Electronic structure of Ni2−xPdxTiSn alloys

Abstract We report on magnetic and electronic structure investigations of the Ni 2− x Pd x TiSn Heusler-type alloys. The ab initio electronic structure calculations using the linearized muffin-tin orbital (LMTO) method are in good agreement with the measured X-ray photoemission spectroscopy (XPS) valence band spectra. While Pd 2 TiSn and Ni 2 TiSn are paramagnetic with a strongly enhanced low-temperature susceptibility, the Ni 2− x Pd x TiSn alloys with x ∼0.5 exhibit a feature at 50 K that could be related to a magnetic transition. The susceptibility at higher temperatures suggests the presence of spin fluctuations.