Gradient-level and nonlocal density functional descriptions of Cu-Au intermetallic compounds

We use three gradient level and two nonlocal density functional approximations to study the thermodynamic properties of Cu-Au compounds. It is found that a well-designed gradient level approximation (quasi non-uniform approximation, QNA) reproduces the experimental equilibrium volumes and the formation energies of L12 and L10 phases. On the other hand, QNA predicts a non-existent β 2 phase, which can be remedied only when employing the nonlocal hybrid-level Heyd-Scuseria-Ernzerhof (HSE06) or Perdew-Burke-Ernzerhof (PBE0) approximations. Gradient-level approximations lead to similar electronic structures for the Cu-Au compounds whereas hybrids shift the d -band towards negative energies and account for the complex d - d hybridization more accurately.