Antiferromagnetic ground state in the MnGa${}_4$ intermetallic compound

Abstract

Magnetism of the binary intermetallic compound MnGa${}_4$ is re-investigated. Band-structure calculations predict antiferromagnetic behavior in contrast to Pauli paramagnetism reported previously. Magnetic susceptibility measurements on single crystals indeed reveal an antiferromagnetic transition at $T_N=393$ K. Neutron powder diffraction and ${}^{69,71}$Ga nuclear quadrupole resonance spectroscopy show collinear antiferromagnetic order with magnetic moments alligned along the [111] direction of the cubic unit cell. The magnetic moment of 0.80(3)$\hat{I}{¼}_B$ at 1.5 K extracted from the neutron data is in good agreement with the band-structure results.