Thermodynamic, mechanical stability, and magneto-electronic features of Ti2-based quaternary Heusler alloys Ti2CoGa1−xCux (x=0, 0.25, 0.5, 0.75, and 1): A DFT investigation

Abstract

In this work, we have used the full-potential linearized augmented plane wave (FP-LAPW) method implemented in the WIEN2k code combined with the generalized gradient approximation (GGA) of the density functional theory (DFT) to study the structural, elastic, mechanical, electronic, magnetic, and thermodynamic properties of the parent ternary inverse Heusler compounds based on Titanium and Cobalt Ti2CoGa, Ti2CoCu in the Hg2CuTi-type structure and their quaternary alloys Ti2CoGa[Formula: see text]Cux ([Formula: see text], 0.5, 0.75) for the chosen concentrations using a supercell with 16 atoms. We have calculated the structural properties, such as the lattice parameters, bulk modulus, and its first derivative, which are in good agreement with those that have been obtained based on other published theoretical methods. Also, we calculated the elastic constants of the studied Heusler alloys, and we found that these materials are elastically stable, ductile, and anisotropic. Therefore, the electronic and magnetic properties indicate that Ti2CoGa exhibits a half-metallic (HM) ferromagnetic behavior, while Ti2CoCu shows a metal and a non-magnetic (NM) character. Their quaternary alloys are found to be nearly HM ferromagnetic materials, with a magnetic moment mainly due to the atom Ti. Furthermore, the quasi-harmonic Debye model, which incorporates the lattice vibrations, was used to estimate the thermodynamic effects on some macroproperties of the Ti2CoGa[Formula: see text]Cux alloys. Successful results were achieved for the variations of the primitive cell volume, bulk modulus, heat capacities, and Debye temperature with pressure and temperature, respectively, in the ranges of 0–30[Formula: see text]GPa and 0–1400[Formula: see text]K. To our knowledge, no analogous investigations on the mechanical and thermodynamic properties of the Ti2CoGa[Formula: see text]Cux ([Formula: see text], 0.5 and 0.75) alloys have been performed to date. As a result, it is predicted that Ti2CoGa[Formula: see text]Cux Heusler alloys will be promising candidates for actual applications in spintronic devices.