Electronic and thermal properties of LuNi2B2C under pressure

Abstract

The electronic and thermal properties of LuNi2B2C were studied by performing density-functional theory (DFT) and density functional perturbation theory (DFPT). No virtual frequencies appear on the phonon spectrum, indicating that LuNi2B2C is dynamically stable in the tetragonal structure up to 30 GPa. The density of states at Fermi energy EF is nonzero and falls on the sharp peak, which is why LuNi2B2C has a high superconducting temperature. Moreover, the temperature and pressure dependences of bulk modulus, heat capacity at constant pressure and thermal expansion coefficient in a wide temperature (0-900 K) and pressure (0-30 GPa) ranges are presented in this study.