states of the two Mn atoms. Thus, Mn₂CuSi may be the compound of choice for further experimental investigations.     

Half-metallic ferrimagnetism in Mn2CuGe

We study magnetism properties and the electronic structure of a new Mn-based Heusler alloys Mn₂CuGe using ab initio electronic structure calculations. We take into account both possible L 2₁ structures (CuHg₂Ti and AlCu₂Mn types). The CuHg₂Ti-type structure is found to be energetically more favorable than the AlCu₂Mn-type structure and exhibits half-metallic ferrimagnetism. Calculations show that their total spin moment is for a wide range of equilibrium lattice constants and magnetic moment mainly comes from the two Mn atoms, while the Cu atom is almost nonmagnetic. The small total moment comes from the antiparallel configurations of the Mn partial moments. And the CuHg₂Ti-type Mn₂CuGe alloy keeps a 100% of spin polarization at the Fermi level. Thus, the Mn₂CuGe is the compound of choice for further experimental investigations.     

Effect of low-valent atom substitution on electronic structure and magnetic properties of Fe1.5M0.5CoSi (M=V, Cr, Mn, Fe) Heusler alloys

Quaternary Heusler alloys Fe_1.5M_0.5CoSi with M=V, Cr, Mn and Fe have been investigated theoretically and experimentally. All of these samples crystallize in the ordered Heusler-type structure. The calculated electronic structure shows a pseudogap around E_F in the minority spin states of Fe₂CoSi. With the substitution of low-valent atoms for Fe, the majority antibonding peak is shifted to higher energy and a minority gap around the Fermi level is opened. High spin polarization ratio is obtained in Fe_1.5M_0.5CoSi (M=V, Cr, Mn) alloys. The calculated total spin moments decrease with decreasing number of valence electrons and follow the Slater-Pauling curve, which agree with the experimental results well. The Curie temperature decreases as M atom varies from Fe to V, but is always higher than 650 K, which is suitable for technical applications.     

Electronic structure and half-metallicity in Heusler alloys Fe2YB (Y=Ti, V, Mn, Cr)

The electronic structure and magnetic properties of B-based Heusler alloys Fe₂YB (Y=Ti, V, Cr and Mn) have been studied theoretically. These alloys are all ferrimagnets except for Fe₂VB. The latter has 24 valence electrons and is a paramagnetic semimetal. Fe₂CrB is predicted to be half-metals at equilibrium lattice constant. The spin polarization of Fe₂MnB is also quite high. The calculated total moments are 1.00 μ_B for Fe₂CrB and 2.04 μ_B for Fe₂MnB. In Fe₂CrB and Fe₂MnB, the total moments are mainly determined by the partial moment of Cr or Mn. The Fe moment is relatively small and antiparallel to that of Cr or Mn. Under uniform lattice distortion, the half-metallicity of Fe₂CrB is more stable than Fe₂MnB, which is related to the detailed DOS structure of them near E_F.     

Half-metallicity and magnetic properties of half-Heusler type Mn2Sn: Ab initio predictions

Ab initio calculations have been carried out to investigate the electronic structure and magnetism of the compound Mn₂Sn with the bcc half-Heusler structure. For the equilibrium lattice parameter 5.69 Å, Mn₂Sn is predicted to be a half-metallic fully compensated ferrimagnet (also called half-metallic antiferromagnet) with zero total spin moment. This zero moment agrees well with the Slater-Pauling curve and mainly comes from the compensated Mn (A) and Mn (B) spin moments in antiparallel configuration. The half-metallicity of Mn₂Sn is stable in a wide lattice-parameter range from 5.6 Å to 5.9 Å. Upon contraction of the lattice, a transition from half-metallicity to semimetallicity is observed.     

Magnetic characterization of Mn5SiB2 and Mn5Si3 phases

In this work the Mn₅Si₃ and Mn₅SiB₂ phases were produced via arc melting and heat treatment at 1000 °C for 50 h under argon. A detailed microstructure characterization indicated the formation of single-phase Mn₅Si₃ and near single-phase Mn₅SiB₂ microstructures. The magnetic behavior of the Mn₅Si₃ phase was investigated and the results are in agreement with previous data from the literature, which indicates the existence of two anti-ferromagnetic structures for temperatures below 98 K. The Mn₅SiB₂ phase shows a ferromagnetic behavior presenting a saturation magnetization M_s of about 5.35×10⁵ A/m (0.67 T) at room temperature and an estimated Curie temperature between 470 and 490 K. In addition, AC susceptibility data indicates no evidence of any other magnetic ordering in 4-300 K temperature range. The magnetization values are smaller than that calculated using the magnetic moment from previous literature NMR results. This result suggests a probable ferrimagnetic arrangement of the Mn moments.     

Origin of the Z−28 rule in Mn2Cu-based Heusler alloys: A comparing study

The origin of the Slater–Pauling curve M_t=Z_t−28 (Here M_t is the total spin moment and Z_t is the number of valence electrons) in half-metallic Heusler alloys Mn₂CuZ (Z=Ge and Sb) has been studied in detail. In Mn₂CuZ the half-metallic gap has a similar origin like half-Heusler alloys. The Cu atom acts as an electron “donator” in Mn₂CuZ, which contributes five d-electrons to the minority spin band of Mn₂CuZ. So there are 14 valence electrons in the minority band of Mn₂CuZ below the Fermi level. This is the origin of the S–P curve M_t=Z_t–28. Finally, it is found that, by partial doping of Cu to the vacant site of half-metallic half-Heusler alloys, the magnetic moments of these can be tuned without destroying the half-metallicity. This can be a possible way to design new half-metals.     

Magnetism in the new full-Heusler compound,Zr2CoAl: A first-principles study

The electronic structure and magnetic properties of Zr₂CoAl bulk material were investigated within the Density Functional Theory (DFT) framework. The material, basically a complete spin polarized half-metallic ferromagnet in the ground state, crystallizes in the ordered full-Heusler inverse structure (Hg₂CuTi-type structure). The energy band gap, localized in minority spin channel is 0.48 eV at equilibrium lattice parameter, 6.54 Å. The total magnetic moment calculated, equal to 2 μ_B/f.u., is an integral, in agreement with the Slater-Pauling curve for full-Heusler alloys.     

Half-metallicity in Fe-based Heusler alloys Fe2TiZ (Z = Ga,Ge, As,In, Sn and Sb)

The electronic structure and magnetic properties of new Fe-based Heusler alloys Fe₂TiZ (Z = Ga, Ge, As, In, Sn and Sb) have been studied by first-principles calculations. In these alloys, the 24-electron Fe₂TiGe, Fe₂TiSn are nonmagnetic semiconductors and other compounds are all ferrimagnetic metals. Fe₂TiAs and Fe₂TiSb are predicted to be half-metals with 100% spin polarization. The spin polarization ratio in Fe₂TiGa and Fe₂TiIn is also quite high. The calculated total moment for Fe₂TiAs and Fe₂TiSb is 1 μ_B, which is mainly determined by the Fe partial moment. The half-metallicity of Fe₂TiSb is stable under lattice distortion. The spin polarization of Fe₂TiSb is found to be 100% for the lattice variation in a range of 5.6–6.1 Å, which is attractive in practical applications.     

Magnetic properties of Mn3Si from first-principles studies

The Heusler compound Mn₃Si, the antiferromagnet in the Mn-based class of Heuslers which contains several conventional and half-metallic ferromagnet, shows a peculiar stability of its magnetic order in high magnetic fields. We investigated the electronic and magnetic properties of Mn₃Si by band structure calculations based on the density functional theory. The minority bands of Mn₃Si in the spin polarized state are gapped at the Fermi level, which shows a half-metallic behavior of Mn₃Si.     

Pressure and disorder effects on the half-metallic character and magnetic properties of the full-Heusler alloy Co2FeSi

We investigate the pressure and site disorder effects on the half-metallicity and magnetic properties of the full-Heusler alloy Co₂FeSi using first-principles density functional theory within the GGA and GGA+U schemes. The calculated lattice constant, bulk modulus and total magnetic moments are in excellent agreement with recent experiments. The volume compression leads to a slight increase of the minority band gap, i.e., the half-metallic properties of Co₂FeSi can maintain under pressure. The disorder calculations reveal that Fe–Co type disorder significantly destroys the half-metallic character and reduces the spin polarization of Co₂FeSi while disorder between Fe and Si can maintain half-metallic properties. Our results also show that the Fe–Co type disorder leads to degradation of the magnetism while the Fe–Si type disorder affects hardly the magnetism as observed in Co₂FeSi.     

Crystal structure and magnetic properties of Nd（Mn1-xFex）2Si2 compounds

X-ray powder diffraction,resistivity and magnetization studies have been performed on polycrystalline Nd(FexMn1-x)2Si2 (0 ≤ x ≤ 1) compounds which crystallize in a ThCr2Si2-type structure with the space group I4/mmm.The field-cooled temperature dependence of the magnetization curves shows that,at low temperatures,NdFe2Si2 is antiferromagnetic,while the other compounds show ferromagnetic behaviour.The substitution of Fe for Mn leads to a decrease in lattice parameters a,c and unit-cell volume V .The Curie temperature of the compounds first increases,reaches a maximum around x = 0.7,then decreases with Fe content.However,the saturation magnetization decreases monotonically with increasing Fe content.This Fe concentration dependent magnetization of Nd(FexMn1-x)2Si2 compounds can be well explained by taking into account the complex effect on magnetic properties due to the substitution of Mn by Fe.The temperature’s square dependence on electrical resistivity indicates that the curve of Nd(Fe0.6Mn0.4)2Si2 has a quasi-linear character above its Curie temperature,which is typical of simple metals.     

Half-metallic properties of Ti2FeSi full-Heusler compound

In this study, the electronic structure and magnetic properties of novel half-metallic Ti₂FeSi full-Heusler compound with CuHg₂Ti-type structure were examined by density functional theory (DFT) calculations. The electronic band structures and density of states of the Ti₂FeSi compound show the spin-up electrons are metallic, but the spin-down bands are semiconductor with a gap of 0.45 eV, and the spin-flip gap is of 0.43 eV. Fe atom shows only a small magnetic moment and its magnetic moment is antiparallel to that of Ti atoms, which is indicative of ferrimagnetism in Ti₂FeSi compound. The Ti₂FeSi Heusler compound has a magnetic moment of 2 μ_B at the equilibrium lattice constant a=5.997 Å.     

Forced volume magnetostriction in Mn3.3Sn0.7C compound at room temperature

The negative volume magnetostriction in the external magnetic field for antiperovskite Mn_3.3Sn_0.7C compound is discovered. Its magnetic transition temperature from paramagnetism to ferrimagnetism is 348 K. The linear and volume magnetostrictions were investigated by measuring the change in length along the three-dimensional directions of the square samples at room temperature. Volume contraction was observed along all of the three directions throughout the whole magnetization. The value of volume magnetostriction is −44×10⁻⁶ at 1.5 T. The magnetization saturates basically at 1.5 T, however the volume magnetostriction should be higher with further increase in magnetic field.     

Mn2 CoSb compound: Structural, electronic, transport and magnetic properties

High-ordered Mn₂CoSb compound has been synthesized successfully by a melt-spinning technique. The band structure calculation shows that Mn₂CoSb is a true half-metallic ferromagnet characterized by an indirect Γ–X band gap of about 0.4007 eV around the Fermi level for minority-spin electrons. The calculated magnetic moment is per formula unit, which is close to the experimental value of . The electronic resistivity shows a power-law T^1.33 temperature dependence at low temperature. The T^1.5 dependence of the magnetization was observed at low temperature, which is expected from Bloch’s law.     

First-principle calculations of structural,electronic and magnetic investigations of Mn2RuGe1-xSnx quaternary Heusler alloys

First-principles calculations were used to calculate the structural, electronic and half-metallic ferromagnetism of Mn₂RuGe_1-xSn_x (x?=?0, 0.25, 0.50, 0.75, 1) Heusler alloys. The Hg₂CuTi-type structure is found to be energetic more than Cu₂MnAl-type structure for both Mn₂RuGe and Mn₂RuSn compounds. The calculated lattice constants for Mn₂RuGe and Mn₂RuSn are 5.91?Å and 6.17?Å, respectively. The electronic band structures and density of states of Mn₂RuGe show a half metallic character with total magnetic moments, 2 μ_B per formula unit that are in good agreement with Slater-Pauling rule with indirect band gap, 0.31?eV along the direction Γ –X. It is observed that the total magnetic moment per cell increases as Sn concentration increases in the Heusler alloys.     

Electronic band structure matching for half- and full-Heusler alloys

We explore the lattice and the electronic band structures matching between the half-metallic Heusler alloys (half-Heusler NiMnSb and full-Heusler Co₂MnSi) and several hypothetical non-magnetic Heusler alloys by using first principle calculations. The lattice and band structure matching are almost perfectly satisfied between the two materials of similar crystal structures: (i) NiMnSb and XYSb and (ii) Co₂MnSi and X₂YSi, where X, Y=Ni or Cu. Owing to the high interface spin scattering asymmetry, these materials are promising to realize a high giant magnetoresistance at room temperature.     

Electronic, magnetic and transport properties of Co2TiZ (Z=Si, Ge and Sn): A first-principle study

We have studied the electronic structure, magnetic and transport properties of some Co based full Heusler alloys, namely Co₂TiZ (Z=Si, Ge and Sn), in the frame work of first-principle calculations. The calculations show that Co₂TiZ (X=Si, Ge and Sn) are to be half-metallic compounds with a magnetic moment of 2 μ_B, well consistent with the Slater-Pauling rule. The electronic structure results reveal that Co₂TiZ has the high density of states at the Fermi energy in the majority-spin state and show 100% spin polarization. Our results also suggest that both the electronic and magnetic properties in these compounds are intrinsically related to the appearance of the minority-spin gap. The origin of energy gap in the minority-spin states is discussed in terms of the electron splitting of Z (Z=Si, Ge and Sn) and 3d Co atoms and also the d-d hybridization between the Co and Ti atoms. The transport properties of these materials are discussed on the basis of Seebeck coefficients, electrical conductivity coefficients and thermal conductivity coefficients.     

Spin polarization effect for Mn2 molecule

The density functional theory method （DFT） （b3p86） of Gaussian 03 has been used to optimize the structure of the Mn2 molecule. The result shows that the ground state of the Mn2 molecule is an 11-multiple state, indicating a spin polarization effect in the Mn2 molecule, a transition metal element molecule. Meanwhile, we have not found any spin pollution because the wavefunction of the ground state does not mingle with wavefunctions of higher-energy states. So the ground state for Mn2 molecule being of an 11-multiple state is the indicative of spin polarization effect of the Mn2 molecule among those in the transition metal elements： that is, there are 10 parallel spin electrons in a Mn2 molecule. The number of non-conjugated electrons is the greatest. These electrons occupy different spacious orbitals so that the energy of the Mn2 molecule is minimized. It can be concluded that the effect of parallel spin in the Mn2 molecule is larger than the effect of the conjugated molecule, which is obviously related to the effect of electron d delocalization. In addition, the Murrell-Sorbie potential functions with the parameters for the ground state and other states of the Mn2 molecule are derived. The dissociation energy De for the ground state of the Mn2 molecule is 1.4477 eV, equilibrium bond length Re is 0.2506 nm, vibration frequency ωe is 211.51 cm^-1. Its force constants f2, f3, and f4 are 0.7240 aJ·nm-2, -3.35574 aJ·nm^-3, 11.4813 aJ·nm^-4 respectively. The other spectroscopic data for the ground state of the Mn2 molecule ωeχe, Be, αe are 1.5301 cm^-1, 0.0978 cm^-1, 7.7825×10^-4 cm^-1 respectively.