Magnetic properties of Mn-doped cubic silicon carbide

Bulk polycrystalline Si1−xMnxC (0⩽x⩽0.1) samples were prepared by the solid-state reaction method. Their structural and magnetic properties had been investigated. Powder X-ray diffraction analysis demonstrates that the appropriate Mn doping does not change the crystal structure of cubic silicon carbide (3C-SiC). Magnetic studies reveal that the ferromagnetism can be developed when Mn substitution is as low as x=0.01. The Curie temperature (TC) increases monotonously with increasing Mn-doped content up to x=0.05, and then almost keeps constant as x further increases. The effective magnetic moments are 2.05μB/Mn, 1.19μB/Mn, 0.90μB/Mn, and 0.89μB/Mn for the samples with x=0.01, 0.03, 0.05, and 0.1, respectively.