Uranium monocarbide, a potential fuel material for the generation IV reactors, is investigated within density functional theory. Its electronic, magnetic, elastic, and phonon properties are analyzed and discussed in terms of spin-orbit interaction and localized versus itinerant behavior of the $5f$ electrons. The localization of the $5f$ states is tuned by varying the local Coulomb repulsion interaction parameter. We demonstrate that the theoretical electronic structure, elastic constants, phonon dispersions, and their densities of states can reproduce accurately the results of x-ray photoemission and bremsstrahlung isochromat measurements as well as inelastic neutron scattering experiments only when the $5f$ states experience the spin-orbit interaction and simultaneously remain partially localized. The partial localization of the $5f$ electrons could be represented by a moderate value of the on-site Coulomb interaction parameter of about 2 eV. The results of the present studies indicate that both strong electron correlations and spin-orbit effects are crucial for realistic theoretical description of the ground-state properties of uranium carbide.

• Received 7 April 2016
• Revised 24 May 2016

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.94.054303