  The possibilities to induce magnetism in the non-magnetic bulk alpha-FeSi2 by
means of lattice distortions or intercalation with metal or non-metal ions of
light elements is investigated theoretically by combined ab initio and model
methods. We find that the distortions indeed can induce the formation of
magnetic moment on iron atoms in certain local environments; however, the
required strength of the distortions often is too large to be achieved in
experiments. For this reason we suggest using "chemical pressure" that is,
intercalating the alpha-FeSi2 films by light elements. We find that some of
such variants have promising characteristic.
