Antiferromagnetic phase of the gapless semiconductor V3Al

M. E. Jamer (1) , Badih Assaf (1) , G. E. Sterbinsky (2) , D. Arena (2) , L. H. Lewis (3) , A. A. Saúl (4, 5) , G. Radtke (6) , D. Heiman (1)

1 Department of Physics [UMass, Boston]
2 Photon Sciences Directorate
3 Department of Chemical Engineering,
4 CEE - Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering [Cambridge]
5 CINaM - Centre Interdisciplinaire de Nanoscience de Marseille
6 IMPMC - Institut de minéralogie, de physique des matériaux et de cosmochimie

Discovering new antiferromagnetic (AF) compounds is at the forefront of developing future spintronic devices without fringing magnetic fields. TheAF gapless semiconducting D03 phase ofV3Alwas successfully synthesized via arc-melting and annealing. The AF properties were established through synchrotron measurements of the atom-specific magnetic moments, where the magnetic dichroism reveals large and oppositely oriented moments on individual V atoms. Density functional theory calculations confirmed the stability of a type G antiferromagnetism involving only two-thirds of the V atoms, while the remaining V atoms are nonmagnetic. Magnetization, x-ray diffraction, and transport measurements also support the antiferromagnetism. This archetypal gapl

Domaines: Physique [physics]

M. E. Jamer, Badih Assaf, G. E. Sterbinsky, D. Arena, L. H. Lewis, et al.. Antiferromagnetic phase of the gapless semiconductor V3Al. Physical Review B: Condensed Matter and Materials Physics (1998-2015), 2015, 91 (9), pp.094409. ⟨10.1103/PhysRevB.91.094409⟩. ⟨hal-01219320⟩