We report a detailed study of the electronic and structural properties of the 39K superconductor mgbtwo and of several related systems of the same family, namely mgalbtwo, bebtwo, casitwo and cabesi. Our calculations, which include zone-center phonon frequencies and transport properties, are performed within the local density approximation to the density functional theory, using the full-potential linearized augmented plane wave (FLAPW) and the norm-conserving pseudopotential methods. Our results indicate essentially three-dimensional properties for these compounds; however, strongly two-dimensional $sigma$-bonding bands contribute significantly at the Fermi level. Similarities and differences between mgbtwo and bebtwo (whose superconducting properties have not been yet investigated) are analyzed in detail. Our calculations for mgalbtwo show that metal substitution cannot be fully described in a rigid band model. casitwo is studied as a function of pressure, and Be substitution in the Si planes leads to a stable compound similar in many aspects to diborides.
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