Skip to content

CaB6: a new semiconducting material for spin electronics

H. J. Tromp, P. van Gelderen, P. J. Kelly, G. Brocks, P. A. Bobbert

cond-matarXiv:cond-mat/0011109

Abstract

Ferromagnetism was recently observed at unexpectedly high temperatures in La-doped CaB6. The starting point of all theoretical proposals to explain this observation is a semimetallic electronic structure calculated for CaB6 within the local density approximation. Here we report the results of parameter-free quasiparticle calculations of the single-particle excitation spectrum which show that CaB6 is not a semimetal but a semiconductor with a band gap of 0.8 eV. Magnetism in LaxCa1-xB6 occurs just on the metallic side of a Mott transition in the La-induced impurity band.

Create a lesson