Robust half-metallic ferromagnetism in zinc-blende CrSb

It is predicted with the accurate full-potential density-functional method that the zinc blende (ZB) CrSb phase is a robust half-metallic (HM) ferromagnet with a magnetic moment of $3.000{\mu }_B$ per formula. Its HM gap reaches 0.774 eV and persists to be nonzero even when it is compressed by $21\%.$ Because the ZB CrSb phase is the best of the three ZB phases that have yet been realized experimentally (and also the best of all ZB transition-metal pnictides) and compatible with the III-V semiconductors, its excellent HM ferromagnetism should be useful in spin electronics and other applications.