New type of half-metallic antiferromagnet: transition metal pnictides.

The electronic structures of transition metal pnictides ABX(2), where A and B are the transition metal elements and X = N, P, As, Sb, and Bi, with the total valence d-electron number of the transition metal ions being ten, are investigated in the framework of the first-principles KKR Green's function method. Some possible crystal structures such as NiAs-type, NaCl-type, chalcopyrite, zinc-blende, wurtzite, and MnP-type structures are assumed. Similarly to chalcogenides, a new type of spin-compensated half-metallic ferrimagnet is found for the case of nitrides. The stability and magnetic transition temperature of these nitrides indicate that they are good candidates for spintronics materials. For other cases of pnictides such as P, As, Sb, and Bi, the half-metallicity seems not to be realized.