First-principles calculation of the phonon frequencies in γ Fe

Abstract

The total energy, the equilibrium lattice constant, and the bulk modulus of the fcc phase of iron have been calculated by the full-potential LMTO method. The use of a generalized gradient approximation in the calculation of the electronic structure and lattice properties of γ-Fe is discussed. Next, the transverse phonon frequency at the W point of the Brillouin zone of a fcc lattice is calculated by the “frozen-phonon” method in the harmonic approximation. A local minimum has been found in the curve of the variation of the total energy of the system as a function of the amplitude of the atomic displacements corresponding to the chosen normal mode. To take account of anharmonic effects, a pseudoharmonic approximation is used and an effective potential that approximates the curve of the variation of the total energy of the system and depends on the temperature via the correlation function of the mean-square displacement of atoms from their equilibrium positions is constructed. The theoretical temperature dependence of the effective frequency of the phonon mode responsible for the structural phase transition corresponds qualitatively to the experimentally observed dependence. A new interpretation is given for the structural phase transition as a transition of the corresponding phonon mode from the excited to the ground state.