  Chromium based inverse Heusler compounds of the type Cr2YZ (Y=Co, Fe; Z=Al,
Ga, In, Si, Ge, Sn) have been proposed as fully compensated half-metallic
ferrimagnets. Such materials are of large interest for spintronics because they
combine small magnetic moment with high spin polarization over a wide
temperature range. We assess their thermodynamic stability by their formation
enthalpies obtained from density functional theory calculations. All compounds
under investigation are unstable. Cr2FeSi and Cr2CoAl are stable with respect
to the elemental constituents, but decompose into binary phases. Cr2FeGe,
Cr2CoGa, Cr2FeSn and Cr2CoIn are found to be unstable with respect to their
elemental constituents. We identify possible binary decompositions.
