Magnetism and local distortions near carbon impurity in $γ$-iron

Boukhvalov, D. W.; Gornostyrev, Yu. N.; Katsnelson, M. I.; Lichtenstein, A. I.

Magnetism and local distortions near carbon impurity in $γ$-iron

Authors

Description

Local perturbations of crystal and magnetic structure of $γ$-iron near carbon interstitial impurity is investigated by {\it ab initio} electronic structure calculations. It is shown that the carbon impurity creates locally a region of ferromagnetic ordering with substantial tetragonal distortions. Exchange integrals and solution enthalpy are calculated, the latter being in a very good agreement with experimental data. Effect of the local distortions on the carbon-carbon interactions in $γ$-iron is discussed.
4 pages 3 figures. Final version, accepted to Phys.Rev. Lett