The electronic structure and crystal field of RPt3Si (R=Pr, Nd, Sm) compounds

First-principles calculations based on density-functional theory (DFT) were performed on RPt3Si (R=Pr, Nd, Sm) for the first time. The electronic density of states (DOS) and bonding properties were studied using relativistic full-potential APW plus local orbitals calculations. The crystal-field (CF) splitting was derived for NdPt3Si and SmPt3Si by fitting the temperature-dependent magnetic susceptibility. The starting estimate of the CF parameters for fitting procedure was obtained from first-principles calculations based on DFT.