First-principles calculations to investigate structural stability, half-metallic behavior, thermophysical and thermoelectric properties of Co2YAl (Y = Mo, Tc) full Heusler compounds

Abstract

The present manuscript reports structural stability, half-metallic behavior, thermophysical and thermoelectric properties of Co2MoAl and Co2TcAl full Heusler compounds using first-principle calculations. The full-potential linearized augmented plane wave method within the framework of density functional theory is implemented and WIEN2k code is incorporated in the stable Fm-3 m phase to attain the desired results. The L21 phase is found as the most stable phase for both compounds. The optimized equilibrium lattice parameters in the stable phase are 5.89 Å, 5.86 Å for Co2MoAl and Co2TcAl respectively. The electronic band structure study proves that both compounds Co2MoAl and Co2TcAl have indirect band gaps of 0.74 eV and 0.85 eV respectively in majority spin alignment. The half-metallic performance of the present set of compounds is explained by the spin-resolved density of states. The Fermi level at the Brillouin zone point approves the metallic as well as semiconducting behavior. To elucidate the thermodynamical stability of these materials against pressure and temperature by implementing the quasi-harmonic approximation of various parameters like Debye temperature, Gruneisen parameters and specific heat are studied successfully. To know the thermoelectric response, Seebeck coefficient and electrical conductivity are computed using the BoltzTrap code. The thermodynamic profile delivers that the present set of compounds possesses no anomalies with respect to the phase transition or instabilities. The computational study insights that the compounds can be synthesized experimentally and find a route towards spintronic and thermoelectric applicability.