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Ferrimagnetic order in tetragonal antiperovskite ${Mn}_{3} GeN$

Shaun O’Donnell ^1,2, Corlyn Regier ², Sharad Mahatara ¹, H. Cein Mandujano ³, Efrain E. Rodriguez ³, Danielle R. Yahne ⁴, Stephan Lany ¹, Sage R. Bauers¹, Rebecca W. Smaha ¹ et al.

James R. Neilson ²

¹Materials Science Center, National Laboratory of the Rockies, Golden, Colorado 80401, USA
²Department of Chemistry, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado 80523, USA
³Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742, USA
⁴Neutron Scattering Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37830, USA

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Phys. Rev. Materials 10, 074410 – Published 20 July, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/7w94-kpwh

Abstract

The crystal and magnetic structures of the nitride antiperovskite $M n_{3} GeN$ reveals ferrimagnetic order stemming from a distorted kagome-derived lattice of the Mn atoms. Polycrystalline $M n_{3} GeN$ was synthesized via a solid-state reaction and characterized using neutron powder diffraction, dc magnetometry, and first-principles calculations. Rietveld refinement reveals near-stoichiometric composition ( $M n_{3} Ge N_{0.992 (7)}$ ) adopting a tetragonal $I 4 / m c m$ structure at $T = 500 K$ and below, featuring axially distorted and tilted $[NM n_{6}]$ octahedra that result in a buckled Mn kagome lattice. On heating, the tetragonal distortion and octahedral tilt angle decrease continuously before transitioning to the cubic $P m \bar{3} m$ antiperovskite phase at $T \approx 527 K$ . Neutron diffraction and magnetometry together reveal noncollinear ferrimagnetic ordering. For $30 K \leq T \leq 500 K$ , the magnetic structure is described by magnetic space group $I b a^{'} m^{'}$ (72.544), with inequivalent Mn1 and Mn2 sublattices that couple antiferromagnetically to yield a net moment. Density-functional theory-based calculations show that the different local moments originate from the bandwidths associated with distinct Mn–N bond lengths. Temperature-dependent refinements reveal distinct differences in the thermal disordering profiles of the Mn1 and Mn2 sublattices. These findings reveal a subtlety in the magnetic and structural behavior of $M n_{3} GeN$ , highlighting the interplay between structural distortions, magnetic ordering, and electronic structure in kagome-derived antiperovskite materials.

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Ferrimagnetic order in tetragonal antiperovskite ${Mn}_{3} GeN$

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Ferrimagnetic order in tetragonal antiperovskite Mn3GeN

Abstract

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

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References (39)

Ferrimagnetic order in tetragonal antiperovskite ${Mn}_{3} GeN$