Effects of Cr-doping on the electronic transport properties in antiperovskite nitrides Mn3−xCrxZnN (0≤x≤0.5)

Antiperovskite intermetallic Mn3−xCrxZnN (0≤x≤0.5) compounds have been prepared to study the Cr doping effect on the electronic transport properties. The temperature dependent resistivity ρ(T) for x≤0.3 shows notable and broader slope change. Meanwhile, with increasing Cr doping, the slope change shifts to lower temperatures and is gradually suppressed for x>0.3. For x=0.0 and 0.5, the measurements of magnetization from 10 K to 350 K reveal that Mn3−xCrxZnN compounds go through a transition from the dominant AFM interactions to one where the FM and AFM interactions coexist. For low-temperature region (15-80 K), the electron-electron scattering is dominant, and the number of phonons abruptly increases with increasing temperature. Small polaron hopping model (SPH) is used to understand the temperature dependence of electrical resistivity in the high-temperature range of 200-300 K and a clear decrease of the polaron activation energy was observed for x≤0.2. The residual resistivity ratio (RRR) decreases while the residual resistivity increases (ρ0) with increasing Cr-doping level. The maximum total entropy change (ΔSmax) decreases by increasing the Cr doping from x=0.0 to 0.2.