Magnetic groundstate and Fermi surface of bcc Eu

Abstract

Using spin-spiral technique within the full potential linearized augmented-plane-waves (LAPW) electronic structure method we investigate the magnon spectrum and Néel temperature of bcc Eu. Ground state corresponding to an incommensurate spin-spiral is obtained in agreement with experiment and previous calculations. We demonstrate that the magnetic coupling is primarily through the intra-atomic $f-s$ and $f-d$ exchange and Ruderman-Kittel-Kasuya-Yosida mechanism. We show that the existence of this spin-spiral is closely connected to a nesting feature of the Fermi surface which was not noticed before.

6 pages 8 figures