Half-metallic ferromagnetism of MnSn compound

The electronic and magnetic properties of MnSn with various crystal structures are investigated by using full-potential linearized augmented plane-wave method within density-functional theory. The results show that both zinc-blende and wurtzite structure are half-metallic with a magnetic moment 3.0μ^B per formula unit, whereas the NaCl and NiAs structures are of typical metallic character. The half-metallicity is also found to be robust with respect to the lattice compression and is maintained up to the lattice constant contraction of 8% and 9% for ZB and WZ structures, respectively. Due to the robustness of half-metallicity with respect to the lattice change and being compatible with the semiconductors, the halfmetallic ferromagnets, when realized experimentally, would be useful in spintronic and other applications.