Phonons in random alloys: the itinerant coherent-potential approximation

We report the development and application of a new method for carrying out computational investigations of the effects of mass and force-constant (FC) disorder on phonon spectra. The method is based on the recently developed typical medium dynamical cluster approach (TMDCA), which is a Green's function approach. Excellent quantitative agreement with previous exact diagonalization results establishes the veracity of the method. Application of the method to a model system of bi...

The standard theoretical understanding of the lattice thermal conductivity, $\kappa_{\ell}$, of semiconductor alloys assumes that mass disorder is the most important source of phonon scattering. In contrast, we show that the hitherto neglected contribution of force-constant (IFC) disorder is essential to accurately predict the $\kappa_{\ell}$ of those polar compounds characterized by a complex atomic-scale structure. We have developed an \emph{ab initio} method based on speci...

We present here a formulation for the calculation of the configuration averaged lattice thermal conductivity in random alloys. Our formulation is based on the augmented-space theorem, introduced by one of us, combined with a generalized diagrammatic technique. The diagrammatic approach simplifies the problem of including effects of disorder corrections to a great extent. The approach allows us to obtain an expression for the effective heat current in case of disordered alloys...

We present an ab-initio formalism for the calculation of transport properties in compositionally disordered systems within the framework of the Korringa-Kohn-Rostoker non-local coherent potential approximation. Our formalism is based upon the single-particle Kubo-Greenwood linear response and provides a natural means of incorporating the effects of short-range order upon the transport properties. We demonstrate the efficacy of the formalism by examining the effects of short-r...

Numerical calculations of lattice thermal conductivity are reported for the binary alloys NiPd and NiPt. The present work is a continuation of an earlier paper by us [PRB, 72, 214207 (2005)]which had developed a theoretical framework for the calculation of configuration-averaged lattice thermal conductivity and thermal diffusivity in disordered alloys. The formulation was based on the augmented space theorem combined with a scattering diagram technique. In this paper we shall...

We demonstrate how supercell implementations of conventional lattice dynamical calculations can be used to determine the extent and nature of disorder-induced broadening in the phonon dispersion spectrum of disordered crystalline materials. The approach taken relies on band unfolding, and is first benchmarked against virtual crystal approximation phonon calculations. The different effects of mass and interaction disorder on the phonon broadening are then presented, focussing ...

We apply variational principles from statistical physics and the Landau theory of phase transitions to multicomponent alloys using the multiple-scattering theory of Korringa-Kohn-Rostoker (KKR) and the coherent potential approximation (CPA). This theory is a multicomponent generalization of the $S^{(2)}$ theory of binary alloys developed by G. M. Stocks, J. B. Staunton, D. D. Johnson and others. It is highly relevant to the chemical phase stability of high-entropy alloys as i...

The effect of disorder on lattice vibrational modes has been a topic of interest for several decades. In this work, we employ a Green's function based approach, namely the dynamical cluster approximation (DCA), to investigate phonons in mass disordered systems. Detailed benchmarks with previous exact calculations are used to validate the method in a wide parameter space. An extension of the method, namely the typical medium DCA (TMDCA), is used to study Anderson localization ...

A coherent description of the anomalous Hall effect (AHE) is presented that is applicable to pure as well as disordered alloy systems by treating all sources of the AHE on equal footing. This is achieved by an implementation of the Kubo-St\v{r}eda equation using the fully relativistic Korringa-Kohn-Rostoker (KKR) Green's function method in combination with the Coherent Potential Approximation (CPA) alloy theory. Applications to the pure elemental ferromagnets bcc-Fe and fcc-N...

The lattice dynamics of Cu3Au, Ni70Pt30, Pd90Fe10, and Pd96Fe04 intermetallic is studied using the DFT calculations. We calculated the phonon dispersions and phonon densities of states along two high symmetry paths of the Brillouin zone by Weighted Dynamical Matrix (WDM) approach. We also compared the results with the supercell approach and inelastic neutron scattering. Furthermore, we calculated the impact of mass and force-constant fluctuations on the Cu3Au and made a compa...