Magnetovolume Effects in Heusler Compounds via First-Principles Calculations

Author

Goncalves, Joao Nuno ; Sequeira Amaral, Joao ; Sequeira Amaral, Vitor

Author_Institution

Dept. de FisicaCentro de Investig. em Mater. Ceramicos e Compositos, Univ. de Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal

Volume

50

Issue

11

fYear

2014

fDate

Nov. 2014

Firstpage

1

Lastpage

4

Abstract

Heusler alloys are promising for several applications, including magnetic refrigeration, due to high magnetocaloric and magnetovolume effects. One way to optimize this potential is by increasing the magnetovolume effect. Using density functional theory with the Korringa-Kohn-Rostoker method, we calculate the effective exchange interaction energies and corresponding mean field Curie temperature as a function of the volume (hydrostatic pressure) in several L2₁-type Co₂YZ Heusler alloys. Different qualitative trends and signs of the pressure derivatives of the Curie temperature and moments are found among these compounds, discussed and compared with previous calculations and experiments.

Keywords

Curie temperature; KKR calculations; ab initio calculations; aluminium alloys; cobalt alloys; density functional theory; exchange interactions (electron); magnetocaloric effects; magnetomechanical effects; manganese alloys; silicon alloys; Co₂MnAl; Co₂MnSi; Heusler alloys; Heusler compounds; Korringa-Kohn-Rostoker method; density functional theory; exchange interaction energies; first-principles calculations; magnetic refrigeration; magnetocaloric effects; magnetovolume effects; mean field Curie temperature; Approximation methods; Compounds; Elementary particle exchange interactions; Lattices; Metals; Saturation magnetization; Temperature; Curie temperature; Heusler; density functional theory; exchange interactions; magnetovolume effect;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Magnetics, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9464

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/TMAG.2014.2326892

Filename

6971522