Origin of the Giant Negative Thermal Expansion inMn3(Cu0.5Ge0.5)N

The giant negative thermal expansion in the Ge-doped antiperovskite Mn3CuN compound is theoretically studied by using the first principles calculations. We propose that such a negative thermal expansion property is essentially attributed to the magnetic phase transition, rather than to the lattice vibration of the Ge-doped compound. Furthermore, we found that the doped Ge atoms in the compound significantly enhance the antiferromagnetic couplings between the nearest neighboring Mn ions, which effectively stabilizes the magnetic ground states. In addition, the nature of the temperature-dependent changes in the volume of the Ge-doped compound was revealed.