DFT study of electronic and thermodynamic properties of gold-rich intermetallic compounds, Ce2Au2Cd and CeAu4Cd2

Abstract

Abstract Gold-rich rare earth intermetallic compounds (viz. Ce2Au2Cd and CeAu4Cd2) show unusual magnetic and physical properties, and they have extensive applications in electronic and mechanical industries due to their good electronic and thermal behavior with high mechanical strength. In the present research article, to take full advantage of technological importance of these materials, we have investigated the structural, electronic and thermodynamic properties of Ce2Au2Cd and CeAu4Cd2 ternary intermetallic compounds using density functional theory (DFT). The electronic band structure and density of state calculations show that Ce-f orbital electrons provide metallic character to both the compounds with strong hybridization of Au-p and Cd-p orbitals at the Fermi level. The effect of temperature has been studied on the various thermodynamic parameters using the quasi-harmonic Debye model. Thermodynamic properties show that CeAu4Cd2 compound has larger mechanical resistance (or high mechanical strength or hardness) and smaller randomness compared to Ce2Au2Cd with respect to temperature.