Electronic structure of the layered room-temperature antiferromagnet AlMn2B2

Abstract

Using angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy and band structure calculation, we have investigated the three-dimensional nature and the orbital character of the low-energy electronic structure in the layered ternary boride ${\mathrm{AlMn}}_{2}{\mathrm{B}}_{2}$, in which ferromagnetic Mn $ab$ layers couple antiferromagnetically along the $c$ axis (N\'eel temperature ${\mathrm{T}}_{\mathrm{N}}\ensuremath{\sim}320\phantom{\rule{0.28em}{0ex}}\mathrm{K}$). The calculation indicates that electronic bands in the vicinity of the Fermi energy ${E}_{\mathrm{F}}$ are dominated by the Mn $3d$ orbitals. The ${e}_{g}$ orbitals especially contribute high density of states (DOS) with large effective electron masses near ${E}_{\mathrm{F}}$. The calculated bands are renormalized by a factor of $\ensuremath{\sim}1.5$ to match the overall experimental observations, indicating moderate electronic correlation. Considering that the neighbor compound ${\mathrm{AlFe}}_{2}{\mathrm{B}}_{2}$, with one more $3d$ electron, is ferromagnetic, the high DOS near ${E}_{\mathrm{F}}$ from the different $3d$ orbitals should be associated with the different magnetic orders along the special directions in these layered ternary borides. On the other hand, our studies of electronic structure of ${\mathrm{AlMn}}_{2}{\mathrm{B}}_{2}$ would further prompt its potential applications as a layered room-temperature antiferromagnetic material.