The stability of rock salt structure cubic Cr1-xAlxN solid solutions at high Al content and high temperature has made it one of the most important materials systems for protective coating applications. We show that the strong electron correlations in a material with dynamic magnetic disorder is the underlying reason for the observed stability against isostructural decomposition. This is done by using the first-principles disordered local moments molecular dynamics technique, which allows us to simultaneously consider electronic, magnetic, and vibrational degrees of freedom.
Funding Agencies|Swedish Research Council (VR) Grant|621-2011-4417621-2010-3927621-2011-4426|European Research Council|227754|Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research (SSF) strategic Research Center MS2E|A3 05:192SRL10-0026|