Publication details
Surface-induced magnetism in intermetallics: Ni3Ge compound as a case study
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2019 |
| Type | Article in Periodical |
| Magazine / Source | Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Web | https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0304885318317475 |
| Doi | http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jmmm.2018.11.055 |
| Keywords | Ab initio calculations; Magnetic thin films; Surface magnetism; Intermetallic compounds; Nickel alloys |
| Description | By means of the first-principles calculations we investigate the magnetic properties of four low-index surfaces in the bulk nonmagnetic Ni3Ge intermetallic compound with the L1(2) structure. We predict that the (1 1 1) surface of Ni3Ge is magnetically ordered, with all magnetic moments located at the Ni sites. Magnetic order is also found at the Ni-terminated (0 01), (1 1 0) and (2 1 0) surfaces, however, the nonmagnetic NiGe-terminated surfaces are more stable similarly as in other L1(2) compounds. It turns out that the magnetic order in the bulk Ni3Ge is destroyed completely by the hybridization of Ge-p and Ni-d states and it is recovered at some surfaces due to the reduced coordinate number of Ni atoms. We also report on a particular distribution of magnetization at the Ni3Ge(1 1 1) surface where the ferromagnetic and anti-ferromagnetic-like states are degenerated because there are magnetically dead layers between the two magnetic surfaces and there is no interference between them. The calculated results obtained for Ni3Ge are compared with those for Ni3Al; the differences between these two compounds are discussed. |
| Related projects: |