First-Principles Investigation of Electronic and Related Properties of Cubic Magnesium Silicide (Mg2Si)

We present results from ab initio, self-consistent calculations of electronic, transport, and bulk properties of cubic magnesium silicide (Mg2Si). We employed a local density approximation (LDA) potential to perform the computation, following the Bagayoko, Zhao, and Williams (BZW) method, as improved by Ekuma and Franklin (BZW-EF). The BZW-EF method guarantees the attainment of the ground state as well as the avoidance of over-complete basis sets. The ground state electronic energies, total and partial densities of states, effective masses, and the bulk modulus are investigated. As per the calculated band structures, cubic Mg2Si has an indirect band gap of 0.896 eV, from Gamma to X, for the room temperature experimental lattice constant of 6.338 angstrom. This is in reasonable agreement with the experimental value of 0.8 eV, unlike previous ab initio DFT results of 0.5 eV or less. The predicted zero temperature band gap of 0.965 eV, from Gamma to X, is obtained for the computationally determined equilibrium lattice constant of 6.218 angstrom. The calculated value of the bulk modulus of Mg2Si is 58.58 GPa, in excellent agreement with the experimental value of 57.03 +/- 2 GPa.