First-principles calculations for electronic and optical properties of the zinc-blende structured BeS compound under pressure

The electronic and the optical properties of the cubic zinc-blende (ZB) BeS under high pressure have been investigated by using \it ab initio plane-wave pseudopotential density functional theory method in the generalised gradient approximation (GGA) for exchange-correlation interaction. The electronic band structure and the pressure dependence of the total and partial densities of state under pressure are successfully described. Our calculations show that the ZB BeS has large and indirect band gaps associated with (Γ → X) transitions in ambient conditions. The results obtained are consistent with the experimental data available and other calculations. The optical properties, including dielectric function, energy-loss function, complex refractive index, reflection and absorption spectra, are investigated and analysed at different external pressures. The results suggest that the optical absorption appears mostly in the ultra-violet region and the curve of refractive index shift toward high energies (blue shift) with pressure increasing.     

Electronic Structures of the Filled Tetrahedral Semiconductor LiMgN with a Zincblende—Type Structure

An ab initio method with mixed-basis norm-conserving non-local pseudo-potentials has been employed to investigate the electronic structures of LiMgN.The band structure ,electronic density of states and charge density contour plot of LiMgN are also presented.By the calculation,we have found that LiMgN with a zincblende-type structure was an indirect gap semiconductor,and the value of indirect(Γ-X) energy band gap under the local density approximation was 2.97eV.In addition,the strong covalent charcter for Li-N and Mg-N has also been found in LiMgN.     

Tailoring electronic properties of two-dimensional antimonene with isoelectronic counterparts

Using ab initio density functional theory calculations, we explore the three most stable structural phases, namely, α,β, and cubic(c) phases, of two-dimensional(2D) antimonene, as well as its isoelectronic counterparts SnTe and InI. We find that the band gap increases monotonically from Sb to SnTe to InI along with an increase in ionicity, independent of the structural phases. The band gaps of this material family cover the entire visible-light energy spectrum, ranging from 0.26 eV to 3.37 eV, rendering them promising candidates for optoelectronic applications. Meanwhile, band-edge positions of these materials are explored and all three types of band alignments can be achieved through properly combining antimonene with its isoelectronic counterparts to form heterostructures. The richness in electronic properties for this isoelectronic material family sheds light on possibilities to tailor the fundamental band gap of antimonene via lateral alloying or forming vertical heterostructures.     

Bulk Modulus and Electronic Band Structure of ZnGa2Xa （X=S,Se）： a First-Principles Study

First-principles local density functional calculations are presented for the compounds ZnGa2X4 （X = S, Se）. We investigate the bulk moduli and electronic band structures in a defect chalcopyrite structure. The lattice constants and internal parameters are optimized. The electronic structures are analysed with the help of total and partial density of states. The relation between the cohesive energy and the unit cell volume is obtained by fully relaxed structures. We derive the bulk modulus of ZnGa2Xa by fitting the Birch-Murnaghan＇s equation of state. The extended Cohen＇s empirical formula agrees well with our ab initio results.     

First-principles study of the （001） surface of cubic PbHfO3 and BaHfO3

Using first-principles techniques,we investigate the(001) surfaces of cubic PbHfO3(PHO) and BaHfO3(BHO) terminated with both AO(A=Pb and Ba) and HfO2.Surface structure,partial density of states,band structure,and surface energy are obtained.The BaO surface is found to be similar to its counterpart in BHO.For the HfO2-terminated surface of cubic PHO,the largest relaxation appears on the second-layer atoms but not on the first-layer ones.The analysis of the structure relaxation parameters reveals that the rumpling of the(001) surface for PHO is stronger than that for BHO.The surface thermodynamic stability is explored,and it is found that both the PbO-and the BaO-terminated surfaces are more stable than the HfO2-terminated surfaces for PHO and BHO,respectively.The surface energy calculations show that the(001) surface of PHO is more easily constructed than that of BHO.     

Surface rumpling of cubic CaTiO3 from density functional theory

In this paper, the structure of cubic CaTiO3 （001） surfaces with CaO and TiO2 terminations has been studied from density functional calculations. It has been found that the Ca atom has the largest relaxation for both kinds of terminations, and the rumpling of the CaO-terminated surface is much larger than that of TiO2-terminated surface. Also we have found that the metal atom relaxes much more prominently than the O atom does in each layer. The CaO-terminated surface is slightly more energetically favourahle than the TiO2-terminated surface from the analysis of the calculated surface energy.     

Study of electronic and magnetic properties of MnS layers

<正>Self-consistent ab initio calculations,based on the density functional theory(DFT) and using the full potential linear augmented plane wave(FLAPW) method,are performed to investigate both electronic and magnetic properties of the MnS layers.Polarized spin and spin-orbit coupling are included in the calculations within the framework of the antiferromagnetic state between two adjacent Mn layers.Magnetic moments considered to lie along axes are computed. Obtained data from ab initio calculations are used as input data for the high temperature series expansion(HTSE) calculations to compute other magnetic parameters.The zero-field high temperature static susceptibility series of the spin-4.39 nearest-neighbour Heisenberg model on centred face cubic(FCC) and lattices is thoroughly analysed by a power series coherent anomaly method(CAM).The exchange interactions between the magnetic atoms,the Neel temperature,and the critical exponent associated with the magnetic susceptibility are obtained for the MnS layer.     

Surface rumples and band gap reductions of cubic BaZrO3 （001） surface studied by means of first-principles calculations

Electronic properties of the （001） surface of cubic BaZrO3 with BaO and ZrO2 terminations have been studied using first-principles calculations. Surface structure, partial density of states, band structure and surface energy have been obtained. We find that the largest relaxation appears in the first layer of atoms, and the relaxation of the BaO-terminated surface is larger than that of the ZrO2-terminated surface. The surface rumpling of the BaO-terminated surface is also larger than that of the ZrO2-terminated surface. Results of surface energy calculations reveal that the BaZrO3 surface is likely to be more stable than the PbZrO3 surface.     

ab initio Studies on Molecular Conductor (BEDSe-TTF)2[Fe(CN)5NO]

In this paper the ab initio study using pseudopotential plane wave method with the local spin density functional approximation is presented for the molecular conductor (BEDSe-TTF)2[Fe(CN)5NO]. The mean electronic density distributions are obtained, and we find that the extended π orbital of the selenium does not affect the properties of material as assumed in other papers and the “side-by-side“ type S...S interaction is the primary interaction between donors. From band structure calculations we analyze the influence of the NO groups on the electronic structure and magnetic properties of molecule. It is shown that the itinerant electrons important to electronic properties in these types of hybrids are delocalized electrons contributed by NO groups, instead of by the 3d electrons of Fe. Additionally, we have found that the localized magnetic moment is also contributed by the NO groups in this molecular conductor. From total energy calculations the molecular structure with the lowest energy is found due to the interaction between split spins, and the particular positions of the NO groups are obtained.     

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.