Stable atomic structure and magnetism of Pt–Cr binary surface alloys on Pt(0 0 1): First-principle calculations

Abstract The possibility of Pt–Cr surface alloys formation on Pt(0 0 1) was investigated and their magnetism was calculated by the full-potential linearized augmented plane wave (FLAPW) method with eight different atomic configurations. The most stable structure was calculated to be the Pt-segregated L1 2 ferromagnetic surface alloy. A 3 B types (L1 2 or D0 22 ) were more stable compared to AB types (L1 0 ). It implies that the A 3 B type surface alloys may be formed when depositing a monolayer of Cr on Pt(0 0 1). It was found from the total energy calculations that there exists a strong tendency of the Pt segregation. The segregation further stabilizes the surface alloy significantly. The work function of the most stable surface alloy was calculated to be 6.02 eV and the magnetic moment of the surface Cr was much enhanced to 3.3 μ B . It is a quite interesting finding that the coupling between Cr and Pt atoms on the surface plane is ferromagnetic in the Pt-segregated L1 2 ferromagnetic surface alloy, while the coupling is antiferromagnetic in the bulk.