Dresden 2011 – scientific programme

Parts | Days | Selection | Search | Updates | Downloads | Help

TT: Fachverband Tiefe Temperaturen

TT 28: CE: (General) Theory 2

TT 28.5: Talk

Tuesday, March 15, 2011, 15:00–15:15, HSZ 105

Electronic correlations at the α-γ structural phase transition in paramagnetic iron — •Ivan Leonov¹, Alexander I. Poteryaev², Vladimir I. Anisimov², and Dieter Vollhardt¹ — ¹TP III, Center for Electronic Correlations and Magnetism, Uni Augsburg, Germany — ²Institute of Metal Physics, Yekaterinburg, Russia

We present an application of a novel ab initio approach to calculate the total energy of materials with correlated electrons [1]. It combines band structure and dynamical mean-field theory, and is implemented in terms of plane-wave pseudopotentials. Here we employ this computational scheme to study the equilibrium crystal structure and phase stability of paramagnetic iron at the α(bcc)-γ(fcc) phase transition as a function of temperature [2]. For this purpose we analyzed the energetics of the bcc-fcc lattice transformation in Fe using the Bain transformation path. We find that at ambient pressure the temperature of the bcc-fcc structural phase transition occurs at ∼200 K above the calculated Curie temperature. The structural optimization performed for paramagnetic Fe yields the correct lattice constants and predicts a 2 % shrinking of the volume at the bcc-fcc phase transition. The magnetic correlation energy is found to be an essential driving force behind the bcc-fcc structural phase transition in paramagnetic iron. The phonon dispersion curves calculated for paramagnetic iron at the bcc-fcc structural phase transition show good agreement with experimental data.
I. Leonov et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 101, 096405 (2008); I. Leonov et al., Phys. Rev. B 81, 075109 (2010).
I. Leonov et al., arXiv:1008.4342 (2010).