Meta-magnetism and exchange interaction in binary alloy Fe2Ge

First principle studies of electronic structure and magnetic properties of binary alloy Fe2Ge are presented. We have observed the increase of total magnetic moment per unit cell with lattice dilation. The underlying cause for this increased magnetic moments is explained in terms of electronic structure. We found that the lattice dilation has facilitated the band filling especially the majority spin band resulting in increasing magnetic moment. Later, we reasoned out the interaction between magnetic Fe and non-magnetic germanium atoms responsible for the observed magnetic properties of Fe2Ge. From the current electronic structure studies, the insight gained has allowed us to explain the experimentally observed magneto-resistance properties of Fe2Ge thin films.