Dominant role of local-moment interactions in the magnetism in iron pnictides : comparative study of arsenides and antimonides from first-principles

TL;DR

This study uses first-principles calculations to show that local-moment interactions, rather than Fermi surface nesting, primarily determine the magnetic properties in iron pnictides, with local moments increasing from arsenides to antimonides.

Contribution

It provides a comparative analysis of arsenides and antimonides, highlighting the dominant role of local-moment interactions in their magnetism, contrasting with the Fermi surface nesting perspective.

Findings

Fe local spin moment increases from As to Sb

Stability of stripe-type antiferromagnetic phase increases from As to Sb

Fermi surface nesting is not the main factor for magnetic stability

Abstract

The magnetic properties of various iron pnictides are investigated using first-principles pseudopotential calculations. We consider three different families, LaFePnO, BaFe$_2$Pn$_2$, and LiFePn with Pn=As and Sb, and find that the Fe local spin moment and the stability of the stripe-type antiferromagnetic phase increases from As to Sb for all of the three families, with a partial gap formed at the Fermi energy. In the meanwhile, the Fermi-surface nesting is found to be enhanced from Pn=As to Sb for LaFePnO, but not for BaFe$_2$Pn$_2$ and LiFePn. These results indicate that it is not the Fermi surface nesting but the local moment interaction that determines the stability of the magnetic phase in these materials, and that the partial gap is an induced feature by a specific magnetic order.