Abstract
•Both compounds are optimized in stable ferromagnetic phase.•PBE-GGA and GGA+U are used to compute the band structures and density of state.•Spin orientations declare full metallic character in ThCo2X2 compound.•High magnetic moment for ThCo2Ge2 affirms strong ferromagnetism than ThCo2Si2.
Our study reveals first principles investigation of structural, electronic and magnetic properties of ThCo2X2 (X = Si, Ge) compound, by application of full-potential linearized augmented plane wave (FP-LAPW). The calculations for the structural determination of thorium compounds are obtained with the PBE-GGA potential to achieve theoretical reliability with available experimental results, while for the improvement of electronic and magnetic properties the GGA+U method is used. The compounds are optimized in a stable ferromagnetic phase which is more suitable for the examination of the magnetic properties as compared to paramagnetic and antiferromagnetic phases. The two potentials namely (PBE-GGA and GGA+U) are used to compute the band structures and density of state (DOS). The plotted band structures together with (DOS) through both spin channels declare full metallic character in the thorium based ThCo2X2 compound. A strong hybridization among Co-d and (X= Si, Ge)-p states in the valence band with Th-f state lies in the conduction band. Also, the achieved total magnetic moment for the ThCo2Ge2 compound affirms stronger ferromagnetism than the ThCo2Si2 compound.
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