A first-principles DFT+GW study of spin-filter and spin-gapless semiconducting Heusler compounds

Abstract

Among Heusler compounds, the ones being magnetic semiconductors (also known as spin-filter materials) are widely studied as they offer novel functionalities in spintronic and magnetoelectronic devices. The spin-gapless semiconductors are a special case. They possess a zero or almost-zero energy gap in one of the two spin channels. We employ the GW approximation to simulate the electronic band structure of these materials. Our results suggest that in most cases the use of GW self energy instead of the usual density functionals is important to accurately determine the electronic properties of magnetic semiconductors.