Charge redistribution and the Magnetoelastic transition across the first-order magnetic transition in (Mn,Fe)2(P,Si,B)

TL;DR

This study investigates how substituting B for P in Mn-Fe-P-Si compounds affects their structural, magnetic, and electronic properties across the magneto-elastic transition, revealing a gradual change from first- to second-order transition and electron density redistribution.

Contribution

It provides detailed insights into how B substitution tunes the magnetic transition and alters electron density distribution in Mn-Fe-P-Si compounds, advancing understanding of magnetoelastic phase transitions.

Findings

B substitution reduces thermal hysteresis and transition sharpness.

Electron density shows directional bonding preferences on Fe sites.

Lattice distortions decrease with increasing B content.

Abstract

We used temperature dependent high-resolution x-ray powder diffraction and magnetization measurements to investigate structural, magnetic and electronic degrees of freedom across the ferromagnetic magneto-elastic phase transition in Mn1Fe1P0.6-wSi0.4Bw (w = 0, 0.02, 0.04, 0.06, 0.08). The magnetic transition was gradually tuned from a strong first-order (w = 0) towards a second-order magnetic transition by substituting P by B. Increasing the B content leads to a systematic increase in the magnetic transition temperature and a decrease in thermal hysteresis, which completely vanishes for w = 0.08. Furthermore, the largest changes in lattice parameter across the magnetic transition occur for w = 0, which systematically becomes smaller approaching the samples with w = 0.08. Electron density plots show a strong directional preference of the electronic distribution on the Fe site, which indicates the forming of bonds between Fe atoms and Fe and P/Si in the paramagnetic phase. On the other hand, the Mn-site shows no preferred directions resembling the behaviour of a free electron gas. Due to the low B concentrations (w = 0 - 0.08), distortions of the lattice are limited. However, even small amounts of B strongly disturb the overall topology of the electron density across the unit cell. Samples containing B show a strongly reduced variation in the electron density compared to the parent compound without B.