Effect of doping on electronic properties of double-walled carbon and boron nitride hetero-nanotubes

The effect of boron nitride (BN) doping on electronic properties of armchair double-walled carbon and hetero-nanotubes is studied using ab initio molecular dynamics method. The armchair double-walled hetero-nanotubes are predicted to be semiconductor and their electronic structures depend strongly on the electronic properties of the single-walled carbon nanotube. It is found that electronic structures of BN-doped double-walled hetero-nanotubes are intermediate between those of double-walled boron nitride nanotubes and double-walled carbon and boron nitride hetero-nanotubes. Increasing the amount of doping leads to a stronger intertube interaction and also increases the energy gap.     

Optical transitions in single-wall boron nitride nanotubes

Optical transitions in single-wall boron nitride nanotubes are investigated by means of optical absorption spectroscopy. Three absorption lines are observed. Two of them (at 4.45 and 5.5 eV) result from the quantification involved by the rolling up of the hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) sheet. The nature of these lines is discussed, and two interpretations are proposed. A comparison with single-wall carbon nanotubes leads one to interpret these lines as transitions between pairs of van Hove singularities in the one-dimensional density of states of boron nitride single-wall nanotubes. But the confinement energy due to the rolling up of the h-BN sheet cannot explain a gap width of the boron nitride nanotubes below the h-BN gap. The low energy line is then attributed to the existence of a Frenkel exciton with a binding energy in the 1 eV range.     

Electronic structure of boron nitride nanostructures doped with a carbon atom

We have investigated, using first-principles calculations, the role of a substitutional carbon atom on the electronic properties of boron nitride monolayers, nanotubes, and nanocones. It is shown that electron states in the energy-gap are independent of the curvature, being the same for the monolayer, for the cone and for the tube. It is also found, that the presence of carbon in the boron nitride compounds induces a spin polarization, with magnetic moment of 1.0 μ_B, which does not depend on the curvature.     

高温高压下立方氮化硼和六方氮化硼的结构、力学、热力学、电学以及光学性质的第一性原理研究

本文采用基于密度泛函理论的第一性原理平面波赝势和局域密度近似方法,优化了立方和六方氮化硼的几何结构,系统地研究了零温高压下立方和六方氮化硼的几何结构、力学、电学以及光学性质.结构与力学性质研究表明:立方氮化硼的结构更加稳定,两种结构的氮化硼均表现出一定的脆性,而六方氮化硼的热稳定性则相对较差;电学性质研究表明:立方氮化硼和六方氮化硼均为间接带隙半导体,且立方氮化硼比六方氮化硼局域性更强;光学性质结果显示:立方氮化硼和六方氮化硼对入射光的通过性都很好,在高能区立方氮化硼对入射光的表现更加敏感.此外,还研究了高温高压下立方氮化硼的热力学性质,并得到其热膨胀系数、热容、德拜温度和格林艾森系数随温度和压力的变化关系.本文的理论研究阐述了高压下立方氮化硼和六方氮化硼的相关性质,为今后的实验研究提供了比较可靠的理论依据.     

Carbon dioxide detection by boron nitride nanotubes

The effect of gas molecule adsorption is investigated on the density of states of (9,0) zigzag boron nitride nanotube within a random tight-binding Hamiltonian model. The Green function approach and coherent potential approximation have been implemented. The results show that the adsorption of carbon dioxide gas molecules by boron atoms only leads to a donor type semiconductor while the adsorption by nitrogen atoms only leads to an acceptor. Since the gas molecules are adsorbed by both boron and nitrogen atoms, a reduction of the band gap is found. In all cases, increasing the gas concentration causes an increase in the height of the peaks in the band gap. This is due to an increasing charge carrier concentration induced by adsorbed gas molecules.     

轴压和扭转复合载荷作用下氮化硼纳米管屈曲行为的分子动力学模拟

采用分子动力学方法模拟了氮化硼纳米管在轴压和扭转复合荷载作用下的屈曲和后屈曲行为.在各加载比例下,给出了初始线性变形阶段和后屈曲阶段原子间相互作用力的变化,确定了屈曲临界荷载关系.通过对屈曲模态的细致研究,从微观变形机理上分析了纳米管对不同外荷载力学响应的差异.研究结果表明,扶手型和锯齿型纳米管均呈现出非线性的屈曲临界荷载关系,复合加载下的屈曲行为具有强烈的尺寸依赖性.温度升高将导致屈曲临界荷载的下降,且温度的影响随加载比例的变化而变化.无论在简单加载或复合加载中,同尺寸的碳纳米管均比氮化硼纳米管具有更强地抵抗屈曲荷载的能力.     

Hydrogen storage in boron nitride and carbon clusters studied by molecular orbital calculations

Possibility of hydrogen gas storage in carbon (C) and boron nitride (BN) clusters was investigated by molecular orbital calculations. Chemisorption calculation was carried out for C₆₀, B₂₄N₂₄ and B₃₆N₃₆ with changing position of hydrogen atom to compare the bonding energy at carbon, nitrogen and boron, tetragonal and hexagonal rings. Chemisorption calculation of hydrogen for BN clusters showed that hydrogen bondings with nitrogen atoms and tetragonal rings were the most stable. Stability of H₂ molecules inside BN and C clusters was also investigated by molecular orbital calculations. C and BN clusters showed possibility of hydrogen storage of 6.5 and 4.9 wt%, respectively.     

Pulsed laser deposition of hexagonal and cubic boron nitride films

Hexagonal and cubic boron nitride films are deposited by pulsed laser ablation from a boron nitride and a boron target using a KrF excimer laser. Hexagonal films are deposited in nitrogen as background gas or with nitrogen/argon ion bombardment at ion-to-arriving-target-atom (I/A) ratios at the substrate below 0.5. Nucleation of the cubic phase takes place exclusively with ion bombardment at I/A ratios above 1.0, which may be reduced down to 0.6 after the completion of the nucleation process. The influence of the parameters of the laser and ion beams on the properties of the hexagonal films are presented. The Vickers microhardness and the intrinsic stress of those films vary in wide ranges of 5 to 25 GPa and 1 to 16 GPa, respectively. Pulsed laser deposited hexagonal boron nitride films show good adhesion to silicon and stainless steel if they are deposited at I/A ratios below 0.5, and can be used as intermediate layers for improving the adhesion of cubic boron nitride films. So far, 0.5 7m thick, nearly phase-pure cubic boron nitride films with good adhesion have been deposited. The microstructural, mechanical, and optical properties of those layer systems are presented and discussed.     

Modeling of electronic density of states for single-wall carbon and boron nitride nanotubes

The electronic density of states is calculated for all possible geometric configurations of single-wall carbon and boron nitride nanotubes. The calculation is based on the numerical differentiation of the two-dimensional dispersion relations for graphite and hexagonal boron nitride. The differentiation is performed for all allowed values of the wave vector using the π-electron approximation. For the particular carbon nanotubes chosen as examples, a good agreement is demonstrated between the calculated values of energy spacing of the symmetric van Hove singularities in the density of states and the experimental data obtained from the resonance Raman scattering study.     

Electronic band structure and x-ray spectra of boron nitride polytypes

The electronic band structures of boron nitride crystal modifications of the graphite (h-BN), wurtzite (w-BN), and sphalerite (c-BN) types are calculated using the local coherent potential method in the cluster muffin-tin approximation within the framework of the multiple scattering theory. The specific features of the electronic band structure of 2H, 4H, and 3C boron nitride polytypes are compared with those of experimental x-ray photoelectron, x-ray emission, and K x-ray absorption spectra of boron and nitrogen. The features of the experimental x-ray spectra of boron nitride in different crystal modifications are interpreted. It is demonstrated that the short-wavelength peak revealed in the total densities of states (TDOS) in the boron nitride polytypes under consideration can be assigned to the so-called outer collective band formed by 2p electrons of boron and nitrogen atoms. The inference is made that the decrease observed in the band gap when changing over from wurtzite and sphalerite to hexagonal boron nitride is associated with the change in the coordination number of the components, which, in turn, leads to a change in the energy location of the conduction band bottom in the crystal.     

Deep levels of nitrogen vacancy complexes in graphite-like boron nitride

This paper presents the results of a theoretical study of deep nitrogen vacancy levels and of small clusters of nitrogen di-and trivacancies, including the nearest neighbor defects in one layer of graphite-like boron nitride, made using the model-pseudopotential and supercell methods. The calculated spectra and oscillator strengths were used to interpret the local bands of optical absorption, luminescence, and photoconductivity in pyrolytic boron nitride before and after irradiation by fast neutrons, protons, and carbon ions (50–150 keV). The shallow activation levels of thermally stimulated luminescence and conductivity existing before and arising after irradiation were identified.     

并苯纳米环[6]CA及其衍生物的电子结构和光物理性质的密度泛函理论研究

采用密度泛函理论PBE0方法在6-31G(d, p) 基组水平上对比研究并六苯纳米环[6]CA及BN取代纳米环[6]CA-BN的几何结构及电子性质. 同时探讨锂离子掺杂对不同体系的芳香性、前线分子轨道、电子吸收光谱及传输性质的影响. 通过电离势、亲合势及重组能的计算, 预测纳米环体系得失电子的能力及传输性能. 结果表明:[6]CA的能隙很小, BN取代后, 能隙明显增大; 锂离子掺杂到两种纳米环中, 在不明显改变前线分子轨道分布的前提下, 几乎同步降低了最高占据轨道、 最低未占据轨道能级, 锂离子掺杂使载流子传输性能得到很大改善; 电子吸收光谱拟合发现, BN取代使吸收光谱很大程度蓝移, 吸收强度明显减小; 而锂离子掺杂对光谱的强度及吸收范围没有明显影响. 关键词： 碳纳米环 硼氮纳米环 锂离子掺杂 密度泛函理论     

无序双层六角氮化硼量子薄膜的电子性质

基于安德森紧束缚模型,本文研究了无序双层六角氮化硼量子薄膜的电子性质. 数值计算结果表明在双层都无序掺杂的情况下,六角氮化硼量子薄膜的电子是局域的, 其表现为绝缘体性质;而对于单层掺杂(无论是氮原子还是硼原子)的双层六角氮化硼量子薄膜, 在能谱的带尾出现了持续的迁移率边.这就说明在单层掺杂的双层六角氮化硼量子薄膜中产生了 金属绝缘体转变.这一结果证实了有序-无序分区掺杂的理论模型,为理解及调控双层六角氮化硼量子薄膜 的电子性质提供了有益的理论指导.     

立方氮化硼薄膜生长过程中的界面控制

在立方氮化硼薄膜气相生长过程中生成的无定形初期层和乱层结构氮化硼中间层，一直是阻碍立方氮化硼薄膜外延生长的主要原因.系统地分析了硅衬底预处理对立方氮化硼薄膜中无定形初期层成分的影响，发现在等离子体化学气相生长法制备薄膜时，硅衬底上形成无定形初期层的可能原因有氧的存在、离子轰击以及高温下硅的氮化物的形成.在H₂气氛中1200K热处理硅衬底可以有效地减少真空室中残留氧浓度，除去硅表面的自然氧化层，保持硅衬底表面晶体结构.控制衬底温度不超过900 K，就能防止硅的氮化物的形成，成功地除去无 关键词： 立方氮化硼薄膜 等离子体化学气相生长 界面 电子显微镜     

A modified Stillinger–Weber empirical potential for boron nitride

We have proposed the parameters of the Stillinger–Weber potential for boron nitride. The structural properties and the elastic constant of boron nitride have been investigated using molecular-dynamics simulation. The thermodynamics properties, such as thermal expansion coefficient and specific heat, have also been calculated. These results are in agreement with other theoretical data and experiments. This shows the availability of this potential to investigate physical properties of boron nitride.     

Preparation of boron carbon nitride thin films by radio frequency magnetron sputtering

Boron carbon nitride films were deposited by radio frequency magnetron sputtering using a composite target consisting of h-BN and graphite in an Ar-N₂ gas mixture. The samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The results suggest that the films are atomic-level hybrids composed of B, C and N atoms. The boron carbon nitride films prepared in the present experiment have a disordered structure. The sputtering power varied from 80 W to 130 W. This sputtering power was shown to have regular effect on the composition of boron carbon nitride films. The samples deposited at 80 W and 130 W are close to the stoichiometry of BC₃N. The sample deposited at 110 W is close to the stoichiometry of BCN. The samples deposited at 100 W and 120 W approach to BC₂N. It is very significant for us to synthesize boron carbon nitride compound with controllable composition by changing the sputtering power.     

Electromechanical buckling analysis of boron nitride nanotube using molecular dynamic simulation

In this paper, the effect of electric field on axial buckling of boron nitride nanotubes is investigated. For this purpose, molecular dynamics simulation and continuum mechanics are used for the first time simultaneously. In molecular dynamics simulation, the potential between boron nitride atoms is considered as Tersoff and Timoshenko beam theory is used in continuum mechanics. In this paper, buckling of zigzag and armchair boron nitride nanotubes are investigated. Here, the effects of the electric field and the length of the boron nitride nanotube on the critical load are investigated and it is shown that the effect of the electric field is different with respect to the arrangement of atoms in the boron nitride nanotubes. In fact, the electric field creates axial and torsional loads on the zigzag and armchair nanotube, respectively. Axial buckling of the zigzag nanotube is dependent on the electric field, whereas in the armchair nanotubes, the electric field changes have no effect on the axial buckling. To better understand the impact of the electric field on axial buckling, these results are compared with the continuum mechanics.     

Energetics and structural properties of carbon and oxygen doped hexagonal boron nitride sheets

Energetics and structural properties of carbon and oxygen doped hexagonal boron nitride sheets have been investigated by performing density functional theory calculations. Substitutional doping model has been considered in the neutral charge state. C and O atoms replaced either B or N site in the system as impurities. A systematic study has been performed to see the effect of cell size on the calculated quantities, such as formation energy, relaxation energy, charge and bond length. It has been found that substitution of O atom on the N site in the hexagonal BN sheet is more favorable.     

Isotope effect on the thermal conductivity of boron nitride nanotubes

We have measured the temperature-dependent thermal conductivity kappa(T) of individual multiwall boron nitride nanotubes using a microfabricated test fixture that allows direct transmission electron microscopy characterization of the tube being measured. kappa(T) is exceptionally sensitive to isotopic substitution, with a 50% enhancement in kappa(T) resulting for boron nitride nanotubes with 99.5% 11B. For isotopically pure boron nitride nanotubes, kappa rivals that of carbon nanotubes of similar diameter.     

Effects of experimental parameters on composition of boron carbon nitride thin films deposited by magnetron sputtering

We have synthesized boron carbon nitride thin films by radio frequency magnetron sputtering. The films structure and composition were characterized by X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The results indicate that the three elements of B, C, N are chemically bonded with each other and atomic-level hybrids have been formed in the films. The boron carbon nitride films prepared in the present experiment possess a disordered structure. The influence of PN₂/PN₂+Ar, total pressure and substrate bias voltage on the composition of boron carbon nitride films is investigated. The atomic fraction of C atoms increases and the fractions of B, N decrease with the decrease of PN₂/PN₂+Ar from 75% to 0%. There is an optimum total pressure. That is to say, the atomic fractions of B, N reach a maximum and the fraction of C atoms reaches a minimum at the total pressure of 1.3 Pa. The boron carbon nitride films exhibit lower C content and higher B, N contents at lower bias voltages. And the boron carbon nitride films show higher C content and lower B, N contents at higher bias voltages.