Half-metallic ferromagnetism induced by dynamic electron correlations in VAs

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that dynamic electron correlations can induce half-metallic ferromagnetism in VAs, highlighting the importance of many-body effects in designing spintronic materials.

Contribution

It reveals that dynamical correlations, not captured by standard DFT, are crucial for the half-metallic ferromagnetic state in VAs.

Findings

Dynamical correlations close the semiconducting gap in VAs.

The resulting state is half-metallic ferromagnetic.

Standard DFT predicts a semiconducting ground state, but DMFT shows a metallic one.

Abstract

The electronic structure of the VAs compound in the zinc-blende structure is investigated using a combined density-functional and dynamical mean-field theory approach. Contrary to predictions of a ferromagnetic semiconducting ground state obtained by density-functional calculations, dynamical correlations induce a closing of the gap and produce a half-metallic ferromagnetic state. These results emphasize the importance of dynamic correlations in materials suitable for spintronics.