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In this work we examine critically the electronic structure of the rare-earth elements by use of the so-called Hubbard I approximation. From the theoretical side all measured features of both occupied and unoccupied states are reproduced, without significant deviations between observations and theory. We also examine cohesive properties like the equilibrium volume and bulk modulus, where we find, in general, a good agreement between theory andmeasurements. In addition, we have reproduced the spin and orbital moments of these elements as they are reflected from measurements of the saturation moment. We have also employed the Hubbard I approximation to extract the interatomic exchange parameters of an effective spin Hamiltonian for the heavy rare earths. We show that the Hubbard I approximation gives results which are consistent with calculations where 4f electrons are treated as core states for Gd. The latter approach was also used to address the series of the heavy/late rare earths. Via Monte Carlo simulations we obtained ordering temperatures which reproduce measurements within about 20%. We have further illustrated the accuracy of these exchange parameters by comparing measured and calculated magnetic configurations for the heavy rare earths and the magnon dispersion for Gd. The Hubbard I approximation is compared to other theories of the electronic structure, and we argue that it is superior. We discuss the relevance of our results in general and how this makes it possible to treat the electronic structure of materials containing rare-earth elements, such as permanent magnets, magnetostrictive compounds, photovoltaics, optical fibers, topological insulators, and molecular magnets.

The half-metallic half-Heusler alloy NiMnSb is a promising candidate for applications in spintronic devices due to its low magnetic damping and its rich anisotropies. Here we use ferromagnetic resonance (FMR) measurements and calculations from first principles to investigate how the composition of the epitaxially grown NiMnSb influences the magnetodynamic properties of saturation magnetization M-S, Gilbert damping alpha, and exchange stiffness A. M-S and A are shown to have a maximum for stoichiometric composition, while the Gilbert damping is minimum. We find excellent quantitative agreement between theory and experiment for M-S and alpha. The calculated A shows the same trend as the experimental data but has a larger magnitude. In addition to the unique in-plane anisotropy of the material, these tunabilities of the magnetodynamic properties can be taken advantage of when employing NiMnSb films in magnonic devices.

The high Curie temperature multiferroic compound CuO has a quasidegenerate magnetic ground state that makes it prone to manipulation by the so-called "order-by-disorder" mechanism. First principle computations supplemented with Monte Carlo simulations and experiments show that isovalent doping allows us to stabilize the multiferroic phase in nonferroelectric regions of the pristine material phase diagram with experiments reaching a 250% widening of the ferroelectric temperature window with 5% of Zn doping. Our results allow us to validate the importance of a quasidegenerate ground state on promoting multiferroicity on CuO at high temperatures and open a path to the material engineering of multiferroic materials. In addition we present a complete explanation of the CuO phase diagram and a computation on the incommensurability in excellent agreement with experiment without free parameters.

The electronic, thermodynamical, and transport properties of ordered Fe3X (X = Al, Si) alloys are studied from first principles. We present here a unified approach to the phase stability, the estimate of the Curie temperature, the temperature dependence of sublattice magnetizations, magnon spectra, the spin-stiffnesses, and residual resistivities. An important feature of the present study is that all calculated physical properties are determined in the framework of the same first-principles electronic structure model combined with the effective Ising and Heisenberg Hamiltonians used for study of the thermodynamical properties of alloys. Curie temperatures, spin-stiffnesses, and magnon spectra are determined using the same calculated exchange integrals. Finally, the transport properties are calculated using the linear-response theory. Our theoretical estimates compare well with available experimental data. In particular, calculations predict (in agreement with experiment) the ordered D0(3) phase as the ground-state alloy structure, demonstrate that a correct relation of Curie temperatures of Fe3Al/Fe3Si alloys can be obtained only by going beyond a simple mean-field approximation, provide reasonable estimates of spin-stiffnesses, and give resistivities compatible with structural disorder observed in the experiment. Although the calculated temperature dependences of the Fe magnetization on different sublattices are similar, they nevertheless deviate more than in the experiment, and we discuss a possible origin.

Landau phenomenological theory in combination with first-principles calculations was used to reveal the origin of the metamagnetic nature and the unusually strong dependence of the ordering temperature with doping of the Fe2P compound. We show that the magnetism of the two sublattices occupied by Fe atoms has an entwined codependency, which is strongly influenced by alloying. We furthermore demonstrate that a constrained disordered local moment approach combined with Monte Carlo simulations can only reproduce the experimental ordering temperatures in these technologically important prototype alloys for magnetocaloric refrigeration., Correction in: Physical Review B, 2013, vol. 88, issue 19, Article Number: 199904.DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.88.199904

In order to understand and manipulate the properties of diluted magnetic semiconductors, a precise knowledge of interactions in these systems should be available. In this chapter, we review ab initio studies on DMS, in particular, calculations of ordering temperatures by Monte Carlo simulations. We argue why we do not expect large values of ordering temperatures from the point of view of dilute spin system, short ranged magnetic exchange interactions and magnetic percolation. Also, we show results of atomistic spin dynamics using Landau–Lifshitz–Gilbert equations for Mn-doped GaAs. The effects of strong electron correlation on the electronic and magnetic structure are demonstrated by dynamical mean field theory.