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Register a new userDefect charging and resonant levels in half-Heusler Nb$_{1-x}$Ti$_x$FeSb
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We report $^{93}$Nb and $^{121}$Sb NMR and $^{57}$Fe M{o}ssbauer studies combined with DFT calculations of Nb$_{1-x}$Ti$_x$FeSb ($0leqslant x leqslant0.3$), one of the most promising thermoelectric systems for applications above 1000 K. These studies provide local information about defects and electronic configurations in these heavily $p$-type materials. The NMR spin-lattice relaxation rate provides a measure of states within the valence band. With increasing $x$, changes of relaxation rate vs carrier concentration for different substitution fractions indicate the importance of resonant levels which do not contribute to charge transport. The local paramagnetic susceptibility is significantly larger than expected based on DFT calculations, which we discuss in terms of an enhancement of the susceptibility due to a Coulomb enhancement mechanism. The M{o}ssbauer spectra of Ti-substituted samples show small departures from a binomial distribution of substituted atoms, while for unsubstituted $p$-type NbFeSb, the amplitude of a M{o}ssbauer satellite peak increases vs temperature, a measure of the $T$-dependent charging of a population of defects residing about 30 meV above the valence band edge, indicative of an impurity band at this location.
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We report the structural, magnetic, and magnetocaloric properties of Co$_2$Cr$_{1-x}$Ti$_x$Al ($x=$ 0--0.5) Heusler alloys for spintronic and magnetic refrigerator applications. Room temperature X-ray diffraction and neutron diffraction patterns along with Rietveld refinements confirm that the samples are of single phase and possess a cubic structure. Interestingly, magnetic susceptibly measurements indicate a second order phase transition from paramagnetic to ferromagnetic where the Curie temperature (T$_{rm C}$) of Co$_2$CrAl increases from 330~K to 445~K with Ti substitution. Neutron powder diffraction data of the $x=$ 0 sample across the magnetic phase transition taken in a large temperature range confirm the structural stability and exclude the possibility of antiferromagnetic ordering. The saturation magnetization of the $x=$ 0 sample is found to be 8000~emu/mol (1.45~$mu_{rm B}$/{it f.u.}) at 5~K, which is in good agreement with the value (1.35$pm$0.05~$mu_{rm B}$/{it f.u.}) obtained from the Rietveld analysis of the neutron powder diffraction pattern measured at temperature of 4~K. By analysing the temperature dependence of the neutron data of the $x=$ 0 sample, we find that the change in the intensity of the most intense Bragg peak (220) is consistent with the magnetization behavior with temperature. Furthermore, an enhancement of change in the magnetic entropy and relative cooling power values has been observed for the $x=$ 0.25 sample. Interestingly, the critical behavior analysis across the second order magnetic phase transition and extracted exponents ($betaapprox$ 0.496, $gammaapprox$ 1.348, and $deltaapprox$ 3.71 for the $x=$ 0.25 sample) suggest the presence of long-range ordering, which deviates towards 3D Heisenberg type interactions above T$_{rm C}$, consistent with the interaction range value $sigma$.
Epitaxial thin films of the substitutionally alloyed half-Heusler series CoTi$_{1-x}$Fe$_x$Sb were grown by molecular beam epitaxy on InAlAs/InP(001) substrates for concentrations 0.0$leq$x$leq$1.0. The influence of Fe on the structural, electronic, and magnetic properties was studied and compared to that expected from density functional theory. The films are epitaxial and single crystalline, as measured by reflection high-energy electron diffraction and X-ray diffraction. Using in-situ X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, only small changes in the valence band are detected for x$leq$0.5. For films with x$geq$0.05, ferromagnetism is observed in SQUID magnetometry with a saturation magnetization that scales linearly with Fe content. A dramatic decrease in the magnetic moment per formula unit occurs when the Fe is substitutionally alloyed on the Co site indicating a strong dependence on the magnetic moment with site occupancy. A crossover from both in-plane and out-of-plane magnetic moments to only in-plane moment occurs for higher concentrations of Fe. Ferromagnetic resonance indicates a transition from weak to strong interaction with a reduction in inhomogeneous broadening as Fe content is increased. Temperature-dependent transport reveals a semiconductor to metal transition with thermally activated behavior for x$leq$0.5. Anomalous Hall effect and large negative magnetoresistance (up to -18.5% at 100 kOe for x=0.3) are observed for higher Fe content films. Evidence of superparamagnetism for x=0.3 and x=0.2 suggests for moderate levels of Fe, demixing of the CoTi$_{1-x}$Fe$_x$Sb films into Fe rich and Fe deficient regions may be present. Atom probe tomography is used to examine the Fe distribution in a x=0.3 film. Statistical analysis reveals a nonhomogeneous distribution of Fe atoms throughout the film, which is used to explain the observed magnetic and electrical behavior.
Though Weyl fermions have recently been observed in several materials with broken inversion symmetry, there are very few examples of such systems with broken time reversal symmetry. Various Co$_{2}$-based half-metallic ferromagnetic Heusler compounds are lately predicted to host Weyl type excitations in their band structure. These magnetic Heusler compounds with broken time reversal symmetry are expected to show a large momentum space Berry curvature, which introduces several exotic magneto-transport properties. In this report, we present systematic analysis of experimental results on anomalous Hall effect (AHE) in Co$_2$Ti$X$ ($X$=Si and Ge). This study is an attempt to understand the role of Berry curvature on AHE in Co$_2$Ti$X$ family of materials. The anomalous Hall resistivity is observed to scale quadratically with the longitudinal resistivity for both the compounds. The detailed analysis indicates that in anomalous Hall conductivity, the intrinsic Karplus-Luttinger Berry phase mechanism dominates over the extrinsic skew scattering and side-jump mechanism.
A half-Heusler material FeNb$_{0.8}$Ti$_{0.2}$Sb has been identified as a promising thermoelectric material due to its excellent thermoelectric performance at high temperatures. The origins of the efficient thermoelectric performance are investigated through a series of low-temperature (2 - 400 K) measurements. The high data coherence of the low and high temperatures is observed. An optimal and nearly temperature-independent carrier concentration is identified, which is ideal for the power factor. The obtained single type of hole carrier is also beneficial to the large Seebeck coefficient. The electronic thermal conductivity is found to be comparable to the lattice thermal conductivity and becomes the dominant component above 200 K. These findings again indicate that electron scattering plays a key role in the electrical and thermal transport properties. The dimensionless figure of merit is thus mainly governed by the electronic properties. These effects obtained at low temperatures with the avoidance of possible thermal fluctuations together offer the physical origin for the excellent thermoelectric performance in this material.
For disordered Heisenberg systems with small single ion anisotropy, two spin glass transitions below the long range ordered phase transition temperature has been predicted theoretically for compositions close to the percolation threshold. Experimental verification of these predictions is still controversial for conventional spin glasses. We show that multiferroic spin glass systems can provide a unique platform for verifying these theoretical predictions via a study of change in magnetoelastic and magnetoelectric couplings, obtained from an analysis of diffraction data, at the spin glass transition temperatures. Results of macroscopic and microscopic (x-ray and neutron scattering) measurements are presented on disordered BiFeO3, a canonical Heisenberg system with small single ion anisotropy, which reveal appearance of two spin glass phases SG1 and SG2 in coexistence with the LRO phase below the A-T and G-T lines. It is shown that the temperature dependence of the integrated intensity of the antiferromagnetic peak shows dips with respect to the Brillouin function behaviour around the SG1 and SG2 transition temperatures. The ferroelectric polarisation changes significantly at the two spin glass transition temperatures. These results, obtained using microscopic techniques, clearly demonstrate that the SG1 and SG2 transitions occur on the same magnetic sublattice and are intrinsic to the system. We also construct a phase diagram showing all the magnetic phases in BF-xBT system. While our results on the two spin glass transitions support the theoretical predictions, it also raises several open questions which need to be addressed by revisiting the existing theories of spin glass transitions by taking into account the effect of magnetoelastic and magnetoelectric couplings as well as electromagnons.
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