Influence of correlation and temperature on the electronic structure of bulk and thin film GdN

The influence of correlation and temperature on the electronic structure of bulk and thin film GdN has been studied using the s-f model, which combines the one electron band structure with a many body procedure. The tight binding linear muffin tin orbital (TB-LMTO) method was used to obtain the one electron band structure of the system. The s-f exchange coupling constants for each band were obtained from the spin polarized band structure of the system using a mean field model. Correlation effects are found to be present in the system. However they are not sufficiently strong to cause a correlation induced splitting in the spectrum. Some bands of the thin films of GdN exhibit splitting at T=T<Subscript>c</Subscript> and it is due to the combined effect of correlation and temperature. The conduction bands of both the bulk and the thin films of GdN exhibit a red shift with respect to temperature. Copyright EDP Sciences/Società Italiana di Fisica/Springer-Verlag 2006