Electrical resistivity of the Ti\mathsf{_4}O\mathsf{_7} Magneli phase under high pressure

The electronic and positronic properties of the pentanary semiconductor alloys Ga_xIn_1-xP_ySb_zAs_1-y-z lattice matched to GaSb have been studied. The electron wave function is calculated semiempirically using the pseudopotential band model under the virtual crystal approximation. The positron wave function is evaluated under the point core approximation for the ionic potential. Electronic and positronic quantities namely, electronic structure and band gaps, positron band structure, effective mass and affinity, and electron-positron momentum densities have been predicted and their dependence on the phosphorus composition has been discussed. Received 30 August 2002 / Received in final form 12 February 2003 Published online 24 April 2003     

Atomic disorder and magnetism in Fe2TiSn alloy

An effect of local atomic disorder on the electronic structure and magnetic moments in Fe₂TiSn is studied. The band structure is calculated by the spin-polarised tight-binding linearised muffin tin orbital (TB LMTO). We found that the Fe₂TiSn alloy in which Fe occupy two FCC sublattices in L2₁-type structure is paramagnetic. The substitution of Fe atoms onto titanium or tin positions leads to an increase of the magnetic moment.     

FP-LMTO method to calculate the structural,thermodynamic and optoelectronic properties of SixGe1−xC alloys

The structural and electronic properties of the ternary Si_xGe_1?xC alloys have been calculated using the full-potential linear muffin-tin-orbital (FP-LMTO) method based on density functional theory within both local density approximation (LDA) and generalised gradient approximation (GGA). The calculated equilibrium lattice constants and bulk moduli are compared with previous results. The concentration dependence of the electronic band structure and the direct and indirect band gaps are investigated. Using the approach of Zunger and co-workers, the microscopic origins of the band gap bowing are investigated also. Moreover, the refractive index and the optical dielectric constant for Si_xGe_1?xC are studied. The thermodynamic stability of the alloys of interest is investigated by means of the miscibility. This is the first quantitative theoretical prediction to investigate the effective masses, optical and thermodynamic properties for Si_xGe_1?xC alloy, and still awaits experimental confirmations.     

Structural investigation of Si0.5Ge0.5 alloy for optoelectronic applications: Ab initio study

The structural, electronic and optical properties of the binary silicon–germanium alloy have been investigated using the projector augmented-wave (PAW) calculations with a powerful VASP package (Vienna ab initio simulation package). The structural properties of Si_0.5Ge_0.5 alloy have been calculated using total energy calculations and compared with our empirical model of bulk modulus. The electronic band structure and density of state of Si_0.5Ge_0.5 alloy show that the conduction band minimum (CBM) is located at the X point and the valence band maximum (VBM) is located at the Г point, resulting in indirect (Г–X) energy band gap of 0.48 eV. The results of the refractive index and optical dielectric constant of Si_0.5Ge_0.5 alloy are also obtained. The PAW's results are in good agreement with experimental, theoretical and our model results.     

First-principles study of optical properties in Ca-doped ZnO alloys

Various electronic and optical properties of Zn_1?x Ca _x O ternary alloys of wurtzite structure are calculated using a first-principles approach based on the framework of the generalized gradient approximation to density-functional theory. In particular, on-site Coulomb interactions are introduced, which can reasonably well predict the electronic properties and band gaps of the Zn_1?x Ca _x O (0??x??0.25) system. The imaginary part of the calculated dielectric function indicates that the optical transition between O 2p states in the valence band and Zn 4s states in the conduction band shifts to the high-energy range as the Ca concentration increases. The calculated band gap shows a significant increase with increasing Ca concentration. Therefore, Zn_1?x Ca _x O ternary alloys may be a potential candidate alloy for optoelectronic materials, and especially for light-emitters and detectors.     

The valence band structure of V−Mo solid solutions

The electronic structure of V _x Mo_1–x (x=0.2; 0.4; 0.6; 0.75) solid solutions was studied by XPS and UPS. The density of states at the Fermi energy,N(E _F), deduced from these measurements, shows a minimum as a function of the alloy concentration on the Mo rich side. This behaviour can be explained by band structure calculations and is in good agreement with previous NMR measurements. The relation between the electronic structure at the Fermi level and the superconducting properties is discussed. The band structure of the Mo rich alloys can be understood in terms of a rigid band model.     

GexSi1-x合金中的键长及其对电子能带结构的影响

采用经验紧束缚理论，以类似闪锌矿结构的晶体模型模拟Ge_xSi_1-x合金，根据总能最小原则计算了Ge_xSi_1-x合金中的键长及点阵常数．同时以紧束缚方法计算了原子位置发生弛豫前后的电子能带结构，并与虚晶近似下的计算结果进行了比较．计算结果表明，Ge_xSi_1-x合金中的键长基本上与合金组分无关，各自接近于Ｇｅ，Ｓｉ晶体中的键长，与广延ｘ射线吸收精细结构（ＥＸＡＦＳ）测量结果符合得 关键词：     

Evolution of the d∥ band across the metal-insulator transition in VO2

We studied the evolution of the electronic structure of VO₂ across the metal-insulator transition. The electronic structure was calculated using the standard TB-LMTO-ASA method. The calculated DOS was compared to previous photoemission and X-ray absorption spectra. The electronic structure is discussed in terms of the usual molecular-orbital scheme. In the metallic phase, the d_∥ band appears at the bottom of the V 3d bands and crosses the Fermi level. In the insulating phase, the d_∥ band is split around 2 eV opening a pseudo band gap at the Fermi level. The largest effect of the splitting appears in the unoccupied part of the d_∥ band. The calculated value of the splitting accounts for 77% of the experimental value, 2.6 eV. The results suggest that electron-lattice interaction seems to be the dominant factor in the splitting of the d_∥ band.     

Effect of pressure on the energy band gaps of wurtzite GaN and AlN and electronic properties of their ternary alloys AlxGa1−xN

Using the Empirical Pseudopotential Method (EPM) combined with an improved Virtual Crystal Approximation (VCA), where the effect of compositional disorder is included as an effective periodic potential, we have calculated the electronic band structure of GaN and AlN under hydrostatic pressure up to 200 kbar and 160 kbar, respectively. The behavior of electronic properties of their alloys Al_xGa_1−xN in the wurtzite structure have been predicted at zero pressure, for the entire range of alloy concentrations.     

Predicted electronic and structural properties of BxIn1−xAs

Structural and electronic properties of the B_xIn_1−xAs ternary alloy are studied using the tight binding method. The optical band gap bowing is calculated for the first time in the full range of Boron composition x. It is found to be strong. A small deviation from virtual crystal approximation is found for the bond length. New results on elastic constants are reported. The obtained results are in good agreement with the available data in the literature.     

First principles study of the electronic and optical properties of SbTaO4

The electronic density of states (DOS), band structure and optical properties of orthorhombic SbTaO₄ are studied by first principles full potential-linearized augmented plane wave (FP-LAPW) method. The calculation is done in the framework of density functional theory with the exchange and correlation effects treated using generalized gradient approximation (GGA). We find an indirect band gap of 1.9 eV at the R→Γ symmetry direction of the Brillouin zone in SbTaO₄. It is observed that there is a strong hybridization between Ta-5d and O-2p electronic states which is responsible for the electronic properties of the system. Using the projected DOS and band structure we have analyzed the interband contribution to the optical properties of SbTaO₄. The real and imaginary parts of the dielectric function of SbTaO₄ are calculated, which correspond to electronic transitions from the valence band to the conduction band. The band gap obtained is in close agreement with the experimental data.     

Structural and electronic properties of InNxP1-x alloy in full range (0 ≤ x ≤1)

We have performed first-principles method to investigate structural and electronic properties of InN_xP_1?x ternary semiconductor alloy in full range (0 ≤ x ≤ 1) using density functional theory. We have used modified Becke–Johnson potential to obtain accurate band gap results. From the electronic band structure calculation we have found that InN_xP_1?x become metal between 47 and 80% of nitrogen concentration. Additional to our band gap calculations, we have also used the band anticrossing model. The band anticrossing model supplies a simple, analytical expression to calculate the physical properties, such as the electronic and optical properties, of III-N_xV_1?x alloys. The knowledge of the electron density of states is required to understand and clarify some properties of materials such as the band structures, bonding character and dielectric function. In order to have a deeper understanding of these properties of the studied materials, the total and partial density of states has been calculated. Finally, we have calculated the total bowing parameter b of studied alloys, together with three contributions b_VD, b_CE, and b_SR due to volume deformation, different atomic electron negativities and structural relaxation, respectively.     

Electro-optic and electroreflectance effects in perovskite-type crystals

A model is presented which relates the electro-optic (E-O) and electroreflectance properties of ABO₃ perovskite-type crystals to their electronic energy band structure. These properties are assumed to result from electric-field-induced ionic displacements within each unit cell. SrTiO₃ was selected as the model perovskite and the band structure was calculated using LCAO parameters. LCAO momentum matrix elements were used to derive the optical excitation spectrum ?₂(ω). Field-induced changes in the Madelung potentials are found to dominate overlap effects. The E-O effects are insensitive to detailed relative ionic displacements and effective charges, but are characterized by the sum of the products of these quantities, namely the polarization. The results are compared with E-O, reflectance, and electroreflectance experiments.     

Electronic structure and optical properties of CdSexTe1−x mixed crystals

The band structure and optical properties of the CdSe_xTe_1−x ternary mixed crystals have been studied using the pseudopotential formalism under an improved virtual crystal approximation approach. Quantities such as, energy gaps, band-gap bowing parameters, electron effective mass and dielectric constants are calculated. Our results agree well with the available data in the literature. The composition dependence of all studied quantities has been expressed by quadratic polynomial forms.     

Electronic structure and magnetism in full-Heusler compound Mn2ZnGe

The first-principle calculations within density functional theory are used to investigate the electronic structure and magnetism of the Mn₂ZnGe Heusler alloy with CuHg₂Ti-type structure. The half-metallic ferrimagnets (HMFs) in Mn₂ZnGe are predicted. The energy gap lies in the minority-spin band for the Mn₂ZnGe alloy. The calculated total spin magnetic moment is −2μ_B per unit cell for Mn₂ZnGe alloy, the magnetic moments of Zn and Mn(B) are antiparallel to that of Mn(A), and we also found that the half-metallic properties of Mn₂ZnGe are insensitive to the dependence of lattice within the wide range of 5.69 and 5.80 Å where exhibiting perfect 100% spin polarization at the Fermi energy.     

Effect of nitrogen concentration on the electronic and vibrational properties of zinc-blende InNxP1-x(x < 0.01)

Taking into account the recent advances in the epitaxial growth of single-crystal InN leading to a drastic re-evaluation of its fundamental energy band gap, we have studied the electronic properties of InN_xP_1-x (x < 0.01) ternary alloy. Using the empirical pseudopotential method under the virtual crystal approximation, combined with the Harrison bond orbital model, the band gap at Γ, X and L points, the effective masses of the Γ valley and the electronic charge densities are calculated as a function of nitrogen composition. The fitted expressions of the energy band gaps indicate that the bowing parameter at Γ reached a broad value for very low nitrogen incorporation ( ). Furthermore, the band gap at Γ point decreases drastically with increasing nitrogen composition up to 1%. The elastic constants and the optical phonon frequencies are also reported. Our theoretical results provide a good agreement with the available data.     

ESCA determination of the electronic structure of PtCu alloys

A systematic series of ESCA measurements in Pt_1?xCu_x manifest observable shifts for only the Cu core levels. These shifts are linearly related to the corresponding centroids of the valence band spectra. Physical arguments permit extraction of electronic valence structure changes induced by alloying from the measured quantities. Changes in Fermi energy are not related to differences in work function. The Pt valence structure appears unchanged and the Cu structure exhibits dehybridization. There is little charge transfer.     

First-principles study on the electronic and optical properties of SnxGe1 − x

The electronic and optical properties of the direct band gap alloys Sn_xGe_1 − x (x = 0.000, 0.042, 0.083, 0.125, 0.167, and 0.208) have been studied by using the generalized gradient approximation in the framework of the density functional theory. The calculated lattice constants obey Vergard's law. The band structures show that the alloys have direct band gap and the band gaps can be tunable by Sn contents. The optical properties of the Sn_xGe_1 − x alloys with the physical quantities such as the complex dielectric function, the energy-loss function and the static dielectric constant, respectively, are shown to support the potential application of infrared devices in the future.     

A first-principles study of the electronic structure of the sulvanite compounds

We have investigated by means of first-principles total energy calculations the electronic structure of the sulvanite compounds: Cu₃VS₄, Cu₃NbS₄ and Cu₃TaS₄; the later is a possible candidate as a p-type transparent conductor with potential applications in solar cells and electrochromic devices. The calculated electronic structure shows that these compounds are indirect band gap semiconductors, with the valence band maximum located at the R-point and the conduction band minimum located at the X-point. The character of the valence band maximum is dominated by Cu d-states and the character of the conduction band minimum is due to the d-states of the group five elements. From the calculated charge density and electron localisation function we can conclude that the sulvanite compounds are polar covalent semiconductors.     

The stabilities, electronic structures and elastic properties of Rbben As systems

The structural, electronic and elastic properties of Rb-As systems (RbAs in NaP, LiAs and AuCu structures, RbAs₂ in the MgCu₂ structure, Rb₃As in Na₃As, Cu₃P and Li₃Bi structures, and Rb₅As₄ in the A₅B₄ structure) are investigated with the generalized gradient approximation in the frame of density functional theory. The lattice parameters, cohesive energies, formation energies, bulk moduli and the first derivatives of the bulk moduli (to fit Murnaghan's equation of state) of the considered structures are calculated and reasonable agreement is obtained. In addition, the phase transition pressures are also predicted. The electronic band structures, the partial densities of states corresponding to the band structures and the charge density distributions are presented and analysed. The second-order elastic constants based on the stress-strain method and other related quantities such as Young's modulus, the shear modulus, Poisson's ratio, sound velocities, the Debye temperature and shear anisotropy factors are also estimated.