Magnetic and electronic properties of the Cu-substituted Weyl semimetal candidate ZrCo2Sn. (22nd January 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Kushwaha, Satya K; Wang, Zhijun; Kong, Tai; Cava, Robert J
• Is Part Of: Journal of physics. Volume 30:Number 7(2018)
• Publication Date: 2018-01-22
• Subjects: Heusler compounds -- Weyl semimetal -- magnetic properties -- electronic properties; Condensed matter -- Periodicals; Matière condensée -- Périodiques; Vaste stoffen; Vloeistoffen; Natuurkunde; Electronic journals; Computer network resources; 530.4105
• DOI: 10.1088/1361-648X/aaa52b
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0953-8984

Abstract

Abstract: We report that the partial substitution of Cu for Co has a significant impact on the magnetic properties of the Heusler-phase Weyl fermion candidate ZrCo2 Sn. Polycrystalline samples of ZrCo2− x Cu x Sn ( x = 0.0–1.0) exhibited a linearly decreasing ferromagnetic transition temperature and similarly decreasing saturated magnetic moment on increasing Cu substitution x . Materials with Cu contents near x = 1 and several other quaternary materials synthesized at the same x (ZrCo T ʹSn ( T ʹ = Rh, Pd, Ni)) display what appears to be non-ferromagnetic magnetization behavior with spin glass characteristics. Electronic structure calculations suggest that the half-metallic nature of unsubstituted ZrCo2 Sn is disrupted significantly by the Cu substitutions, leading to the breakdown of the magnetization versus electron count guidelines usually followed by Heusler phases, and a more typical metallic non-spin-polarized electronic structure at high x .