Geometric, electronic and magnetic structure of Fex_{x}Oy+_{y}^{+} clusters

Correlation between geometry, electronic structure and magnetism of solids is both intriguing and elusive. This is particularly strongly manifested in small clusters, where a vast number of unusual structures appear. Here, we employ density functional theory in combination with a genetic search algorithm, GGA$+U$ and a hybrid functional to determine the structure of gas phase Fe$_{x}$O$_{y}^{+/0}$ clusters. For Fe$_{x}$O$_{y}$ cation clusters we also calculate the corresponding vibration spectra and compare them with experiments. We successfully identify Fe$_{3}$O$_{4}^{+}$, Fe$_{4}$O$_{5}^{+}$, Fe$_{4}$O$_{6}^{+}$, Fe$_{5}$O$_{7}^{+}$ and propose structures for Fe$_{6}$O$_{8}^{+}$. Within the triangular geometric structure of Fe$_{3}$O$_{4}^{+}$ a non-collinear, ferrimagnetic and ferromagnetic state are comparable in energy. Fe$_{4}$O$_{5}^{+}$ and Fe$_{4}$O$_{6}^{+}$ are ferrimagnetic with a residual magnetic moment of 1~\muB{} due to ionization. Fe$_{5}$O$_{7}^{+}$ is ferrimagnetic due to the odd number of Fe atoms. We compare the electronic structure with bulk magnetite and find Fe$_{4}$O$_{5}^{+}$, Fe$_{4}$O$_{6}^{+}$, Fe$_{6}$O$_{8}^{+}$ to be mixed valence clusters. In contrast, in Fe$_{3}$O$_{4}^{+}$ and Fe$_{5}$O$_{7}^{+}$ all Fe are found to be trivalent.Comment: 14 pages, 21 figure

Surface Half-Metallicity of CrAs in the Zinc-Blende Structure

The development of new techniques such as the molecular beam epitaxy have enabled the growth of thin films of materials presenting novel properties. Recently it was made possible to grow a CrAs thin-film in the zinc-blende structure. In this contribution, the full-potential screened KKR method is used to study the electronic and magnetic properties of bulk CrAs in this novel phase as well as the Cr and As terminated (001) surfaces. Bulk CrAs is found to be half-ferromagnetic for all three GaAs, AlAs and InAs experimental lattice constants with a total spin magnetic moment of 3 $\mu_B$. The Cr-terminated surface retains the half-ferromagnetic character of the bulk, while in the case of the As-termination the surface states destroy the gap in the minority-spin band.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, new text, new titl

Electronic and magnetic properties of the (111) surfaces of NiMnSb

Using an ab-initio electronic structure method, I study the (111) surfaces of the half-metallic NiMnSb alloy. In all cases there is a very pronounced surface state within the minority gap which destroys the half-metallicity This state survives for several atomic layers below the surface contrary to the (001) surfaces where surface states were located only at the surface layer. The lower dimensionality of the surface leads in general to large enhancements of the surface spin moments

Half-metallicity and Slater-Pauling behavior in the ferromagnetic Heusler alloys

Introductory chapter for the book "Halfmetallic Alloys - Fundamentals and Applications" to be published in the series Springer Lecture Notes on Physics, P. H. Dederichs and I. Galanakis (eds). It contains a review of the theoretical work on the half-metallic Heusler alloys.Comment: Introductory chapter for the book "Halfmetallic Alloys - Fundamentals and Applications" to be published in the series Springer Lecture Notes on Physics, P. H. Dederichs and I. Galanakis (eds

Slater-Pauling Behavior of the Half-Ferromagnetic Full-Heusler Alloys

Using the full-potential screened Korringa-Kohn-Rostoker method we study the full-Heusler alloys based on Co, Fe, Rh and Ru. We show that many of these compounds show a half-metallic behavior, however in contrast to the half-Heusler alloys the energy gap in the minority band is extremely small. These full-Heusler compounds show a Slater-Pauling behavior and the total spin-magnetic moment per unit cell (M_t) scales with the total number of valence electrons (Z_t) following the rule: M_t=Z_t-24. We explain why the spin-down band contains exactly 12 electrons using arguments based on the group theory and show that this rule holds also for compounds with less than 24 valence electrons. Finally we discuss the deviations from this rule and the differences compared to the half-Heusler alloys.Comment: 10 pages, 8 figures, revised figure 3, new text adde

Origin and Properties of the Gap in the Half-Ferromagnetic Heusler Alloys

We study the origin of the gap and the role of chemical composition in the half-ferromagnetic Heusler alloys using the full-potential screened KKR method. In the paramagnetic phase the C1_b compounds, like NiMnSb, present a gap. Systems with 18 valence electrons, Z_t, per unit cell, like CoTiSb, are semiconductors, but when Z_t > 18 antibonding states are also populated, thus the paramagnetic phase becomes unstable and the half-ferromagnetic one is stabilized. The minority occupied bands accommodate a total of nine electrons and the total magnetic moment per unit cell in mu_B is just the difference between Z_t and $2 \times 9$. While the substitution of the transition metal atoms may preserve the half-ferromagnetic character, substituting the $sp$ atom results in a practically rigid shift of the bands and the loss of half-metallicity. Finally we show that expanding or contracting the lattice parameter by 2% preserves the minority-spin gap.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figures New figures, revised tex