We derive a model tight-binding many-body $d$-electron Stoner Hamiltonian for FeCr binary alloys and investigate the sensitivity of its mean-field solutions to the choice of hopping integrals and the Stoner exchange parameters. By applying the local charge-neutrality condition within a self-consistent treatment we show that the negative enthalpy-of-mixing anomaly characterizing the alloy in the low chromium concentration limit is due entirely to the presence of the on-site exchange Stoner terms and that the occurrence of this anomaly is not specifically related to the choice of hopping integrals describing conventional chemical bonding between atoms in the alloy. The Bain transformation pathway computed, using the proposed model Hamiltonian, for the ${\text{Fe}}_{15}\text{Cr}$ alloy configuration is in excellent agreement with ab initio total-energy calculations. Our investigation also shows how the parameters of a tight-binding many-body model Hamiltonian for a magnetic alloy can be derived from the comparison of its mean-field solutions with other, more accurate, mean-field approximations (e.g., density-functional calculations), hence stimulating the development of large-scale computational algorithms for modeling radiation damage effects in magnetic alloys and steels.

• Received 1 December 2008

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.80.104440