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Ab initio calculation of chromium oxide containing Ti dopant

Abstract:

First-principles computations based on the density functional theory within the generalised gradient approximation and introduced intra-atomic interaction term for strongly correlated electrons (DFT + U method) has been used in this work. Ti impurity doping in the α-Cr 2O 3 crystal has been carried out considering single defect model within the periodic crystalline structure. Atomic displacements, Bader charges on atoms have been computed showing that Ti dopant converts the chemical bonding in its neighbourhood into more ionic one. The defect-local microstructure is such as there exist general tendency of atomic rearrangements away with respect to the Ti imperfection. It is found that defect incorporation produces some local changes upon the band structure of the material and also induces a metallic state. That implies n-type electrical conductivity in the Ti-doped α-Cr 2O 3 crystals and relates our work directly to a number of experimental studies in this area. Our results provide evidence over change in magnetic moments in the vicinity of defect, which means that the chromium oxide doped with Ti impurity might not act as an antiferromagnetic substance. © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.