Electronic and magnetic properties of the Co2-based Heusler compounds under pressure: first-principles and Monte Carlo studies

Abstract

Structural, magnetic and electronic properties of stoichiometric Co2YZ Heusler alloys (Y = Cr, Fe, Mn and Z = Al, Si, Ge) have been studied by means of ab initio calculations and Monte Carlo simulations. The investigations were performed in dependence on different levels of approximations in DFT (FP and ASA modes, as well as GGA and GGA + U schemes) and external pressure. It is shown that in the case of the GGA scheme the half-metallic behavior is clearly observed for compounds containing Cr and Mn transition metals, while Co2FeZ alloys demonstrate the pseudo half-metallic behavior. It is demonstrated that an applied pressure and an account of Coulomb repulsion (U) lead to the stabilization of the half-metallic nature for Co2YZ alloys. The strongest ferromagnetic inter-sublattice (Co–Y) interactions together with intra-sublattice (Co–Co and Y–Y) interactions explain the high values of the Curie temperature obtained by Monte Carlo simulations using the Heisenberg model. It is observed that a decrease in valence electrons of Y atoms (i.e. Fe substitution by Mn and Cr) leads to the weakening of the exchange interactions and to the reduction of the Curie temperature. Besides, in the case of the FP mode Curie temperatures were found in a good agreement with available experimental and theoretical data, where the latter were obtained by applying the empirical relation between the Curie temperature and the total magnetic moment.