Reinvestigation of the GaMn structure and theoretical studies of its electronic and magnetic properties

The crystal structure of the binary gallide compound GaMn is reinvestigated using X-ray diffraction. The structure is quite different from that proposed previously. Although GaMn is reported to crystallize with the Al₈Cr₅ structure type, space group R3m, we found that the centrosymmetric space group , with a=12.605(2) Å and c=8.0424(11) Å, was more accurate. Moreover, the atomic positions and the atomic displacement parameters, which are missing in the previous study, are now refined. Thereafter, band structure calculations have been performed using the TB-LMTO-ASA method to understand the electronic and magnetic properties of this compound. Analyses from the band structure, the density of states and the magnetic moments obtained using spin-polarized calculations show the stability of two different magnetic models relative to the nonmagnetic one.