Crystal and magnetic structure of Mn3IrSi

Abstract

A new ternary Ir-Mn-Si phase with stoichiometry Mn3IrSi has been synthesized and found to crystallize in the cubic AlAu4-type structure, space group P213 with Z = 4, which is an ordered form of the α-Mn structure. The unit cell dimension was determined by x-ray powder diffraction to a = 6.4973(3)Å. In addition to the crystal structure, we have determined the magnetic structure and properties using superconducting quantum interference device magnetometry and Rietveld refinements of neutron powder diffraction data. A complex noncollinear magnetic structure is found, with magnetic moments of 2.97(4)μB at 10 K only on the Mn atoms. The crystal structure consists of a triangular network built up by Mn atoms, on which the moments are rotated 120° around the triangle axes. The magnetic unit cell is the same as the crystallographic and carries no net magnetic moment. The Néel temperature was determined to be 210 K. A first-principles study, based on density functional theory in a general noncollinear formulation, reproduces the experimental results with good agreement. The observed magnetic structure is argued to be the result of frustration of antiferromagnetic couplings by the triangular geometry. © 2004 The American Physical Society.