Unusual magnetic hysteresis and the weakened transition behavior induced by Sn substitution in Mn3SbN

Abstract

Substitution of Sb with Sn was achieved in ferrimagnetic antiperovskite Mn3SbN. The experimental results indicate that with an increase in Sn concentration, the magnetization continuously decreases and the crystal structure of Mn3Sb1-xSnxN changes from tetragonal to cubic phase at around x of 0.8. In the doping series, step-like anomaly in the isothermal magnetization was found and this behavior was highlighted at x = 0.4. The anomaly could be attributed to the magnetic frustration, resulting from competition between the multiple spin configurations in the antiperovskite lattice. Meantime, Hc of 18 kOe was observed at x = 0.3, which is probably the highest among those of manganese antiperovskite materials reported so far. With increasing Sn content, the abrupt change of resistivity and the sharp peak of heat capacity in Mn3SbN were gradually weakened. The crystal structure refinements indicate the weakened change at the magnetic transition is close related to the change of c/a ratio variation from tetragonal to cubic with Sn content. The results derived from this study indicate that the behavior of Mn3Sb1-xSnxN could potentially enhance its scientific and technical applications, such as spin torque transfer and hard magnets.