Electronic, magnetic, and structural properties of the ferrimagnet Mn2CoSn

The magnetic ground state of the Heusler compound Mn2CoSn was predicted to be nearly half-metallic ferrimagnetic with a high spin polarization by ab initio electronic structure calculations. Mn2CoSn was synthesized, and the magnetic behavior of the compound was studied using a superconducting quantum interference device and x-ray magnetic circular dichroism. The experimental values were found to be in fair accordance with the theoretical predictions. The electronic structure and the crystal structure of Mn2CoSn were characterized comprehensively using x-ray powder diffraction, Sn-119 Mossbauer spectroscopy, nuclear magnetic resonance, and hard x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy.