Structural, electronic, and hyperfine properties of pure and Ta-doped m-ZrO₂

A combination of experiments and ab initio quantum-mechanical calculations has been applied to examine electronic, structural, and hyperfine interactions in pure and Ta-doped zirconium dioxide in its monoclinic phase (m-ZrO₂). From the theoretical point of view, the full-potential linear augmented p...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Taylor, M.A., Alonso, R. E., Errico, L. A., Lopez García, A., Presa Muñoz De Toro, Patricia Marcela De La, Svane, A., Christensen, N. E.
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2012
País:España
Institución:Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM)
Repositorio:Docta Complutense
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:docta.ucm.es:20.500.14352/42778
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/42778
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:538.9
Temperature-dependence
ZrO₂
Ferromagnetism
Field
Zirconia
Valence
Energy
Oxide
Gas
Semiconductors
Física de materiales
Descripción
Sumario:A combination of experiments and ab initio quantum-mechanical calculations has been applied to examine electronic, structural, and hyperfine interactions in pure and Ta-doped zirconium dioxide in its monoclinic phase (m-ZrO₂). From the theoretical point of view, the full-potential linear augmented plane wave plus local orbital (APW + lo) method was applied to treat the electronic structure of the doped system including the atomic relaxations introduced by the impurities in the host in a fully self-consistent way using a supercell approach. Different charge states of the Ta impurity were considered in the study and its effects on the electronic, structural, and hyperfine properties are discussed. Our results suggest that two different charge states coexist in Ta-doped m-ZrO₂. Further, ab initio calculations predict that depending on the impurity charge state, a sizeable magnetic moment can be induced at the Ta-probe site. This prediction is confirmed by a new analysis of experimental data.