Manganese gallium germanide-a new ferromagnetic material

Abstract
A new ferromagnetic ternary compound MnGaGe, isostructural with Mn2Sb, has been prepared by quenching from the melt and subsequent solid‐state reaction. The metallic MnGaGe is tetragonal with lattice constants a = 3.966±0.001 Å and c = 5.885±0.001 Å. Magnetic measurements show that the Curie temperature is 185 °C and the saturation magnetization corresponds to 1.66μB/Mn atom at 4.2 °K. The easy axis of magnetization coincides with the crystallographic c axis. The new material is thermally stable to 616 °C at which temperature it melts peritectically.