The electronic structure and magnetic properties of CrSb$_2$ have been investigated by ab-initio calculations with an emphasis on the role of the magnetic structure for the ground state. The influence of correlation effects has been investigated by performing fixed spin moment (FSM) calculations showing their important role for the electronic and magnetic properties. The details of the electronic structure of CrSb$_2$ are analyzed by a comparison with those of FeSb$_2$. The results obtained contribute in particular to the understanding of the temperature dependence of transport and magnetic behavior observed experimentally.
Iron antimonide (FeSb$_2$) is a mysterious material with peculiar colossal thermopower of about $-45$ mV/K at 10 K. However, a unified microscopic description of this phenomenon is far from being achieved. The understanding of the electronic structur
e in details is crucial in identifying the microscopic mechanism of FeSb$_2$ thermopower. Combining angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) and first-principles calculations we find that the spectrum of FeSb$_2$ consists of two bands near the Fermi energy: the nondispersive strongly renormalized $alpha$-band, and the hole-like $beta$-band that intersects the first one at $Gamma$ and Y points of the Brillouin zone. Our study reveals the presence of sizable correlations, predominantly among electrons derived from Fe-3d states, and considerable anisotropy in the electronic structure of FeSb$_2$. These key ingredients are of fundamental importance in the description of colossal thermopower in FeSb$_2$.
The iron antimonide FeSb$_2$ possesses an extraordinarily high thermoelectric power factor at low temperature, making it a leading candidate for cryogenic thermoelectric cooling devices. However, the origin of this unusual behavior is controversial,
having been variously attributed to electronic correlations as well as the phonon-drag effect. The optical properties of a material provide information on both the electronic and vibrational properties. The optical conductivity reveals an anisotropic response at room temperature; the low-frequency optical conductivity decreases rapidly with temperature, signalling a metal-insulator transition. One-dimensional semiconducting behavior is observed along the $b$ axis at low temperature, in agreement with first-principle calculations. The infrared-active lattice vibrations are also symmetric and extremely narrow, indicating long phonon relaxation times and a lack of electron-phonon coupling. Surprisingly, there are more lattice modes along the $a$ axis than are predicted from group theory; several of these modes undergo significant changes below about 100 K, hinting at a weak structural distortion or phase transition. While the extremely narrow phonon line shapes favor the phonon-drag effect, the one-dimensional behavior of this system at low temperature may also contribute to the extraordinarily high thermopower observed in this material.
An textit{ab initio} electronic structure calculation based on the generalized gradient approximation in the density functional theory is carried out to study the basic electronic states of hollandite vanadate K$_2$V$_8$O$_{16}$. We find that the sta
tes near the Fermi energy consist predominantly of the three $t_{2g}$-orbital components and the hybridization with oxygen $2p$ orbitals is small. The $d_{yz}$ and $d_{zx}$ orbitals are exactly degenerate and are lifted from the $d_{xy}$ orbital. The calculated band dispersion and Fermi surface indicate that the system is not purely one-dimensional but the coupling between the VO double chains is important. Comparison with available experimental data suggests the importance of electron correlations in this system.
Thermoelectric properties of the system La$_2$NiO$_{4+delta}$ have been recently discussed [Phys. Rev. B 86, 165114 (2012)] via ab initio calculations. An optimum hole-doping value was obtained with reasonable thermopower and thermoelectric figure of
merit being calculated. Here, a large increase in the thermoelectric performance through lattice strain and the corresponding atomic relaxations is predicted. This increase would be experimentally attainable via growth in thin films of the material on top of different substrates. A small tensile strain would produce large thermoelectric figures of merit at high temperatures, $zT$ $sim$ 1 in the range of oxygen excess $delta$ $sim$ 0.05 - 0.10 and in-plane lattice parameter in the range 3.95 - 4.05 AA. In that relatively wide range of parameters, thermopower values close to 200 $mu$V/K are obtained. The best performance of this compound is expected to occur in the high temperature limit.
We present a method for producing high quality KCo2As2 crystals, stable in air and suitable for a variety of measurements. X-ray diffraction, magnetic susceptibility, electrical transport and heat capacity measurements confirm the high quality and an
absence of long range magnetic order down to at least 2 K. Residual resistivity values approaching 0.25 $muOmega$~cm are representative of the high quality and low impurity content, and a Sommerfeld coefficient $gamma$ = 7.3 mJ/mol K$^2$ signifies weaker correlations than the Fe-based counterparts. Together with Hall effect measurements, angle-resolved photoemission experiments reveal a Fermi surface consisting of electron pockets at the center and corner of the Brillouin zone, in line with theoretical predictions and in contrast to the mixed carrier types of other pnictides with the ThCr2Si2 structure. A large, linear magnetoresistance of 200% at 14~T, together with an observed linear and hyperbolic, rather than parabolic, band dispersions are unusual characteristics of this metallic compound and may indicate more complex underlying behavior.
G. Kuhn
,S. Mankovsky
,H. Ebert
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(2012)
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"Electronic structure and magnetic properties of CrSb$_2$ and FeSb$_2$ investigated via ab-initio calculations"
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Sergiy Mankovsky
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