Abstract
Ferromagnetic Co-2-based Heusler compounds have generated increasing
interest over the last few years because of their peculiar electronic
structure. They exhibit a band gap for the electrons of one direction
and are metallic for the other. Further, they cover a very wide range of
magnetic moments and Curie temperatures. Despite lot of efforts in
theory and experiment to describe bulk materials and thin films, there
are some marked discrepancies between observed and predicted properties
of these materials. These discrepancies appear not only across but also
within synthesis methods as well as in the theoretical predictions. In
this contribution, the electronic structure of Co2YSi(Y = Sc, Ti; V, Cr,
Mn, Fe) is discussed. In particular, the magnetic moments and the
minority band gaps in these materials have been examined respecting
electron-electron correlation in the calculations. (c) 2006 Elsevier
B.V. All rights reserved.
