Ab initio ground state and L2,3 x-ray magnetic circular dichroism of Mn-based Heusler alloys

Relativistic full-potential calculations within the generalized gradient approximation (GGA) for a series of Mn-based Heusler alloys are presented. Calculated equilibrium lattice parameters deviate less than 1.2% from the experimental values. The main features of a half metallic system are present in the density of states for the PtMnSb and NiMnSb. We predict that PdMnSb shows half metallic character under hydrostatic pressure. The substitution of Sb in PtMnSb by Sn or Te destroys the minority spin band gap. Spin and orbital magnetic moments for all the systems are in good agreement with previous calculations and experimental data. L-2,L-3 x-ray absorption and x-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD) spectra are calculated for all the five compounds. Pt spectra present big deviations from system to system in the PtMnY (Y=Sn,Sb,Te) compounds while Mn spectra show only small deviations. For all these spectra GGA underestimates the L-3/L-2 integrated branching ratio and produces a much smaller L-2 peak intensity for the Ni site in NiMnSb. The XMCD sum rules are used to compute the spin and orbital magnetic moments and the results are compared to the direct calculations.