Investigation of the defect manganese silicide MnnSi2n−m

Low-temperature magnetization studies upon melt-grown single crystals of the defect manganese silicide Mn_nSi_2n?m have shown this material to contain small quantities of plate-like MnSi precipitates. Metallographic and electron microprobe analyses have confirmed this result. The strongly magnetic MnSi precipitates dominate the diamagnetic Mn_nSi_2n?m matrix, and are responsible for the magnetic behavior reported in the literature. MnSi is metallic, and the plate-like metallic precipitates degrade the thermoelectric efficiency of the degenerate semiconductor Mn_nSi_2n?m.