Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 8, 2025

Atom Probe Tomography Studies on the CuIn,GaSe2 Grain Boundaries
Published on: April 22, 2013
Structural, electronic and magnetic properties of greigite Fe3S4by GGA and GGA+Uversus SCAN meta-GGA density
Adam Kiejna1, Karolina Kruk1, Tomasz Ossowski1
1Institute of Experimental Physics, University of Wrocław, Plac M. Borna 9, 50-204 Wrocław, Poland.
Abstract:
The performance of exchange-correlation functional of density functional theory represented in generalized gradient approximation (GGA) and in the strongly constrained and appropriately normed (SCAN) meta-GGA scheme to study structural, electronic, and magnetic properties of greigite (Fe3S4) was investigated. The effects of inclusion of strong electron correlations represented by on-site Hubbard correctionU, and nonlocality of the long-range van der Waals (vdW) interactions were also considered. Geometry optimization yielded the inverse spinel structure and lattice parameter of greigite in good agreement with experimental data. Calculated electronic structure revealed a half-metallic nature of the greigite bands for the applied functionals except for GGA, which predicts metallic behavior. Antiferromagnetic coupling of iron ions in tetrahedral and octahedral coordinations makes the overall crystal structure ferrimagnetic. In general the GGA+Uand SCAN show comparable performance in prediction physical properties of greigite. Inclusion of the vdW correction does not change the character of the bands.
Related Concept Videos
Colors and Magnetism
When atoms or molecules absorb light at the proper frequency, their electrons are excited to higher-energy orbitals. For many main group atoms and molecules, the absorbed photons are in the ultraviolet range of the electromagnetic spectrum, which cannot be detected by the human eye. For coordination compounds, the energy difference between the d orbitals often allows photons in the visible range to be absorbed and emitted, which is seen as colors by the human...
Crystal Field Theory - Tetrahedral and Square Planar Complexes
Crystal field theory (CFT) is applicable to molecules in geometries other than octahedral. In octahedral complexes, the lobes of the dx2−y2 and dz2 orbitals point directly at the ligands. For tetrahedral complexes, the d orbitals remain in place, but with only four ligands located between the axes. None of the orbitals points directly at the tetrahedral ligands. However, the dx2−y2 and dz2 orbitals (along the Cartesian axes) overlap with the ligands less than the dxy,...
Crystal Field Theory - Octahedral Complexes
To explain the observed behavior of transition metal complexes (such as colors), a model involving electrostatic interactions between the electrons from the ligands and the electrons in the unhybridized d orbitals of the central metal atom has been developed. This electrostatic model is crystal field theory (CFT). It helps to understand, interpret, and predict the colors, magnetic behavior, and some structures of coordination compounds of transition metals.
CFT focuses on...
Electronic Structure of Atoms
An atom comprises protons and neutrons, which are contained inside the dense, central core called the nucleus, with electrons present around the nucleus. Taking into account the wave–particle duality of electrons and the uncertainty in position around the nucleus, quantum mechanics provides a more accurate model for the atomic structure. It describes atomic orbitals as the regions around the nucleus where electrons of discrete energy exist, characterized by four quantum...
Trends in Lattice Energy: Ion Size and Charge
Valence Bond Theory

