Substitution of excess Mn at Ni and Sn site in full-Heusler Mn2.4Ni0.8Sn0.8 alloy

We have successfully prepared a full-Heusler composition having 40% excess Mn substituted at the Ni and Sn sites simultaneously. Structural investigation from X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurement has been carried out by Rietveld refinement and calculation suggested that Mn2.4Ni0.8Sn0.8 sample is crystallized in Hg2CuTi prototype structure with a lattice parameter of 6.12 Å. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) measurement has also been performed for microstructural investigation and the resulting lattice parameter is found to be consistent with the XRD result. Saturation of magnetization has been measured with the applied magnetic field and the saturated magnetic moment was found to be 2.11 μB/f.u. and 1.47 μB/f.u. at 5 K and 300 K temperature respectively. Magnetization vs temperature measurements have been carried out in zero field cooled (ZFC) and field cooled (FC) mode respectively. Square of magnetization vs temperature (M2-T2) curve demonstrated the straight-line trend from 300 K to 5 K which suggested that magnetization of prepared composition is following the Stoner criterion of ferromagnetism.