Structural, elastic and magnetic properties of Mn and Sb doped chromium nitride - An ab initio study

Structural, magnetic and elastic properties of Mn and Sb doped CrN were investigated by the electronic band structure calculations using Full Potential Linear Augmented Plane Wave (FP-LAPW) method. The host compound CrN was doped with Mn and Sb separately, in the doping concentration of 12.5% to replace Cr atoms. The introduction of Mn and Sb atoms replacing the Cr atoms does not change the structural stability of the compound. The changes in magnetic and elastic properties were investigated and compared in GGA and GGA+U methods. The doped CrN undergoes a relative increase in the magnetic order with the substitution of Mn and Sb atoms. In GGA method, the magnetic moments are found to be greater in Mn doped CrN than that found in Sb doped Cr0.875NSb0.125. When doped with Sb, the elastic moduli such as Young's modulus, bulk modulus and rigidity modulus show a relative increase in comparison with that in Mn doped CrN. Using Hubbard model in GGA+U method, both the magnetic and elastic properties increase in Mn and Sb doped compounds.