Identifying the forces that drive a phase transition is always challenging. The hcp-fcc phase transition that occurs in cobalt at ~700 K has not yet been fully understood, although early theoretical ...studies have suggested that magnetism plays a main role in the stabilization of the fcc phase at high temperatures. Here, we perform a first principles study of the free energies of these two phases, which we break into contributions arising from the vibration of the lattice, electronic and magnetic systems and volume expansion. Our analysis of the energy of the phases shows that magnetic effects alone cannot drive the fcc-hcp transition in Co and that the largest contribution to the stabilization of the fcc phase comes from the vibration of the ionic lattice. By including all the contributions to the free energy considered here we obtain a theoretical transition temperature of 825 K.
Lifetime of racetrack skyrmions Bessarab, Pavel F; Müller, Gideon P; Lobanov, Igor S ...
Scientific reports,
02/2018, Letnik:
8, Številka:
1
Journal Article
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The skyrmion racetrack is a promising concept for future information technology. There, binary bits are carried by nanoscale spin swirls-skyrmions-driven along magnetic strips. Stability of the ...skyrmions is a critical issue for realising this technology. Here we demonstrate that the racetrack skyrmion lifetime can be calculated from first principles as a function of temperature, magnetic field and track width. Our method combines harmonic transition state theory extended to include Goldstone modes, with an atomistic spin Hamiltonian parametrized from density functional theory calculations. We demonstrate that two annihilation mechanisms contribute to the skyrmion stability: At low external magnetic field, escape through the track boundary prevails, but a crossover field exists, above which the collapse in the interior becomes dominant. Considering a Pd/Fe bilayer on an Ir(111) substrate as a well-established model system, the calculated skyrmion lifetime is found to be consistent with reported experimental measurements. Our simulations also show that the Arrhenius pre-exponential factor of escape depends only weakly on the external magnetic field, whereas the pre-exponential factor for collapse is strongly field dependent. Our results open the door for predictive simulations, free from empirical parameters, to aid the design of skyrmion-based information technology.
We have investigated the electronic structure of fluorite Cu2Se using density functional theory calculations within the LDA, PBE and AM05 approximations as well as the non-local hybrid PBE0 and HSE ...approximations. We find that Cu2Se is a zero gap semiconductor when using either a local or semi-local density functional approximation while the PBE0 functional opens up a gap. For the HSE approximation, we find that the presence of a gap depends on the range separation for the non-local exchange. For the occupied part in the density of states we find that LDA, PBE, AM05, PBE0 and HSE agree with regard to the overall electronic structure. However, the hybrid functionals result in peaks shifted towards lower energy compared to LDA, PBE and AM05. The valence bands obtained using the hybrid functionals are in good agreement with experimental valence band spectra. We also find that the PBE, PBE0 and HSE approximations give similar results regarding bulk properties, such as lattice constants and bulk modulus. In addition, we have investigated the localization of the Cu d-states and its effect on the band gap in the material using the LDA + U approach. We find that a sufficiently high U indeed opens up a gap; however, this U leads to valence bands that disagree with experimental observations.
First-principles alloy theory and Monte-Carlo simulations are performed to investigate the magnetic properties of FeCrCoNiAlx high entropy alloys. Results show that face-centered-cubic (fcc) and ...body-centered-cubic (bcc) structures possess significantly different magnetic behaviors uncovering that the alloy's Curie temperature is controlled by the stability of the Al-induced single phase or fcc-bcc dual-phase. We show that the appearance of the bcc phase with increasing Al content brings about the observed transition from the paramagnetic state for FeCrCoNi to the ferromagnetic state for FeCrCoNiAl at room-temperature. Similar mechanism is predicted to give rise to room-temperature ferromagnetism in FeCrCoNiGa high entropy alloy.
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•Curie temperature of high entropy alloys predicted from first principles.•Phase-induced magnetic transition mechanism in FeCrCoNiAlx system.•FeCrCoNiGa: an alternative ferromagnetic high entropy alloy at room temperature.
In weakly ferromagnetic materials, already small changes in the atomic configuration triggered by temperature or chemistry can alter the magnetic interactions responsible for the non-random ...atomic-spin orientation. Different magnetic states, in turn, can give rise to substantially different macroscopic properties. A classical example is iron, which exhibits a great variety of properties as one gradually removes the magnetic long-range order by raising the temperature towards its Curie point of TC°= 1043 K. Using first-principles theory, here we demonstrate that uniaxial tensile strain can also destabilise the magnetic order in iron and eventually lead to a ferromagnetic to paramagnetic transition at temperatures far below TC°. In consequence, the intrinsic strength of the ideal single-crystal body-centred cubic iron dramatically weakens above a critical temperature of ~500 K. The discovered strain-induced magneto-mechanical softening provides a plausible atomic-level mechanism behind the observed drop of the measured strength of Fe whiskers around 300-500 K. Alloying additions which have the capability to partially restore the magnetic order in the strained Fe lattice, push the critical temperature for the strength-softening scenario towards the magnetic transition temperature of the undeformed lattice. This can result in a surprisingly large alloying-driven strengthening effect at high temperature as illustrated here in the case of Fe-Co alloy.
We have performed realistic atomistic simulations at finite temperatures using Monte Carlo and atomistic spin dynamics simulations incorporating quantum (Bose-Einstein) statistics. The description is ...much improved at low temperatures compared to classical (Boltzmann) statistics normally used in these kind of simulations, while at higher temperatures the classical statistics are recovered. This corrected low-temperature description is reflected in both magnetization and the magnetic specific heat, the latter allowing for improved modeling of the magnetic contribution to free energies. A central property in the method is the magnon density of states at finite temperatures, and we have compared several different implementations for obtaining it. The method has no restrictions regarding chemical and magnetic order of the considered materials. This is demonstrated by applying the method to elemental ferromagnetic systems, including Fe and Ni, as well as Fe-Co random alloys and the ferrimagnetic system GdFe3.
Using micromagnetic simulations, we have investigated spin dynamics in a spin-valve bilayer in the presence of a thermal gradient. The direction and the intensity of the gradient allow us to excite ...the spin wave modes of each layer selectively. This permits us to synchronize the magnetization precession of the two layers and to rectify the flows of energy and magnetization through the system. Our study yields promising opportunities for applications in spin caloritronics and nanophononics devices.
Two criteria have been identified here which determine whether a magnetic metal orders in a collinear (e.g., ferromagnet) or noncollinear (e.g., spin-spiral) arrangement. These criteria involve the ...ratio between the strength of the exchange interaction and the width of the electron bands, as well as Fermi-surface nesting between spin-up and spin-down sheets of the Fermi surface. Based on our analysis we predict that even typical ferromagnetic materials (e.g., Fe, Co, and Ni) should be possible to stabilize in a noncollinear magnetic order in, e.g., high pressure experiments.
Based on first principles calculations, we propose a solubility control method of magnetic impurities in dilute magnetic semiconductors (DMSs). The low solubility of Mn in (Ga,Mn)As is experimentally ...and theoretically known. We show that donor atoms, such as Li, introduced at the interstitial sites in GaAs enhance the solubility of Mn. As a result, Mn can be doped to more than 20% in GaAs in the thermal equilibrium condition. The same effect can be seen when we dope Mn in GaAs with other interstitial donors, such as H, Na, K, Be, Mg, Ca, Cu, and Ag.
This review summarizes recent first-principles investigations of the electronic structure and magnetism of dilute magnetic semiconductors (DMSs), which are interesting for applications in ...spintronics. Details of the electronic structure of transition-metal-doped III-V and II-VI semiconductors are described, especially how the electronic structure couples to the magnetic properties of an impurity. In addition, the underlying mechanism of the ferromagnetism in DMSs is investigated from the electronic structure point of view in order to establish a unified picture that explains the chemical trend of the magnetism in DMSs. Recent efforts to fabricate high-TC DMSs require accurate materials design and reliable TC predictions for the DMSs. In this connection, a hybrid method (ab initio calculations of effective exchange interactions coupled to Monte Carlo simulations for the thermal properties) is discussed as a practical method for calculating the Curie temperature of DMSs. The calculated ordering temperatures for various DMS systems are discussed, and the usefulness of the method is demonstrated. Moreover, in order to include all the complexity in the fabrication process of DMSs into advanced materials design, spinodal decomposition in DMSs is simulated and we try to assess the effect of inhomogeneity in them. Finally, recent works on first-principles theory of transport properties of DMSs are reviewed. The discussion is mainly based on electronic structure theory within the local-density approximation to density-functional theory.
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