Electronic Structures of Antiperovskite Superconductor MgCNi3_3 and Related Compounds

Electronic structure of a newly discovered antiperovskite superconductor MgCNi$_3$ is investigated by using the LMTO band method. The main contribution to the density of states (DOS) at the Fermi energy $E_{\rm F}$ comes from Ni 3$d$ states which are hybridized with C 2$p$ states. The DOS at $E_{\rm F}$ is varied substantially by the hole or electron doping due to the very high and narrow DOS peak located just below $E_{\rm F}$. We have also explored electronic structures of C-site and Mg-site doped MgCNi$_3$ systems, and described the superconductivity in terms of the conventional phonon mechanism.Comment: 3 pages, presented at ORBITAL2001 September 11-14, 2001 (Sendai, JAPAN

Electronic structures of antiperovskite superconductors: MgXNi3_3 (X=B,C,N)

We have investigated electronic structures of a newly discovered antiperovskite superconductor MgCNi$_3$ and related compounds MgBNi$_3$ and MgNNi$_3$. In MgCNi$_3$, a peak of very narrow and high density of states is located just below $\rm E_F$, which corresponds to the $\pi^*$ antibonding state of Ni-3d and C-$2p$ but with the predominant Ni-3d character. The prominent nesting feature is observed in the $\Gamma$-centered electron Fermi surface of an octahedron-cage-like shape that originates from the 19th band. The estimated superconducting parameters based on the simple rigid-ion approximation are in reasonable agreement with experiment, suggesting that the superconductivity in MgCNi$_3$ is described well by the conventional phonon mechanism.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figure

Electronic structure of metallic antiperovskite compound GaCMn3_3

We have investigated electronic structures of antiperovskite GaCMn$_3$ and related Mn compounds SnCMn$_3$, ZnCMn$_3$, and ZnNMn$_3$. In the paramagnetic state of GaCMn$_3$, the Fermi surface nesting feature along the $\Gamma{\rm R}$ direction is observed, which induces the antiferromagnetic (AFM) spin ordering with the nesting vector {\bf Q} $\sim \Gamma{\rm R}$. Calculated susceptibilities confirm the nesting scenario for GaCMn$_3$ and also explain various magnetic structures of other antiperovskite compounds. Through the band folding effect, the AFM phase of GaCMn$_3$ is stabilized. Nearly equal densities of states at the Fermi level in the ferromagnetic and AFM phases of GaCMn$_3$ indicate that two phases are competing in the ground state.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure

Spin-Orbit Qubits of Rare-Earth-Metal Ions in Axially Symmetric Crystal Fields

Contrary to the well known spin qubits, rare-earth qubits are characterized by a strong influence of crystal field due to large spin-orbit coupling. At low temperature and in the presence of resonance microwaves, it is the magnetic moment of the crystal-field ground-state which nutates (for several $\mu$s) and the Rabi frequency $\Omega_R$ is anisotropic. Here, we present a study of the variations of $\Omega_R(\vec{H}_{0})$ with the magnitude and direction of the static magnetic field $\vec{H_{0}}$ for the odd $^{167}$Er isotope in a single crystal CaWO$_4$:Er$^{3+}$. The hyperfine interactions split the $\Omega_R(\vec{H}_{0})$ curve into eight different curves which are fitted numerically and described analytically. These "spin-orbit qubits" should allow detailed studies of decoherence mechanisms which become relevant at high temperature and open new ways for qubit addressing using properly oriented magnetic fields