  We present an extended study of single impurity atoms and atomic swaps in
half-metallic CrAs, CrSb and CrSe zinc-blende compounds. Although the perfect
alloys present a rather large gap in the minority-spin band, all defects under
study, with the exception of void impurities at Cr and sp sites and Cr
impurities at sp sites (as long as no swap occurs), induce new states within
the gap. The Fermi level can be pinned within these new minority states
depending on the lattice constant used for the calculations and the
electronegativity of the sp atoms. Although these impurity states are localized
in space around the impurity atoms and very fast we regain the bulk behavior,
their interaction can lead to wide bands within the gap and thus loss of the
half-metallic character.
