A DFT calculation of electronic structures, magnetic, and thermoelectric properties of the new equiatomic quaternary Heusler alloy RuTiCrSi

The stabilities, mechanical, electronic, and magnetic properties of the new equiatomic quaternary Heusler alloy (EQHA) RuTiCrSi were investigated using the Kohn-Sham DFT (KS-DFT) calculations within the generalized gradient approach (GGA), the modified version of the exchange potential introduced by Becke and Johnson in addition to the GGA (mBJ-GGA), and Heyd-Scuseria-Ernzerhof (HSE06) hybrid functional. The ground-state equilibrium energy reveals that the ferromagnetic with type 2 structure is the more stable. The RuTiCrSi is energetically, mechanically, and dynamically stable. The calculated self-consistent total magnetic moment is 2 μB and agrees well with the Slater-Pauling rule of $M_t=\left(Z_t-24\right)$. The electronic structure results from mBJ-GGA and HSE06 functionals show a half-metallic behavior. A high Curie temperature is obtained using the mean-field approximation. The thermoelectric response was calculated using the semi-classical Boltzmann transport equation under constant relaxation time. The maximum value of Seebeck coefficient is observed at the ambient temperature of $741\mathrm{\mu V}{K}^{-1}$. It was also observed that the power factor increases significantly as temperature rises. Therefore, the new EQHA RuTiCrSi seems to be a potential candidate for spintronic thermoelectric applications.