Theoretical Investigation and Characterization of a Magnetic Heusler Alloy of Composition X2MnM with Co2MnGe as Prototype.

Abstract

Spintronics is a new research area dealing with the study of materials harnessing both electron's degrees of freedom (the charge and the spin). The Heusler materials are proposed for achieving such characteristics. The research of a new Heusler compounds leads to the development of half- metallic Ferro-magnets, which are designed as a potential candidate having implications in the e ciency of electronic transport and data storage. A properties of high spin polarization (up to 100%) of the conduction electrons and high Curie temperature were found in Co-based Heusler compounds. The aim of this work is to study the structural, electronic and magnetic properties of one full Heusler alloy under the e ect of the hydrostatic pressure (􀀀10 ! 25GPa). Using CASTEP code and based on the density functional theory where the exchange and correlation are treated using the GGA approximation, we have carried out a theoretical investigation of the properties of Co2MnGe compound. The optimized structural results are in good agreement with the experimental studies. The study of the band structures shows the half-metallicity character of Co2MnGe compound, a high spin polarization of the material is shown from the DOS analyses. For the magnetic properties, the material follows a Slater-Pauling behaviour and its total spin magnetic moment per unit cell is found to be integer and mainly built from the Mn atoms.