Calculated electronic and magnetic properties of the half-metallic, transition metal based Heusler compounds

In this work, results of {\\it ab-initio} band structure calculations for\n$A_2BC$ Heusler compounds that have $A$ and $B$ sites occupied by transition\nmetals and $C$ by a main group element are presented. This class of materials\nincludes some interesting half-metallic and ferromagnetic properties. The\ncalculations have been performed in order to understand the properties of the\nminority band gap and the peculiar magnetic behavior found in these materials.\nAmong the interesting aspects of the electronic structure of the materials are\nthe contributions from both $A$ and $B$ atoms to states near the Fermi energy\nand to the total magnetic moment. The magnitude of the total magnetic moment,\nwhich depends as well on the kind of $C$ atoms, shows a trend consistent with\nthe Slater-Pauling type behavior in several classes of these compounds. The\nlocalized moment in these magnetic compounds resides at the $B$ site. Other\nthan in the classical Cu$_2$-based Heusler compounds, the $A$ atoms in Co$_2$,\nFe$_2$, and Mn$_2$ based compounds may contribute pronounced to the total\nmagnetic moment.\n