Valence transition behavior of the doped Falicov–Kimball model at nonzero temperatures

Abstract

The extrapolation of small-cluster exact-diagonalization calculations is used to study the influence of doping on valence transitions in the spinless Falicov–Kimball model at nonzero temperatures. Two types of doping are examined, and namely, the substitution of rare-earth ions by nonmagnetic ions that introduce (i) one or (ii) none additional electron (per nonmagnetic ion) into the conduction band. It is found that the first type of substitution increases the average f-state occupancy of rare-earth ions, whereas the second type of substitution has the opposite effect. The results obtained are used to describe valence transition behavior of samarium in the hexaboride solid solutions Sm 1− x M x B 6 (M=Y 3+, La 3+, Sr 2+, Yb 2+) and a very good agreement of theoretical and experimental results is found.