M. Samsel-Czekała

Special directions in the Brillouin zone

Abstract.Rules are given for determining special directions in the Brillouin zone which optimize the description of various physical quantities with Γ1-type symmetry. We consider the cubic, hexagonal, tetragonal and trigonal (e.g. Bi) lattice. These rules allow us to construct, in all of momentum space, quantities which have the full symmetry of the Brillouin zone such as the Fermi surface, momentum density and others, from the knowledge of these quantities for a limited number of special directions. These results can also be used for determining the projections which should be measured either in Compton scattering or in positron-annihilation experiments in order to reconstruct properly the electron-momentum density. Such a treatment is approximately equivalent to applying Gaussian quadrature in calculations of the radial functions that occur in the expansion of data into lattice harmonics.

Band structure of LaB6 by an algorithm for filtering reconstructed electron-positron momentum densities

A new method for filtering three-dimensional reconstructed densities is proposed. The algorithm is tested with simulated spectra and employed to study the electronic structure of the rare-earth compound LaB{sub 6}. For this system, momentum densities are reconstructed from theoretical and experimental two-dimensional angular correlation of electron-positron annihilation radiation (2D ACAR) spectra. The experimental results are in good agreement with the band structure calculated with the full-potential linearized augmented-plane-wave (FLAPW) method within the local-density approximation (LDA), apart from the detection of small electron pockets in the 15th band. It is also shown that, unlike the electron-positron enhancement, the electron-electron correlations affect noticeably the momentum density.

Magnetic phase transitions and superconductivity in strained FeTe

The influence of hydrostatic pressure and ab-plane strain on the magnetic structure of FeTe is investigated from first principles. The results of calculations reveal a phase transition from antiferromagnetic double-stripe ordering at ambient pressure to ferromagnetic ordering at 2 GPa, or under compressive strain reducing the lattice parameter a by about 3%. In turn, a tensile strain of less than 2% induces the phase transition to antiferromagnetic single-stripe ordering. It corresponds to the superconducting FeTe thin films, thereby confirming that the superconducting state is positively linked to single-stripe antiferromagnetic fluctuations. Both types of transition indicate that the position of Te atoms in the crystal is crucial for the magnetic and superconducting properties of iron chalcogenides.

Electronic structure of non-centrosymmetric superconductor LaPdSi3 and its reference compound LaPdGe3

Abstract Electronic structures of a superconductor without inversion symmetry, LaPdSi3, and its non-superconducting counterpart, LaPdGe3, have been calculated employing the full-potential local-orbital method within the density functional theory. The investigations were focused on analyses of densities of states at the Fermi level in comparison with previous experimental heat capacity data and an influence of the antisymmetric spin–orbit coupling on the band structures and Fermi surfaces (FSs) being very similar for both considered here compounds. Their FSs sheets originate from four bands and have a holelike character, but exhibiting pronounced nesting features only for superconducting LaPdSi3. It may explain a relatively strong electron–phonon coupling in the latter system and its lack in non-superconducting LaPdGe3.

Electronic structure of the 344-type superconductors La3(Ni;Pd)4(Si;Ge)4 by ab initio calculations

Abstract Electronic structures of superconducting ternaries: La 3 Ni 4 Si 4 , La 3 Ni 4 Ge 4 , La 3 Pd 4 Si 4 , La 3 Pd 4 Ge 4 , and their non-superconducting counterpart, La 3 Rh 4 Ge 4 , have been calculated employing the full-potential local-orbital method within the density functional theory. Our investigations were focused particularly on densities of states (DOSs) at the Fermi level with respect to previous experimental heat capacity data, and Fermi surfaces (FSs) being very similar for all considered here compounds. In each of these systems, the FS originating from several bands contains both holelike and electronlike sheets possessing different dimensionality, in particular quasi-two-dimensional cylinders with nesting properties. A comparative analysis of the DOSs and FSs in these 344-type systems as well as in nickel (oxy)pnictide and borocarbide superconductors indicates rather similar phonon mechanism of their superconductivity.

Fermi surface of ErGa3

We discuss an efficiency of various band structure algorithms in determining the Fermi surface (FS) of the paramagnetic ErGa3. The linear muffin-tin orbital (LMTO) in the atomic sphere approximation (ASA) method and three full potential (FP) codes: FP-LMTO, FP linear augmented plane wave (FLAPW), and FP local orbitals (FPLO) methods are employed. Results are compared with electron-positron (e-p) momentum densities reconstructed from two dimensional angular correlation of annihilation radiation (2D ACAR). Unexpectedly, none of used modern FP codes is able to give satisfying description of the experimental data that are in perfect agreement with LMTO-ASA results. We suspect that it can be connected with a different choice of the linearization energy.

Electronic structure of ruthenium-doped iron chalcogenides

The structural and electronic properties of hypothetical RuxFe1−xSe and RuxFe1−xTe systems have been investigated from first principles within the density functional theory (DFT). Reasonable values of lattice parameters and chalcogen atomic positions in the tetragonal unit cell of iron chalcogenides have been obtained with the use of norm-conserving pseudopotentials. The well known discrepancies between experimental data and DFT-calculated results for structural parameters of iron chalcogenides are related to the semicore atomic states which were frozen in the used here approach. Such an approach yields valid results of the electronic structures of the investigated compounds. The Ru-based chalcogenides exhibit the same topology of the Fermi surface (FS) as that of FeSe, differing only in subtle FS nesting features. Our calculations predict that the ground states of RuSe and RuTe are nonmagnetic, whereas those of the solid solutions RuxFe1−xSe and RuxFe1−xTe become the single- and double-stripe antiferroma...

Magnetism and superconductivity of S-substituted FeTe

Abstract The influence of a partial substitution with sulfur into Te sites on the crystal, electronic and magnetic structures of FeTe is investigated by DFT calculations. The results reveal a phase transition from the antiferromagnetic double-stripe order for pure FeTe to the single-stripe order for S-substituted samples, which coincides with the previously observed appearance of the superconducting state. The magnetic transition is caused by the variations of the average chalcogen position in the unit cell. The analyzed normal-state properties of Fe(Te,S) and Fe(Se;S) compounds pounds allow a detection of the well resolved nesting-driven magnetic fluctuations only for superconducting samples, consistent with their antiferromagnetic ground state. Thus, the role of an S-substitution is a suppression of the double-stripe antiferromagnetic order to give rise to the single-stripe correlations, which are associated with an occurrence of superconductivity in Fe(Te,S) solid solutions.