Synthesis and Thermal Stability of B20-Type TMGe (TM = Mn, Fe and Co) Intermetallic Compounds Prepared by Mechanical Milling

Abstract

We propose a new synthesis method of transition-metal monogermanides (TMGe, TM = Mn, Fe, and Co) with a B20-type chiral structure. Arc-melting followed by mechanical milling can be used to produce ∼70–110 Å-sized B20-type structures. Differential scanning calorimetry and heat-treatment tests indicated that the B20-phases are stable below 673 K, 873 K and 773 K for MnGe, FeGe and CoGe, respectively. We also demonstrated that sintering tests are able to yield dense compacts from the FeGe and CoGe B20-phase powders.