Combinatorial Synthesis of Cation-Disordered Manganese Tin Nitride MnSnN2 Thin Films with Magnetic and Semiconducting Properties: arXiv:2206.03594 [cond-mat.mtrl-sci]

Christopher Rom, Rebecca Smaha, Celeste Melamed, Rekha Schnepf, Karen Heinselman, John Mangum, Sang-Jun Lee, Stephan Lany, Laura Schelhas, Ann Greenaway, James Neilson, Sage Bauers, Jennifer Andrew, Adele Tamboli

Research output: Contribution to journalArticle

Abstract

Magnetic semiconductors may soon improve the energy efficiency of computers, but materials exhibiting these dual properties remain underexplored. Here, we report the computational prediction and realization of a new magnetic and semiconducting material, MnSnN2, via combinatorial sputtering of thin films. Grazing incidence wide angle X-ray scattering and laboratory X-ray diffraction studies show a wide composition tolerance for this wurtzite-like MnSnN2, ranging from 20%< Mn/(Mn+Sn) <65\% with cation disorder across this composition space. Magnetic susceptibility measurements reveal a low-temperature transition (T* approximately equal to 10 K) for MnSnN2 and strong antiferromagnetic correlations, although the ordering below this transition may be complex. This finding contrasts with bulk MnSiN2 and MnGeN2, which exhibited antiferromagnetic ordering above 400 K in previous studies. Spectroscopic ellipsometry identifies an optical absorption onset of 1 eV for the experimentally-synthesized phase exhibiting cation disorder, consistent with the computationally-predicted 1.2 eV bandgap for the cation-ordered structure. Electronic conductivity measurements confirm the semiconducting nature of this new phase by showing increasing conductivity with increasing temperature. This work adds to the set of known semiconductors that are paramagnetic at room temperature and will help guide future work targeted at controlling the structure and properties of semiconducting materials that exhibit magnetic behavior.
Original languageAmerican English
Number of pages22
JournalArXiv.org
DOIs
StatePublished - 2022

NREL Publication Number

  • NREL/JA-5K00-83067

Keywords

  • diffraction
  • magnetism
  • manganese
  • nitride
  • nitrides
  • semiconductor
  • thin films
  • tin

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