Half metallicity and magnetic properties of CrO2 doped with Ti, Sn or Ru

It is possible to stabilize CrO2 internally by doping with element such as Ti, Sn or Ru which has stable rutile structured oxide. However, the half metallicity and magnetic properties of CrO2 may also change when doped with different elements. In this study, by using first principle method, the electronic structure and magnetic properties of CrO2 doped with different amounts and different types (Ti, Sn or Ru) of dopants were studied. It was found that when doped with Ti or Sn, the half metallicity of CrO2 will keep intact even at very high dopant concentration, while for Ru-doped CrO2, the half metallicity will only be maintained at low Ru concentration. Besides, the half metallicity of Ru-doped CrO2 also depends on the relative positions of Ru atoms – the half metallicity may be destroyed even at low Ru concentration if two Ru ions are very close to each other. The magnetic properties of doped CrO2 also show dependence on dopant concentration and dopant type. The magnetocrystalline anisotropy (MAC) of Ru-doped is found to be very sensitive to both Ru concentration and relative positions of Ru atoms. Large MAC may be induced by Ru doping.