Effect of Zn doping on phase transition and electronic structures of Heusler-type Pd2Cr-based alloys: from normal to all-d-metal Heusler

Abstract

Based on first-principles calculations, for Heusler alloys Pd₂CrZ (Z = Al, Ga, In, Tl, Si, Sn, P, As, Sb, Bi, Se, Te, Zn), the effect of Zn doping on their phase transition and electronic structure has been studied in this work. These alloys can be divided into two classes: (i) all-d-metal Heusler Pd₂CrZn and (ii) other normal Heusler alloys Pd₂CrZ (Z = Al, Ga, In, Tl, Si, Sn, P, As, Sb, Bi, Se, Te). For all-d-metal Heusler alloy Pd₂CrZn, transition metal element Zn behaves like a main group element due to its full 3d occupied state, and therefore the Zn atoms tend to occupy Wyckoff sites D (0.75, 0.75, 0.75) instead of replacing Pd atoms at A sites (0, 0, 0). The stable tetragonal L1₀ state is obtained via tetragonal deformation and the L1₀ stable state can be tuned by the uniform strain. The stability of the tetragonal state is analyzed and proved via calculation of the density of states (DOSs) and the phonon spectrum. For the series of normal Heusler alloys Pd₂CrZ, doping with Zn atoms can induce or strengthen the martensitic transformation, or regulate the large c/a ratios to a more reasonable range. It is hoped that this work can provide some guidance for further studies of the relationship between all-d-metal and normal Heusler alloys in the future.