Study on thermodynamic, electronic and magnetic properties of RE2Cu2Cd(RE=Dy-Tm) intermetallics: first-principle calculation

RE 2 Cu 2 Cd ( RE = heavy rare earth elements: Dy, Ho, Er, Tm) intermetallics show the interesting physical, magnetic and chemical properties with reference to magnetocaloric effect. To explore the relevant complex performance of RE 2 Cu 2 Cd materials, which crystallizes in Mo 2 B 2 Fe -type structure with space group P 4/ mbm ; electronic, magnetic and thermodynamic properties have been studied using first principle theory. Electronic properties, i.e. spin-polarized electron dispersion curves (band structure) and density of state calculations show that ( Dy/Ho/Er/Tm ) 2 Cu 2 Cd compounds are metallic with dominant character of Dy-f spin down channels. Whereas magnetic and electron spin-polarization calculations show that studied materials behave like metallic ferromagnet having nearly fully spin-polarized characteristics. The effect of temperature on bulk modulus, B , volume of unit cell, V , entropy, S and specific heat, C v has also been studied using quasi-harmonic Debye model.