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arXiv · 0901.3370

Magnetic, Transport, and Thermal Properties of Single Crystals of the Layered Arsenide BaMn2As2

Abstract

Growth of BaMn2As2 crystals using both MnAs and Sn fluxes is reported. Room temperature crystallography, anisotropic isothermal magnetization M versus field H and magnetic susceptibility chi versus temperature T, electrical resistivity in the ab plane rho(T), and heat capacity C(T) measurements on the crystals were carried out. The tetragonal ThCr2Si2-type structure of BaMn2As2 is confirmed. After correction for traces of ferromagnetic MnAs impurity phase using M(H) isotherms, the inferred intrinsic chi(T) data of the crystals are anisotropic with chi_{ab}/chi_{c} \approx 7.5 at T = 2 K. The temperature dependences of the anisotropic chi data suggest that BaMn2As2 is a collinear antiferromagnet at room temperature with the easy axis along the c axis, and with an extrapolated Neel temperature T_N \sim 500 K. The rho(T) decreases with decreasing T below 310 K but then increases below \sim 50 K, suggesting that BaMn2As2 is a small band-gap semiconductor with an activation energy of order 0.03 eV. The C(T) data from 2 to 5 K are consistent with this insulating ground state, exhibiting a low temperature Sommerfeld coefficient gamma = 0.0(4) mJ/mol K^2. The Debye temperature is determined from these data to be theta_D = 246(4) K. BaMn2As2 is a potential parent compound for ThCr2Si2-type superconductors.

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Yogesh Singh, A. Ellern, D. C. Johnston. 2009-02-12. Magnetic, Transport, and Thermal Properties of Single Crystals of the Layered Arsenide BaMn2As2. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevb.79.094519

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