New Mg-based antiperovskites PnNMg3 (Pn=As, Sb)

We report the structural, transport, and magnetic properties of new Mg-based pnictogen compounds PnNMg3 (Pn=As, Sb), which are prepared from the reaction of pnictogen and Mg3N2 at 800 °C. Both compounds crystallize in the ideal cubic perovskite structure without showing any structural distortion. From the comprehensive characterizations the bonding character of SbNMg3 is found to be ionic. Both antimony and nitrogen in SbNMg3 have the unusual oxidation state of 3−. This ionic picture agrees well with the electronic structure obtained by band structure calculation.