Effects of intrinsic defects on the electronic structure and magnetic properties of CoFe2O4: A first-principles study

The cobalt ferrite (CoFe2O4) with spinel structure has achieved a great interest as a very important magnetic material which has covered a wide range of applications. The formation condition and energy of possible intrinsic point defects have been investigated by the first-principles calculations, and the effects of the intrinsic point defects on the electronic and magnetic properties of CoFe2O4 have been analyzed. It is found that the growth conditions have a great effect on the formation energy of intrinsic point defects, and each point defect with its fully ionized state is the most stable for the intrinsic point defects with various charge states. In an oxygen rich environment, the cation vacancies are easy to form shallow acceptors，which is conducive to the strength of the p-type conductivity. While in the metal rich environment, the oxygen vacancies tend to form donors which lead to the n-type conductivity. There exists extra levels in the band gap when point defects are present, resulting in a reduction of the band gap. The net magnetic moment depends highly on the defects.