Speaker
Description
ThCr$_2$Si$_2$-type (space group: $I$4/$mmm$) materials have attracted a significant amount of interest in recent years because of the intriguing ground states and structure-property relationships exhibited by them. In particular, the $A$Mn$_2$Ge$_2$ ($A$ = alkaline earth metal or rare-earth metal) compounds have been shown to exhibit a wide variety of complex magnetic structures and unusual magnetotransport behaviours. In this work, we present the structural and physical properties of the unexplored compound SrMn$_2$Ge$_2$ using data obtained from x-ray diffraction, electronic and magnetotransport, thermal, and magnetic measurements. The Sommerfeld coefficient obtained from low-temperature heat capacity data shows a moderately enhanced density of states of 2.9(8) states/(eV f.u.) at the Fermi level in comparison to the values estimated from the band structure calculations. Furthermore, this compound exhibits an anomalously large positive magnetoresistance that approaches ~ 50 % at 2 K and deviates from Kohler’s law, instead obeying a power law with an exponent of $n$ = 1.50(8). We discuss and compare our results with those reported for isostructural compound LaMn$_2$Ge$_2$ which shows similar magnetotransport behaviour.
| Apply for student award at which level: | PhD |
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| Consent on use of personal information: Abstract Submission | Yes, I ACCEPT |
