Influence of the local-spin-density correlation functional on the stability of bcc ferromagnetic iron

The influence of local-spin-dependent correlation effects on the predicted stable ground-state phase of iron is reexamined with use of general-potential linearized augmented-plane-wave calculations. Differences in the form of the Vosko-Wilk-Nusair (VWN) local-spin-density functional used in previous studies are noted, since in previous studies significant additional approximations were made with respect to those of Vosko, Wilk, and Nusan [Can. J. Phys. 58, 1200 (1980)] and of MacLaren, Clougherty, and Albers [Phys. Rev. B 42, 3205 (1990)]. While the results of previous linear muffin-tin orbital calculations using the VWN functional predict a bcc ferromagnetic ground state, the present calculations show that the VWN spin-correlation effects fail to stabilize a bcc ground state. Considerable sensitivity to the form of the spin interpolation is found.