Investigation of structural, magnetic, mechanical, electronic and thermal properties of new quaternary Heusler: KMgNZ (Z=O or S)

Abstract

The structural stability as well as the mechanical, magnetoelectronic and thermal properties of the quaternary Heusler KMgNZ (Z = O or S) were studied using first principles approach based on the DFT implemented in Wien2k code. The exchange-correlation potential is treated by PBE-GGA. The calculated negative formation energies for both materials corroborate their thermodynamic stability. Moreover, the derived elastic constants support the mechanical stabilities of the latter compounds. On the other hand, the density of states of the studied materials shows that both compounds are half-metallic ferromagnets. The total magnetic moments for both compounds are mainly originated from N atom, and its integer value followed the Slater-Pauling rule. The calculated half-metallic gaps are found for two systems. The three-dimensional plots of different mechanical moduli exhibit that the bulk modulus is isotropic, whereas Young's modulus, Poisson's ratio and shear modulus of both compounds are highly anisotropic. The effects of temperature and pressure on the heat capacity, thermal expansion coefficient and Debye temperature are also studied.