The low-temperature heat capacities are studied for antiperovskite compounds AX M_3（A = Al, Ga, Cu, Ag, Sn, X = C,N, M = Mn, Fe, Co）. A large peak in（C- γ T）/T^3 versus T is observed for each of a total of 18 com...The low-temperature heat capacities are studied for antiperovskite compounds AX M_3（A = Al, Ga, Cu, Ag, Sn, X = C,N, M = Mn, Fe, Co）. A large peak in（C- γ T）/T^3 versus T is observed for each of a total of 18 compounds investigated,indicating an existence of low-energy phonon mode unexpected by Debye T^3 law. Such a peak is insensitive to the external magnetic field up to 80 k Oe（1 Oe = 79.5775 A·m-1）. For compounds with smaller lattice constant, the peak shifts towards higher temperatures with a reduction of peak height. This abnormal peak in（C- γ T）/T^3 versus T of antiperovskite compound may result from the strongly dispersive acoustic branch due to the heavier A atoms and the optical-like mode from the dynamic rotation of X M_6 octahedron. Such a low-energy phonon mode may not contribute negatively to the normal thermal expansion in AX M_3 compounds, while it is usually concomitant with negative thermal expansion in open-structure material（e.g., ZrW_2O_8, Sc F_3）.展开更多
基金Project supported by the National Key Basic Research Program of China(Grant Nos.2011CBA00111)the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant Nos.51322105,U1632158,51301165,and 51301167)
文摘The low-temperature heat capacities are studied for antiperovskite compounds AX M_3（A = Al, Ga, Cu, Ag, Sn, X = C,N, M = Mn, Fe, Co）. A large peak in（C- γ T）/T^3 versus T is observed for each of a total of 18 compounds investigated,indicating an existence of low-energy phonon mode unexpected by Debye T^3 law. Such a peak is insensitive to the external magnetic field up to 80 k Oe（1 Oe = 79.5775 A·m-1）. For compounds with smaller lattice constant, the peak shifts towards higher temperatures with a reduction of peak height. This abnormal peak in（C- γ T）/T^3 versus T of antiperovskite compound may result from the strongly dispersive acoustic branch due to the heavier A atoms and the optical-like mode from the dynamic rotation of X M_6 octahedron. Such a low-energy phonon mode may not contribute negatively to the normal thermal expansion in AX M_3 compounds, while it is usually concomitant with negative thermal expansion in open-structure material（e.g., ZrW_2O_8, Sc F_3）.
