We re-examine the commonly used density functional theory plus Hubbard \textit{ U} (DFT$+U$) method for the case of non-collinear magnets. While many studies neglect to explicitly include the exchange correction parameter \textit{ J}, or consider its exact value to be unimportant, here we show that in the case of non-collinear magnetism calculations the \textit{ J} parameter can strongly affect the magnetic ground state. We illustrate the strong \textit{ J}-dependence of magnetic canting and magnetocrystalline anisotropy by calculating trends in the magnetic lithium orthophosphate family LiMPO$_4$ (M = Fe and Ni) and difluorite family MF$_2$ (M = Mn, Fe, Co and Ni). Our results can be readily understood by expanding the usual DFT$+U$ equations within the spinor scheme, in which the \textit{ J} parameter acts directly on the off-diagonal components which determine the spin canting.
Categories: cond-mat.str-el cond-mat.other