Abstract
First-principles FLAPW calculations were performed on the Mn2CrZ (Z=Al, Ga, Si, Ge and Sb) alloys. Based on these results we predict two half-metallic ferromagnets (HMFs) namely Mn2CrAl and Mn2CrSb, and also find an energy gap in Mn2CrGa which lies near the Fermi level. The energy gap lies in the majority spin band for Mn2CrAl and Mn2CrGa, whereas in the minority one for Mn2CrSb. The calculated total spin magnetic moments Mtcal are -1μB per unit cell for Mn2CrAl and Mn2CrGa, +1μB per unit cell for Mn2CrSb and zero for Mn2CrSi and Mn2CrGe, which agree with the Slater-Pauling rule. The calculation indicates a large and localized magnetic moment of Cr at B site. This is meaningful for searching for new half-metallic antiferromagnets in Heusler alloys. The magnetic moment of Cr is found to increase with increasing atomic number of Z and is antiparallel to that of Mn. The change of Mn and Cr spin moments compensates each other and keeps the total spin moment as an integer when the Z atom is changed.
Original language | English (US) |
---|---|
Pages (from-to) | 421-428 |
Number of pages | 8 |
Journal | Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials |
Volume | 320 |
Issue number | 3-4 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Feb 2008 |
Externally published | Yes |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:This work is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China Grant no. 50671034, and Natural Science Foundation of Hebei Grant no. E2006000063.
Keywords
- Band structure
- Half-metallicity
- Heusler alloy
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
- Condensed Matter Physics