Experimental and first-principles determination of the magnetocrystalline anisotropy in MnxGa.

Singular point detection (SPD) for the determination of the anisotropy field (BA) using a conventional magnetometer is demonstrated.We then followthe composition dependence of BA in MnxGa using a combination of SPD measurements complemented by first-principles density functional theory (DFT) calculations. We find excellent quantitative agreement for 1.2 ⩽ x ⩽ 1.8, but observe a marked departure for x ⩽1.2. We suggest that the deviation from ideal behaviour might be associated with site disorder at low excess Mn. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]