Composition-Induced Magnetic Transition in GdMn1-xTixSi Intermetallic Compounds for x = 0–1

Abstract

Magnetic intermetallic compounds based on rare earth elements and 3d transition metals are widely investigated due to the functionality of their physical properties and their variety of possible applications. In this work, we investigated the features of the electronic structure and magnetic properties of ternary intermetallic compounds based on gadolinium GdMn1-xTixSi, in the framework of the DFT + U method. Analysis of the densities of electronic states and magnetic moments of ions in Ti-doped GdMnSi showed a significant change in the magnetic properties depending on the contents of Mn and Ti. Together with the magnetic moment, an increase in the density of electronic states at the Fermi energy was found in almost all GdMn1-xTixSi compositions, which may indicate a significant change in the transport properties of intermetallic compounds. Together with the expected Curie temperatures above 300 K, the revealed changes in the magnetic characteristics and electronic structure make the GdMn1-xTixSi intermetallic system promising for use in microelectronic applications. © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.