Observation of correlation induced metal to half-metal phase transition and large orbital moment in $\mathrm{S}{\mathrm{r}}_2\mathrm{Co}{\mathrm{O}}_4$

Abstract

We present a detailed mean-field study to address the fundamental discrepancy in the ground state magnetization of $\mathrm{S}{\mathrm{r}}_2\mathrm{Co}{\mathrm{O}}_4$ (SCO). In contrast to the ferromagnetic metallic ground state obtained from density functional theory (DFT), DFT+$U$ gives three ferromagnetic solutions converging to integer moment values (1, 2 \& 3 ${\mu }_B$/f.u) over a range of $U$. Interestingly, two of the solutions are found to exhibit half-metallicity with correspondingly $S$=1/2 and S=3/2 spin states. The half-metallic ferromagnetic state with $S$=3/2 is found to be the ground state solution for SCO. Co atoms show a large deviation from the formal +4 oxidation state indicating the presence of strong covalency effects. Our results suggest a plausible metal to half-metal phase transition around $U$($J$)=4.4(1.16) eV. The Fermi surface study shows gradual collapse in states leading to half-metallicity suggesting \textit{\textbf{k}}-dependence of effective $U$ around the critical region. Surprisingly, in the presence of spin-orbit coupling (SOC), unexpectedly large orbital moment ($L_z$=0.6) is noted in SCO putting it among the class of 3$d$ based transition metal compounds exhibiting pronounced orbital magnetization. The calculations give large magnetocrystalline anisotropy energy (MAE) of $\sim$48 meV. Large values of orbital magnetic moment contribution and MAE, in the presence of strong correlation effects, provide a better interpretation of experimental magnetization observed in SCO.