Ab-initio design of half-metallic fully-compensated ferrimagnets: the case of Cr${}_2$MnZ (Z= P, As, Sb, Bi) compounds

Abstract

Electronic structure calculations from first-principles are employed to design some new half-metallic fully-compensated ferrimagnets (or as they are widely known half-metallic antiferromagnets) susceptible of finding applications in spintronics. Cr${}_2$MnZ (Z= P, As, Sb, Bi) compounds have 24 valence electrons per unit cell and calculations show that their total spin moment is approximately zero for a wide range of lattice constants in agreement with the Slater-Pauling behavior for ideal half-metals. Simultaneously, the spin magnetic moments of Cr and Mn atoms are antiparallel and the compounds are ferrimagnets. Mean-field approximation is employed to estimate their Curie temperature, which exceeds room temperature for the alloy with Sb. Our findings suggest that Cr${}_2$MnSb is the compound of choice for further experimental investigations. Contrary to the alloys mentioned above half-metallic antiferromagnetism is unstable in the case of the Cr${}_2$FeZ (Z= Si, Ge, Sn) alloys.

References in corpus (10)

• Spintronics: Fundamentals and applications
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• Half-Metallic Ferrimagnetism in Mn_2VAl
• Appearance of Half-Metallicity in the Quaternary Heusler Alloys
• Search for half-metallic ferrimagnetism in V-based Heusler alloys Mn${}_2$VZ (Z$=$Al, Ga, In, Si, Ge, Sn)
• The effect of the spin-orbit interaction on the band gap of half-metals
• Half-metallic diluted antiferromagnetic semiconductors

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• Nonzero macroscopic magnetization in half-metallic antiferromagnets at finite temperatures
• First principle investigations of the structural, electronic and magnetic properties of the new zirconium based full-Heusler compounds, Zr2MnZ (Z = Al, Ga and In)
• Half-metallic, Co-based quaternary Heuslers for spintronics: defect- and pressure-induced transitions and properties
• Half metallic state and magnetic properties versus the lattice constant in Ti\raisebox{-.2ex}{\scriptsize 2}CoSn Heusler compound: an ab initio study
• Engineering the electronic, magnetic and gap-related properties of the quinternary half-metallic Heusler alloys
• Ferrimagnetism and antiferromagnetism in half-metallic Heusler alloys
• Half-metallic Antiferromagnet BaCrFeAs2
• Ab-initio calculation of effective exchange interactions, spin waves, and Curie temperature in L2_1- and L1_2-type local moment ferromagnets
• Structural and magnetic behavior of Cr${}_2$Co${}_{(1-x)}$Cr${}_x$Al inverse Heusler alloys
• Quasi-static magnetization dynamics in a compensated ferrimagnetic half-metal -- Mn${}_2$Ru${}_x$Ga
• Role of defects and disorder in the half-metallic full-Heusler compounds
• Half-metallic ferrimagnetism in the [Sc${}_{1-x}$V${}_x$]C and [Sc${}_{1-x}$V${}_x$]Si alloys adopting the zinc-blende and wurtzite structures from first-principles