Strong Correlation Effect in Ferrimagnetic Half-Metallic V2CoAl and V2CoGa Heusler Compounds

We present first-principles calculations based on the full-potential linearized augmented plane wave (FP-LAPW) method to investigate the structural, elastic, electronic, and magnetic properties of the Heusler compounds V2CoAl and V2CoGa. We explore different magnetic configurations in both regular and inverse Heusler structures: the Cu2MnAl-type and Hg2CuTi-type structures respectively. Our compounds are found to be ferrimagnets in the inverse Heusler structure. To take into account the effects of the strong correlation among the localized d-states, we perform a calculation using the GGA+U method (the general gradient approximation with the Hubbard on-site Coulomb correction U). Then we show that both compounds exhibit a half-metallic character and have a magnetic moment of 2.00 mu(B) per formula unit. This latter statement is coherent with the generalized Slater-Pauling rule (SP). In terms of the band structure calculations, we explain the formation of the indirect energy band gaps in the spin-majority channels. We also use the mean-field approximation (MFA) to discuss the magnetic exchange couplings and predict the Curie temperature for both compounds.