Mechano-magnetic properties of bulk and thin-film MxFe4-xN (M = Pd, Ga) nitrides

• Applicants: Professor Dr. Richard Dronskowski; Professor Jochen M. Schneider, Ph.D.
• Subject Area: Solid State and Surface Chemistry, Material Synthesis ; Metallurgical, Thermal and Thermomechanical Treatment of Materials
• Term: from 2007 to 2017
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 60392829

• Final Report Year: 2017

Final Report Abstract

In the collaborative research project by IAC and MCh at RWTH Aachen University, itinerant ternary iron nitrides MxFe4–xN (0 ≤ x ≤ 1) with competing magnetic interactions were identified. Under compression, a mechano-magnetic (ferrimagnetic-ferromagnetic) transition was proposed for NiFe3N, exhibiting an equivalent behavior to PdFe3N. In main-group iron nitrides (M = Ga, Ge, Sn), the competing magnetic interactions result in spin-glass-like transitions at low temperatures. We studied the advanced synthesis of these (even metastable) nitrides, their crystal structure, and their magnetic as well as mechanical properties, and always utilized DFT calculations to guide the experiments and explain the results. A highlight was the study on both bulk and thin-film GaxFe4–xN leading to a deeper understanding of both magnetic and mechanical properties. For the first time it was possible to determine the magnetic properties of a daltonide MFe3N (M = Ga) not being ferromagnetic in nature and with the elastic modulus larger than that of steel. This points out at importance of competing spin polarization states and the possibility to undergo second-order phase transitions under external excitations such as mechanical loading.

Publications

• Ternary Nitride GaFe3N: An Experimental and Quantum-Theoretical Study. Inorg. Chem. 49, 10148 (2010)
  J. Burghaus, M. Wessel, A. Houben, R. Dronskowski
  
• Thermal expansion and elasticity of PdFe3N within the quasiharmonic approximation. Eur. Phys. J. B 77, 401 (2010)
  D. Music, J. Burghaus, T. Takahashi, R. Dronskowski, J.M. Schneider
  
• Correction to The Ternary Nitrides GaFe3N and AlFe3N: Improved Synthesis and Magnetic Properties. Chem. Mater. 23, 3580 (2011)
  A. Houben, J. Burghaus, R. Dronskowski
  
• Local ordering and magnetism in Ga0.9Fe3.1N. J. Solid State Chem. 184, 2315 (2011)
  J. Burghaus, M.T. Sougrati, A. Möchel, A. Houben, R.P. Hermann, R. Dronskowski
  
• The Ternary Nitrides InxFe4–xN (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.8): Synthesis, Magnetic Properties, and Theoretical Considerations. Z. Anorg. Allg. Chem. 637, 935 (2011)
  J. Burghaus, J. Kleemann, R. Dronskowski
  
• γ′-ZnFe3N thin films: A proposal for a moderately ductile, corrosion-protective coating on steel. Scripta Mater. 65, 380 (2011)
  T. Takahashi, D. Music, J.M. Schneider
  
• Elastic properties of γ′-Fe4N probed by nanoindentation and ab initio calculation. Acta Mater. 60, 2054 (2012)
  T. Takahashi, J. Burghaus, D. Music, R. Dronskowski, J.M. Schneider
  (See online at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actamat.2011.12.051)
• Influence of magnetic ordering on the elastic properties of PdFe3N. J. Vac. Sci. & Techn. A 30, 030602 (2012)
  T. Takahashi, D. Music, J.M. Schneider
  (See online at https://doi.org/10.1116/1.4703897)
• Improved Ammonolytic Synthesis, Structure Determination, Electronic Structure, and Magnetic Properties of the Solid Solution SnxFe4–xN (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.9). Inorg. Chem. 54, 8800 (2015)
  T. Scholz, R. Dronskowski
  (See online at https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.inorgchem.5b01510)
• Comment on “High-temperature soft magnetic properties of antiperovskite nitrides ZnNFe3 and AlNFe3” by Yankun Fu, Shuai Lin, and Bosen Wang, J. Magn. Magn. Mater. 378 (2015) 54–58. J. Magn. Magn. Mater. 416, 475 (2016)
  T. Scholz, A. Leineweber, R. Dronskowski
  (See online at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmmm.2015.05.021)
• Spin-glass behavior of Sn0.9Fe3.1N: An experimental and quantumtheoretical study. AIP Advances 6, 055107 (2016)
  T. Scholz, R. Dronskowski
  (See online at https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4948984)
• Structural, mechanical, and magnetic properties of GaFe3N thin films. J. Vac. Sci. & Techn. A 34, 040601 (2016)
  M. Junaid, D. Music, M. Hans, J.M. Schneider, T. Scholz, R. Dronskowski, D. Primetzhofer
  (See online at https://doi.org/10.1116/1.4949262)
• (2018). Itinerant nitrides and salt-like guanidinates–The diversity of solid-state nitrogen chemistry. Progress in Solid State Chemistry 51 1-18
  Scholz, Tanja; Görne, Arno L.; Dronskowski, Richard
  (See online at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.progsolidstchem.2017.04.001)
• Structure and magnetism of the solid solution GexFe4–xNy (0 ≤ x ≤ 1): from a ferromagnet to a spin glass. J. Mater. Chem. C 5, 166 (2017)
  T. Scholz, R. Dronskowski
  (See online at https://doi.org/10.1039/c6tc04543j)