Hybrid density functional studies of cadmium vacancy in CdTe

The intrinsic defect of cadmium vacancy （Vcd） in cadmium telluride （CdTe） has been studied by first-principles cal- culations using potentials with both the screened hybrid functional of Heyd, Scuseria, and Ernzerhof （HSE） approximation and the generalized gradient approximation of the Perdew-Burke-Ernzerhof form （PBE-GGA）. Both results show that the Ta structure of the Vctl defect for different charges is the most stable structure as compared with the distorted C3v structure with one hole localized at one of the four nearest Te atoms. This indicates that the John-Teller distortion （C3v） structure may be unstable in bulk CdTe crystal. The reason likely lies in the delocalized resonance nature of the t2 state of the Vcd defect. Moreover, the formation energy obtained by the HSE method is about 0.6-0.8 eV larger than that obtained by the PBE method. The transition levels calculated by the PBE method and the HSE method are similar and well consistent with the experimental results.     

Structural, electronic, and optical properties of ZnOl_xSex alloys using first-principles calculations

The structural, electronic, and optical properties of binary ZnO, ZnSe compounds, and their ternary ZnOl_xSex alloys are computed using the accurate full potential linearized augmented plane wave plus local orbital （FP-LAPW ＋ lo） method in the rocksalt （B 1） and zincblende （B3） crystallographic phases. The electronic band structures, fundamental energy band gaps, and densities of states for ZnO1_xSex are evaluated in the range 0 〈 x 〈 1 using Wu-Cohen （WC） generalized gradient approximation （GGA） for the exchange-correlation potential. Our calculated results of lattice parameters and bulk modulus reveal a nonlinear variation for pseudo-binary and their ternary alloys in both phases and show a considerable deviation from Vegard＇s law. It is observed that the predicted lattice parameter and bulk modulus are in good agreement with the available experimental and theoretical data. We establish that the composition dependence of band gap is semi-metallic in B1 phase, while a direct band gap is observed in B3 phase. The calculated density of states is described by taking into account the contribution of Zn 3d, O 2p, and Se 4s, and the optical properties are studied in terms of dielectric functions, refractive index, reflectivity, and energy loss function for the B3 phase and are compared with the available experimental data.     

First-principles study of structural,electronic and optical properties of ZnF_2

The structural, electronic, and optical properties of rutile-, CaC12-, and PdF2-ZnF2 are calculated by the plane-wave pseudopotential method within the density functional theory. The calculated equilibrium lattice constants are in reasonable agreement with the available experimental and other calculated results. The band structures show that the rutile-, CaCl2-, and PdF2-ZnF2 are all direct band insulator. The band gaps are 3.63, 3.62, and 3.36 eV, respectively. The contribution of the different bands was analyzed by the density of states. The Mulliken population analysis is performed. A mixture of covalent and weak ionic chemical bonding exists in ZnF2. Furthermore, in order to understand the optical properties of ZnF2, the dielectric function, absorption coefficient, refractive index, electronic energy loss spectroscopy, and optical reflectivity are also performed in the energy range from 0 to 30 eV. It is found that the main absorption parts locate in the UV region for ZnF2. This is the first quantitative theoretical prediction of the electronic and optical properties of ZnF2 compound, and it still awaits experimental confirmation.     

Physical properties of FePt nanocomposite doped with Ag atoms:First-principles study

L10FePt nanocomposite with high magnetocrystalline anisotropy energy has been extensively investigated in the fields of ultra-high density magnetic recording media. However, the order–disorder transition temperature of the nanocomposite is higher than 600℃, which is a disadvantage for the use of the material due to the sustained growth of FePt grain under the temperature. To address the problem, addition of Ag atoms has been proposed, but the magnetic properties of the doped system are still unclear so far. Here in this paper, we use first-principles method to study the lattice parameters,formation energy, electronic structure, atomic magnetic moment and order–disorder transition temperature of L10FePt with Ag atom doping. The results show that the formation energy of a Ag atom substituting for a Pt site is 1.309 eV, which is lower than that of substituting for an Fe site 1.346 eV. The formation energy of substituting for the two nearest Pt sites is2.560 eV lower than that of substituting for the further sites 2.621 eV, which indicates that Ag dopants tend to segregate L10FePt. The special quasirandom structures(SQSs) for the pure FePt and the FePt doped with two Ag atoms at the stable Pt sites show that the order–disorder transition temperatures are 1377℃ and 600℃, respectively, suggesting that the transition temperature can be reduced with Ag atom, and therefore the FePt grain growth is suppressed. The saturation magnetizations of the pure FePt and the two Ag atoms doped FePt are 1083 emu/cc and 1062 emu/cc, respectively,indicating that the magnetic property of the doped system is almost unchanged.     

Ab-initio density functional theory study of a WO3 NHa-sensing mechanism

WO3 bulk and various surfaces are studied by an ab-initio density functional theory technique. The band structures and electronic density states of WO3 bulk are investigated. The surface energies of different WO3 surfaces are compared and then the （002） surface with minimum energy is computed for its NH3 sensing mechanism which explains the results in the experiments. Three adsorption sites are considered. According to the comparisons of the energy and the charge change between before and after adsorption in the optimal adsorption site Olc, the NH3 sensing mechanism is obtained.     

UV–visible spectral characterization and density functional theory simulation analysis on laser-induced crystallization of amorphous silicon thin films

The effect of laser energy density on the crystallization of hydrogenated intrinsic amorphous silicon （a-Si：H） thin films was studied both theoretically and experimentally. The thin films were irritated by a frequency-doubled （λ= 532 nm） Nd：YAG pulsed nanosecond laser. An effective density functional theory model was built to reveal the variation of bandgap energy influenced by thermal stress after laser irradiation. Experimental results establish correlation between the thermal stress and the shift of transverse optical peak in Raman spectroscopy and suggest that the relatively greater shift of the transverse optical （TO） peak can produce higher stress. The highest crystalline fraction （84.5%） is obtained in the optimized laser energy density （1000 mJ/cm2） with a considerable stress release. The absorption edge energy measured by the UV- visible spectra is in fairly good agreement with the bandgap energy in the density functional theory （DFT） simulation.     

Elastic and Thermodynamic Properties of CdSe from First-Principles Calculations

The lattice parameters, bulk modulus, phase transition pressure, and temperature dependencies of the elastic constants cij of CdSe are investigated by using the Cambridge Serial Total Energy Package （CASTEP） program in the frame of Density Functional Theory （DFT）. It is found that the phase transitions from the ZB structure to the RS structure and from WZ structure to RS structure are 2.2 GPa and 2.8 GPa, respectively. Our results agree well with the available experimental data and other theoretical results. The aggregate elastic modulus （B, G, E, A ）, the Poisson＇s ratio （v）, the Griuneisen parameter （γ）, the Debye temperature θD on pressure and temperature are also successfully obtained.     

Mechanical and thermodynamic properties of cubic YH_2 under high pressure:Prediction from first-principles study

First-principles calculations are used to investigate the mechanical and thermodynamic properties of cubic YH2 at different pressures and temperatures. The generalized gradient approximation （GGA） with Perdew-Burke-Ernzerhof （PBE） method is used to describe the exchange-correlation energy in the present work. The calculated equilibrium lattice constant a and bulk modulus B are in good accordance with the available experimental values. According to the Born-Huang criteria for mechanical stability, elastic constants are calculated from the strain-induced stress method in a pressure range from 0 to 67.1 GPa. Isotropic wave velocities and sound velocities are discussed in detail. It is found that the Debye temperature decreases monotonically with the increase of pressure and that YH2 has low anisotropy in both longitudinal and shear-wave velocities. The calculated elastic anisotropic factors indicate that YH2 has low anisotropy at zero pressure and that its elastic anisotropy increases as pressure increases. Through the quasi-harmonic Debye model, in which phononic effects are considered, the thermodynamic properties of YH2, such as the relations of （V-Vo）/Vo to the temperature and the pressure, the dependences of heat capacity Cv and thermal expansion coefficient a on temperature and pressure ranging from 0 to 2400 K and from 0 to 65 GPa, respectively, are also discussed.     

A density functional theory structures,stabilities, and study on size-dependent electronic properties of bimetallic MnAgm （M=Na,Li; n ＋ m ≤ 7） clusters

The equilibrium geometries, relative stabilities, and electronic properties of MnAgm（M=Na, Li; n ＋ m ≤ 7） as well as pure Agn, Nan, Lin （n ≤ 7） clusters are systematically investigated by means of the density functional theory. The optimized geometries reveal that for 2 ≤ n ≤ 7, there are significant similarities in geometry among pure Agn, Nan, and Lin clusters, and the transitions from planar to three-dimensional configurations occur at n = 7, 7, and 6, respectively. In contrast, the first three-dimensional （3D） structures are observed at n ＋ m = 5 for both NanAgm and LinAgm clusters. When n ＋ m ≥5, a striking feature is that the trigonal bipyramid becomes the main subunit of LinAgm. Furthermore, dramatic odd-even alternative behaviours are obtained in the fragmentation energies, secondorder difference energies, highest occupied and lowest unoccupied molecular orbital energy gaps, and chemical hardness for both pure and doped clusters. The analytic results exhibit that clusters with an even electronic configuration （2, 4, 6） possess the weakest chemical reactivity and more enhanced stability.     

Phonon dispersion relations and soft modes of 4 carbon nanotubes

The phonon dispersion relations of three kinds of 4 carbon nanotubes are calculated by using the density functional perturbation theory. It is found that the frequencies of some phonon modes are very sensitive to the smearing width used in the calculations, and eventually become negative at low electronic temperature. Moreover, two kinds of soft modes are identified for the (5,0) tube which are quite different from those reported previously. Our results suggest that the (5,0) tube remains metallic at very low temperature, instead of the metallic-semiconducting transition claimed before.     

Time-dependent density functional theoretical studies on the photo-induced dynamics of an HCI molecule encapsulated in C60 under femtosecond laser pulses

By using first-principles simulations based on time-dependent density functional theory, the chemical reaction of an HCl molecule encapsulated in C60 induced by femtosecond laser pulses is observed. The H atom starts to leave the Cl atom and is reflected by the C60 wall. The coherent nuclear dynamic behaviors of bond breakage and recombination of the HCl molecule occurring in both polarized parallel and perpendicular to the H-Cl bond axis are investigated. The radial oscillation is also found in the two polarization directions of the laser pulse. The relaxation time of the H-Cl bond lengths in transverse polarization is slow in comparison with that in longitudinal polarization. Those results are important for studying the dynamics of the chemical bond at an atomic level.     

Na decorated B6 cluster and its hydrogen storage properties

The structures and hydrogen storage properties of sodium atoms decorated B6 clusters are investigated by the B3LYP method with a 6-311＋G （d, p） basis set. For NamB6 （m = 1-3） clusters, Na atoms are always inclined to separate far enough from each other and not cluster together on a B6 cluster surface so that each Na atom has sufficient space to bind hydrogen molecules. The hydrogen storage gravimetric density of a two Na atoms decorated B6 cluster is 17.91 wt% with an adsorption energy per H2 molecule （AAE/H2） of 0.6851 kcal.mo1^-1. The appropriate AAE/H2 and preferable gravimetric density of the two Na atoms decorated B6 cluster complex indicate that it is feasible for hydrogen storage application in ambient conditions.     

First-principles study of the electronic structure and optical properties of cubic Perovskite NaMgF_3

The structural, electronic, and optical properties of cubic perovskite NaMgF3 are calculated by plane-wave pseudopo- tential density functional theory. The calculated lattice constant a0, bulk modulus B0, and the derivative of bulk modulus B~ are 3.872/~, 78.2 GPa, and 3.97, respectively. The results are in good agreement with the available experimental and theo- retical values. The electronic structure shows that cubic NaMgF3 is an indirect insulator with a wide forbidden band gap of Eg = 5.90 eV. The contribution of the different bands is analyzed by total and partial density of states curves. Population analysis of NaMgF3 indicates that there is strong ionic bonding in the MgF2 unit, and a mixture of ionic and weak covalent bonding in the NaF unit. Calculations of dielectric function, absorption coefficient, refractive index, electronic energy loss spectroscopy, optical reflectivity, and conductivity are also performed in the energy range 0 to 70 eV.     

Electronic structure of twinned ZnS nanowire

The electronic properties of twinned ZnS nanowires （NWs） with different diameters were investigated based on first-principles calculations. The energy band structures, projected density of states and the spatial distributions of the bottom of conduction band and the top of the valence band were presented. The results show that the twinned nanowires exhibit a semiconducting character and the band gap decreases with increasing nanowire diameter due to quantum confinement effects. The valence band maximum and conduction band minimum originate mainly from the S-p and Zn-s orbitals at the core of the nanowires, respectively, which was confirmed by their spatial charge density distribution. We also found that no heterostructure is formed in the twinned ZnS NWs since the valence band maximum and conduction band minimum states are distributed along the NW axis uniformly. We suggest that the hexagonal （2H） stacking inside the cubic （3C） stacking has no effect on the electronic properties of thin ZnS NWs.     

Structural,electronic and magnetic properties of the Mn-Ni(110) c(2×2) surface alloy

<正>Using first-principles total energy method,we study the structural,the electronic and the magnetic properties of the MnNi(110) c(2×2) surface alloy.Paramagnetic,ferromagnetic,and antiferromagnetic surfaces in the top layer and the second layer are considered.It turns out that the substitutional alloy in the outermost layer with ferromagnetic surface is the most stable in all cases.The buckling of the Mn-Ni(110) c(2×2) surface alloy in the top layer is as large as 0.26 A(1 A=0.1 nm) and the weak rippling is 0.038 A in the third layer,in excellent agreement with experimental results.It is proved that the magnetism of Mn can stabilize this surface alloy.Electronic structures show a large magnetic splitting for the Mn atom,which is slightly higher than that of Mn-Ni(100) c(2×2) surface alloy(3.41 eV) due to the higher magnetic moment.A large magnetic moment for the Mn atom is predicted to be 3.81μB.We suggest the ferromagnetic order of the Mn moments and the ferromagnetic coupling to the Ni substrate,which confirms the experimental results.The magnetism of Mn is identified as the driving force of the large buckling and the work-function change.The comparison with the other magnetic surface alloys is also presented and some trends are predicted.     

Probing the thermoelectric transport properties of n-type Bi2Te3 close to the limit of constitutional undercooling

Bulk n-type Bi2Te3 single crystals with optimized chemical composition were successfully prepared by a high temperature-gradient directional solidification method. We investigate the influence of alloy microstructure, chemical composition, and growth orientation on the thermoelectric transport properties. The results show that the composition of single-crystal Bi2Te3 alloy, along the c axis direction, could be slightly tuned by changing the growth rate of the crystal. At a rate of 18 mm/h, the formed Bi2Te3 crystal exhibits good thermoelectric properties. At 300 K, a maximum Seebeck coefficient of -245 μV/K and an electrical conductivity of 5.6 × 10 4 S/m are acquired. The optimal power factor is ob- tained as 3.3 × 10 -3 W/K2m, with a figure of merit of 0.74. It can be attributed to the increased tellurium allocation in the Bi2Te3 alloys, as verified well by the density functional theory caLculations.     

Electronic and Optical Properties of Rock-Salt AIN under High Pressure via First-Principles Analysis

Electronic and optical properties of rock-salt AIN under high pressure are investigated by first -principles method based on the plane-wave basis set. Analysis of band structures suggests that the rock-salt AIN has an indirect gap of 4.53 eV, which is in good agreement with other results. By investigating the effects of pressure on the energy gap, the different movement of conduction band at X point below and above 22.5 GPa is predicted. The optical properties including dielectric function, absorption, reflectivity, and refractive index are also calculated and analyzed. It is found that the rock-salt AIN is transparent from the partially ultra-violet to the visible light area and hardly does the transparence affected by the pressure. Furthermore, the curve of optical spectrum will shift to high energy area （blue shift） with increasing pressure.     

Structural,electronic, and magnetic properties of boron cluster anions doped with aluminum：BnAl-（2〈n〈9）

The geometrical structures, relative stabilities, electronic and magnetic properties of small BnAl-（2〈n〈9）clusters are systematicalyy investigated by using the first-principles density functional theory. The results show that the A1 atom prefers to reside either on the outer-side or above the surface, but not in the centre of the clusters in all of the most stable BnAl-（2〈n〈9） isomers and the one excess electron is strong enough to modify the geometries of some specific sizes of the neutral clusters. All the results of the analysis for the fragmentation energies, the second-order difference of energies, and the highest occupied-lowest unoccupied molecular orbital energy gaps show that B4A1- and B8A1- clusters each have a higher relative stability. Especially, the BsA1-cluster has the most enhanced chemical stability. Furthermore, both the local magnetic moments and the total magnetic moments display a pronounced oddeven oscillation with the number of boron atoms, and the magnetic effects arise mainly from the boron atoms except for the B7A1- and BgA1- clusters.     

Theoretical optoelectronic analysis of intermediate-band photovoltaic material based on ZnY1-xOx （Y = S,Se, Te） semiconductors by first-principles calculations

The structural, energetic, and electronic properties of lattice highly mismatched ZnY1-xOx （Y = S, Se, Te） ternary alloys with dilute O concentrations are calculated from first principles within the density functional theory. We demonstrate the formation of an isolated intermediate electronic band structure through diluted O-substitute in zinc-blende ZnY （Y = S, Se, Te） at octahedral sites in a semiconductor by the calculations of density of states （DOS）, leading to a significant absorption below the band gap of the parent semiconductor and an enhancement of the optical absorption in the whole energy range of the solar spectrum. It is found that the intermediate band states should be described as a result of the coupling between impurity O 2p states with the conduction band states. Moreover, the intermediate bands （IBs） in ZnTeO show high stabilization with the change of O concentration resulting from the largest electronegativity difference between O and Te compared with in the other ZnSO and ZnSeO.     

Improved Ligand-Field Theoretical Calculations of R-Line Thermal Broadenings of NIgO：Cr^3＋ and MgO：V^2＋

With the values of parameters obtained from improved ligand-field theory, by taking into account all the irreducible representations and their components in EPI as well as all the levels and the admixtures of basic wavefunctions within d^3 electronic configuration, the R-line thermal broadenings （TB） of both MgO：Cr^3＋ and MgO：V^2＋ have microscopic-theoretically been calculated, The results are in very good agreement with the experimental data. It is found that the R-line TB of MgO：Cr^3＋ or MgO：V^2＋ comes from the first-order term of EPI. The elastic Raman scattering of acoustic phonons plays a dominant role in R-line TB of MgO：Cr^3＋ or MgO：V^2＋.