A first-principle study of half-metallic ferrimagnetism in the Ti2CoGa Heusler compound

Electronic structure calculations based on density functional (DFT) theory within the generalized gradient approximation (GGA) for the Ti2CoGa Heusler compound have been performed using the self-consistent full-potential linearized augmented plane wave (FPLAPW) method. The electronic band structures and density of states of the Ti2CoGa compound show that the spin-up electrons are metallic, but the spin-down bands have a gap of 0.5 eV, resulting in stable half-metallic ferrimagnetic behavior with a magnetic moment of 2 mu(B). (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.