Structural, magnetic and transport properties of half-metallic ferrimagnet Mn<inf>2</inf>VGa

Polycrystalline Mn2VGa samples were synthesized using an arc furnace. X-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern was analyzed using General Structural Analysis System (GSAS) package and the refined lattice parameter was found to be 5.905Å. We found magnetic ordering in the system below 783 K and the spontaneous magnetization was observed to be following the Bloch T3/2 law below 80 K. The magnetic moment per formula unit at 5 K was observed to be 1.88 μB. The temperature variation of the electrical resistance was found to follow the relation Rn = R0n+aT α (α = 1.616) and (Rn-normalized electrical resistance) in the temperature range of 25-300 K and we observed almost a temperature independent variation of the electrical resistance below 25 K indicating the absence of spin-flip scattering. © 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.