Investigating structure, magneto-electronic, and thermoelectric properties of the new d0 quaternary Heusler compounds RbCaCZ (Z = P, As, Sb) from first principle calculations

Abstract

The <em>ab initio </em>calculations based on the density functional theory (DFT) using the self-consistent full potential linearized augmented plane wave (FPLAPW) method were performed to explore the electronic structures, magnetic and thermoelectric properties of quaternary alloys RbCaCZ (Z = P, As, Sb) with quaternary Heusler structure. Results showed that FM-Y3 is the most favorable atomic arrangement. All the compounds are found to be half-metallic ferromagnetic materials with an integer magnetic moment of 2.00 <em>μ</em><em>_B</em>, which predominantly derives from the strong spin polarization of <em>p </em>channels of C hybridized with Z elements. The predicted minority (half-metallic) band gaps were found to be 1.86 (0.87), 1.72 (0.78), and 1.78 (0.71) eV for Z = P, As, and Sb, respectively. Thermoelectric properties of the RbCaCZ (Z = P, As, Sb) materials are additionally computed over an extensive variety of temperature and it is discovered that all compounds demonstrates higher figure of merit. The half-metallic structures of these compounds with large band gaps and adequate Seebeck coefficients mean that they are suitable for use in spintronic and thermoelectric device applications.