Effect of Cr3+ doped on electronic and magnetic properties of SrFe12O19 by first-principles study

This theoretical work presents the electronic and magnetic properties of Cr doped SrFe12O19 using first-principles calculations based on density functional theory. An improvement in the magnetic properties of SrFe12O19 is predicted when doped with the Cr3+ ion. It was found that the magnetic Cr3+ ion preferentially replaces Fe3+ ion at 2a, 4f1, and 12k sites. The calculation demonstrates that if Cr ion occupies the 4f1 site, a total magnetization of 52.920 emu/g is obtained. On the other hand, SrFe11.5Cr0.5O19 behaves as a semiconductor when Cr occupies the 2a and 12k sites while behaves like half-metal when Cr occupies the 4f1 site. The higher magnetization, identified for the SrFe11.5Cr0.5O19 compound, provides unique qualities in the applications of permanent magnets and/or related devices like spintronics and magnetic semiconductors.