Tuning interchain ferromagnetic instability in A2Cr3As3 ternary arsenides by chemical pressure and uniaxial strain

We analyze the effects of chemical pressure induced by alkali-metal substitution and uniaxial strain on magnetism in the A(2)Cr(3)As(3) (A=Na, K, Rb, and Cs) family of ternary arsenides with quasi-one-dimensional structure. Within the framework of the density functional theory, we predict that the nonmagnetic phase is very close to a three-dimensional collinear ferrimagnetic state, which realizes in the regime of moderate correlations, such tendency being common to all the members of the family with very small variations due to the different interchain ferromagnetic coupling. We uncover that the stability of such interchain ferromagnetic coupling has a nonmonotonic behavior with increasing the cation size, being critically related to the degree of structural distortions which is parametrized by the Cr-As-Cr bonding angles along the chain direction. In particular, we demonstrate that it is boosted in the case of the Rb, in agreement with recent experiments. We also show that uniaxial strain is a viable tool to tune the nonmagnetic phase towards an interchain ferromagnetic instability. The modification of the shape of the Cr triangles within the unit cell favors the formation of a net magnetization within the chain and of a ferromagnetic coupling among the chains. This study can provide relevant insights about the interplay between superconductivity and magnetism in this class of materials.