Effect of (0001) Strain on the Electronic and Magnetic Properties of the Half-Metallic Ferromagnet Fe2Si

Abstract

The electronic and magnetic properties of the half-metallic ferromagnet Fe2Si under (0001) strain have been evaluated by the first-principles density functional theory method. The spin-up band structure shows that bulk Fe2Si has metallic character, whereas the spin-down band structure shows that bulk Fe2Si is an S-L indirect band gap of 0.518 eV in the vicinity of Fermi surface. Indirect-to-direct band gaps and an unstable-to-stable transition are observed in bulk Fe2Si as strain is applied. In the range −11% to 11% (excluding zero strain), bulk Fe2Si has stable half-metallic ferromagnetism, the spin polarization at the Fermi surface is 100%, and the magnetic moment of the Fe2Si unit cell is 4.0 μB. The density distribution shows that the spin states of bulk Fe2Si mainly come from the Fe1-3d and Fe3-3d states, indicating that bulk Fe2Si has spin-polarized ferromagnetism. The half-metallic ferromagnetism of bulk Fe2Si is mainly caused by d–d exchange and p–d hybridization, which are not sensitive to strain. It is very important to investigate the effect of changes in the lattice constant on the half-metallic ferromagnetic properties of bulk Fe2Si.