Compounds and methods of fabricating compounds exhibiting giant magnetoresistence and spin-polarized tunneling

A method for manufacturing an inorganic intermetallic compound, the method comprising the following operations:

• pressing measured quantities of a least two different chemical elements into pellets;
• fusing the pellets for about 30 seconds in an inert-gas atmosphere using an arc welder;
• and
• choosing the types and quantities of the chemical elements so that:
• the compound exhibits a PMR-effect;
• the compound has an intrinsic field responsivity greater than 10% per 0.1 T at temperatures in excess of 290 K;
• the resultant compound crystallizes into cubic crystals whose lattice constants differ by no more than 10%;
• the compound belongs to the class of Heusler phases;
• and
• the compound has an electronic instability within ±0.5 eV of the Fermi energy.