Coexistence of half-metallic itinerant ferromagnetism with local-moment antiferromagnetism in Ba0.60K0.40Mn2As2

• Published in: Physical review letters 2013-07, Vol.111 (4), p.047001-047001
• Main Authors: Pandey, Abhishek, Ueland, B G, Yeninas, S, Kreyssig, A, Sapkota, A, Zhao, Yang, Helton, J S, Lynn, J W, McQueeney, R J, Furukawa, Y, Goldman, A I, Johnston, D C
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0031-9007; 1079-7114
• DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.111.047001

Magnetization, nuclear magnetic resonance, high-resolution x-ray diffraction, and magnetic field-dependent neutron diffraction measurements reveal a novel magnetic ground state of Ba0.60K0.40Mn2As2 in which itinerant ferromagnetism (FM) below a Curie temperature TC≈100  K arising from the doped conduction holes coexists with collinear antiferromagnetism (AFM) of the Mn local moments that order below a Néel temperature TN=480  K. The FM ordered moments are aligned in the tetragonal ab plane and are orthogonal to the AFM ordered Mn moments that are aligned along the c axis. The magnitude and nature of the low-T FM ordered moment correspond to complete polarization of the doped-hole spins (half-metallic itinerant FM) as deduced from magnetization and ab-plane electrical resistivity measurements.