Validation of Interstitial
Iron and Consequences of
Nonstoichiometry in Mackinawite (Fe<sub>1+<i>x</i></sub>S)
- Publication date
- Publisher
Abstract
A theoretical investigation of the relationship between
chemical
composition and electronic structure was performed on the nonstoichiometric
iron sulfide, mackinawite (Fe<sub>1+x</sub>S), which is isostructural
and isoelectronic with the superconducting Fe<sub>1+<i>x</i></sub>Se and Fe<sub>1+<i>x</i></sub>(Te<sub>1–<i>y</i></sub>Se<sub><i>y</i></sub>) phases. Even though
Fe<sub>1+x</sub>S has not been measured for superconductivity, the
effects of stoichiometry on transport properties and electronic structure
in all of these iron-excess chalcogenide compounds has been largely
overlooked. In mackinawite, the amount of Fe that has been reported
ranges from a large excess, Fe<sub>1.15</sub>S, to nearly stoichiometric,
Fe<sub>1.00(7)</sub>S. Here, we analyze, for the first time, the electronic
structure of Fe<sub>1+<i>x</i></sub>S to justify these nonstoichiometric
phases. First principles electronic structure calculations using supercells
of Fe<sub>1+<i>x</i></sub>S yield a wide range of energetically
favorable compositions (0 < <i>x</i> < 0.30). The
incorporation of interstitial Fe atoms originates from a delicate
balance between the Madelung energy and the occupation of Fe–S
and Fe–Fe antibonding orbitals. A theoretical assessment of
various magnetic structures for “FeS” and Fe<sub>1.06</sub>S indicate that striped magnetic ordering along [110] is the lowest
energy structure and the interstitial Fe affects the values of moments
in the square planes as a function of distance. Moreover, the formation
of the magnetic moment is dependent on the unit cell volume, thus
relating it to composition. Finally, changes in the composition cause
a modification of the Fermi surface and ultimately the loss of a nested
vector