d-Electron Heavy Fermion Behavior in a Near-Room-Temperature Polar Metallic Ferrimagnet: A Case of Mn5SiC

Polycrystalline Mn₅SiC was synthesized by using a high-temperature solid-state method. Mn₅SiC adopts a polar space group (Cmc2₁) with six crystallographic Mn sites confirmed by X-ray and neutron diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, and second harmonic generation experiments. The complex crystal structure features edge-sharing trigonal prisms and icosahedra, as well as face/edge-sharing pentagonal prisms. Magnetic measurements indicate ferrimagnetic ordering with a transition temperature of 284 K. The ferrimagnetic structure (magnetic space group Cm’c’2₁) was further identified by powder neutron diffraction, where collinear Mn spins align along the crystallographic c-axis. The refined magnetic moment for each crystallographic Mn site at 4 K is 1.8(2), −2.42(9), −1.72(8), 0.51(6), 0.50(4), and 1.7(2) μ_B. Density functional theory calculations confirm both the metallic behavior and the ferrimagnetic structure observed experimentally and further provide insight into the observed Mn moment dependence across crystallographic sites. The resistivity and specific heat measurements and density functional theory calculations reveal a substantially large Kadowaki–Woods ratio of 5 × 10^–5 μΩ·cm/(mJ/mol)² and a many-body renormalization factor of 5.5, indicating the unusual heavy Fermion behavior in such an itinerant magnetic metal.