Low-Moment Semiconducting Properties of Quaternary Heusler Alloy CoRuTiSn

We investigate structural, magnetic and transport properties of CoRuTiSn equiatomic quaternary Heusler alloy. CoRuTiSn was synthesized by arc-melt technique. The room temperature powder XRD pattern was analyzed, and it was found that CoRuTiSn has a tetragonal crystal structure. Magnetic measurements show non-zero but small hysteresis indicating CoRuTiSn as a soft ferromagnetic with a Curie temperature of ~200 K. The magnetic moment determined from magnetization data is found to be 0.84 μB/f.u. at 4 K, which is close to the value, calculated using first principles calculations. Electrical resistivity decreases with temperatures, indicating semiconducting nature of CoRuTiSn. Hall effect measurements show anomalous behavior, consistent with the ferromagnetic nature of the sample. The low moment ferromagnetic semiconducting nature of CoRuTiSn could make this material promising for semiconducting spintronics.