First principles study of the structural, half-metallic ferromagnetism, magnetic, and transport properties of KXO2 (X = Pr, Nd, and Pm) hexagonal oxides

Abstract

The density functional theory (DFT) studies are made to calculate the electronic, magnetic, and transport characteristics of potassium lanthanide KXO2 (X = Pr, Nd, and Pm) oxides have been studied by using the WIEN2K code. Perdew Burke Ernzerhof-Generalized Gradient approximation (PBE-GGA) is used for the exchange-correlation energy of the crystal structures in the hexagonal phase. However, the volume-optimized graphs depict that these compounds are energetically stable in the ferromagnetic state. Moreover, the studies of the spin-up channels of the band structure and density of states (DOS) reveal their metallic behavior whereas semiconductor nature has been noticed through spin-channels. Therefore, studied materials have half metallicity nature with 100% spin polarization at the Fermi level (EF). Total and partial magnetic moments of KXO2 (X = Pr, Nd, and Pm) and individual atoms exist due to unpaired 4f electronic states of the lanthanide ions, present at the EF. The energy difference between anti-ferromagnetism and ferromagnetism versus the volume optimization curve gives the curie temperature (Tc). The volume optimization curves show a flat region where both magnetic states have similar energies. This means the material can exist at the equilibrium volume in either state. Finally, thermoelectric properties are calculated by the BoltzTraP code. Our results unveil that these potassium-based lanthanide oxides are potential materials for devising spintronics devices and lifting future practical applications.