Electronic structures of doped BaFe2As2 materials: virtual crystal approximation versussuper-cell approach

Using virtual crystal approximation and super-cell methods for doping, a detailedcomparative study of electronic structures of various doped BaFe₂As₂ materials by first principlessimulations is presented. Electronic structures remain unaltered for both the methods incase of passive site doping but in case of active site doping, the electronic structurefor virtual crystal approximation method differ from that of the super-cell methodspecially in the higher doping concentrations. For example, both of these methods giverise to a similar density of states and band structures in case of hole doping (replacingK in place of Ba) and isovalent P doping on As site. But in case of electron doped (Co inplace of Fe) systems with higher doping concentration, electronic structures calculatedusing virtual crystal approximation approach deviates from that of the super-cell method.On the other hand, in case of low isovalent Ru doping at the Fe site implemented byvirtual crystal approximation, one acquires an extra shift in the chemical potential incomparison to that for the super-cell method. This shift may be utilized to predict thecorrect electronic structure as well as the calculated Fermi surfaces within virtualcrystal approximation. But for higher Ru (that has different electronic configuration thanFe) doping concentration, simple shifting of chemical potential fails, the calculatedelectronic structure via virtual crystal approximation approach is very different fromthat by the super-cell formalism.