Electronic, magnetic and transport properties of rare-earth monopnictides

Authors

• Chun-Gang Duan, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
• Ildar F. Sabiryanov, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
• Wai-Ning Mei, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
• Peter A. Dowben, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
• Sitaram Jaswal, University of NebraskaFollow
• Evgeny Y. Tsymbal, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow

Document Type

Article

Date of this Version

7-1-2007

Comments

Published in Journal Of Physics: Condensed Matter 19 (2007), 315220 (32 pp); doi:10.1088/0953- 8984/19/31/315220 Online at http://stacks.iop.org/JPhysCM/19/315220 Copyright © 2007 IOP Publishing Ltd. Used by permission.

Abstract

The electronic structures and magnetic properties of many rare-earth monopnictides are reviewed in this article. Possible candidate materials for spintronics devices from the rare-earth monopnictide family, i.e. high polarization (nominally half-metallic) ferromagnets and antiferromagnets, are identified. We attempt to provide a unified picture of the electronic properties of these strongly correlated systems. The relative merits of several ab initio theoretical methods, useful in the study of the rare-earth monopnictides, are discussed. We present our current understanding of the possible half-metallicity, semiconductor–metal transitions, and magnetic orderings in the rare-earth monopnictides. Finally, we propose some potential strategies to improve the magnetic and electronic properties of these candidate materials for spintronics devices.