Probing the structural,electronic and magnetic properties of small Au4M (M = Sc–Zn) clusters

Density-functional method PW91 has been selected to investigate the structural, electronic and magnetic properties of Au₄M (M =Sc–Zn) clusters. Geometry optimisations show that the M atoms in the ground-state Au₄M clusters favour the most highly coordinated position. The ground-state Au₄M clusters possess a solid structure for M = Sc and Ti and a planar structure for M = V–Zn. The characteristic frequency of the doped clusters is much greater than that of pure gold cluster. The relative stability and chemical activity are analysed by means of the averaged binding energy and highest occupied molecular orbital and lowest unoccupied molecular orbital energy gap for the lowest energy Au₄M clusters. It is found that the dopant atoms can enhance the thermal stability of the host cluster except for Zn atom. The Au₄Ti, Au₄Mn and Au₄Zn clusters have relatively higher chemical stability. The vertical detachment energy, electron affinity and photoelectron spectrum are calculated and simulated theoretically for all the ground-state structures. The magnetism calculations reveal that the total magnetic moment of Au₄M cluster is mainly localised on the M atom and vary from 0 to 5 μ_B by substituting an Au atom in Au₅ cluster with different transition-metal atoms.     

Stabilities,electronic and magnetic properties of Cu-doped nickel clusters: a DFT investigation

In this paper, we investigate the electronic and magnetic properties of Cu-doped nickel clusters by means of density functional theory. The stabilities of these clusters have also been studied in terms of the binding energies, second-order difference of energies, fragmentation energies and HOMO–LUMO energy gaps. The obtained results reveal that the N₄Cu, N₅Cu and Ni₇Cu clusters are found to be more stable that than all other clusters. Higher HOMO–LUMO gap was observed for Ni₅Cu cluster (2.265 eV), indicating its higher chemical stability. A half-metallic behaviour has also been observed for the Ni_nCu clusters, which suggests that these clusters can be employed as nanocatalysts for several catalytic processes, particularly for hydrogenation and dehydrogenation reactions. The magnetism calculations show that the magnetic moment is mostly located on the Ni atoms, and the contribution of the Cu atom to the total magnetic moment in the Ni_nCu clusters is very small. Furthermore, partial density of states analysis indicates that the 3d orbitals in Ni atoms are mostly responsible for the magnetic behaviour of these clusters, and the s orbitals have a very little contribution to the total magnetic moment.     

Density functional investigation on the structures and properties of Li atom doped Au20 cluster

Structures and properties of an Au₂₀ cluster doped with two Li atoms, Au₁₈Li₂, have been investigated using relativistic density functional theory within the framework of the zeroth-order regular approximation. Various initial structures have been generated and employed for geometry optimization followed by vibration analysis to check the stability of the final optimized structures. We have calculated various properties like binding energy, ionization potential, electron affinity and the HOMO–LUMO gap of these structures. It has been found that two dopant Li atoms favour occupying two different surface positions of the pyramidal Au₂₀ cluster. The binding energy of the surface-doped Au₁₈Li₂ cluster is 1.017?eV higher than that of the pure Au₂₀ cluster and the HOMO–LUMO gap (1.742?eV) is as high as a pure Au₂₀ cluster (1.786?eV). Interestingly, we observe that the HOMO–LUMO gap as well as the binding energy can be increased beyond those of the Au₁₈Li₂ cluster with the help of further Li atom doping. In fact, a doped tetrahedral Au₁₆Li₄ cluster, where all the dopants are at the surface sites, possesses a very high HOMO–LUMO gap of 2.117?eV. Geometric and energetic parameters indicate that the Au₁₆Li₄ cluster might be considered as a possible ‘superatom’ in the design of novel cluster-assembled materials.     

Structural stability and electronic properties of Au5Hn (n=1–10) clusters

A systematic study on the geometrical structures, electronic and magnetic properties of Au₅H _n (n=1–10) clusters has been performed by using the all-electron scalar relativistic density functional theory with generalized gradient approximation at the PW91 level. It is found that all Au₅H _n clusters prefer to keep the planar structures like pure Au₅ cluster, the Au₅ structures in Au₅H₄, Au₅H₅ and Au₅H₆ clusters are distorted obviously. The adsorption of a number of hydrogen atoms enhances the stability of Au₅ cluster and all Au₅H _n clusters are more stable than pure Au₅ cluster energetically. The odd-even alteration of magnetic moment is observed in Au₅H _n clusters and may be served as the material with tunable code capacity of “0” and “1” by adsorbing odd or even number of H atoms. It seems that the most favorable adsorption between Au₅ cluster and a number of hydrogen atoms takes place in the case that the odd number of hydrogen atoms is adsorbed onto Au₅ cluster and becomes Au₅H _n cluster with even number of valence electrons.     

Density functional theory study of AunMn(n=1-8) clusters

Equilibrium geometries, relative stabilities, and magnetic properties of small Au_nMn (n=1-8) clusters have been investigated using density functional theory at the PW91P86 level. It is found that Mn atoms in the ground state Au_nMn isomers tend to occupy the most highly coordinated position and the lowest energy structure of Au_nMn clusters with even n is similar to that of pure Au_n+1 clusters, except for n=2. The substitution of Au atom in Au_n+1 cluster by a Mn atom improves the stability of the host clusters. Maximum peaks are observed for Au_nMn clusters at n=2, 4 on the size dependence of second-order energy differences and fragmentation energies, implying that the two clusters possess relatively higher stability. The HOMO-LUMO energy gaps of the ground state Au_nMn clusters show a pronounced odd-even oscillation with the number of Au atoms, and the energy gap of Au₂Mn cluster is the biggest among all the clusters. The magnetism calculations indicate that the total magnetic moment of Au_nMn cluster, which has a very large magnetic moment in comparison to the pure Au_n+1 cluster, is mainly localized on Mn atom.     

Chiral structures and tunable magnetic moments in 3d transition metal doped Pt6 clusters

The structural, electronic, and magnetic properties of transition metal doped platinum clusters MPt6 （M=Sc, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, and Zn） are systematically studied by using the relativistic all-electron density functional theory with the generalized gradient approximation. Most of the doped clusters show larger binding energies than the pure Pt7 cluster, which indicates that the doping of the transition metal atom can stabilize the pure platinum cluster. The results of the highest occupied molecular orbital （HOMO） lowest unoccupied molecular orbital （LUMO） gaps suggest that the doped clusters can have higher chemical activities than the pure Pt7 cluster. The magnetism calculations demonstrate that the variation range of the magnetic moments of the MPt6 clusters is from 0 μB to 7 μB, revealing that the MPt6 clusters have potential utility in designing new spintronic nanomaterials with tunable magnetic properties.     

Yields and ionization probabilities of sputtered Inn particles under atomic and polyatomic Aum ion bombardment

The emission of neutral and charged atoms and clusters from a polycrystalline indium surface under bombardment with 5 and 10 keV Au, Au₂, Au₃ and Au₅ projectiles was investigated. Single photon laser postionization was utilized for the detection of sputtered neutral particles. Secondary ions were detected without the laser under otherwise exactly the same experimental conditions. The relative cluster yields were found to be enhanced under polyatomic projectile bombardment, more so the larger the number of atoms in the sputtered cluster. The ionization probability strongly increases with increasing cluster size, but is essentially independent of the projectile impact energy. At a fixed impact energy, the ionization probability of sputtered monomers was found to decrease with increasing number of constituent gold atoms per projectile, but there was no detectable effect for sputtered dimers and larger clusters.     

Structures and electronic properties of M@Au<Subscript>6</Subscript> (M=Al,Si, P,S, Cl,Ar) clusters: a density functional theory investigation

The geometries and electronic properties of the 3p electrons atoms doped gold cluster: M@Au₆ clusters (M=Al, Si, P, S, Cl, Ar) have been systematically investigated by using relativistic all-electron density functional theory (VPSR) and scalar relativistic effective core potential Stuttgart/Dresden (SDD) basis. Generalized gradient approximation in the Perdue-Burke-Ernzerhof (PBE) functional form is chosen for geometry optimization. A number of new isomers are obtained for neutral M@Au₆ clusters. Both PBE/VPSR and PBE/SDD methods give similar lowest energy structure of each M@Au₆cluster. With the exception of Ar@Au₆, all doped clusters show larger relative binding energies compared with pure Au₇ cluster. It is found that all the ground-state structures of the M@Au₆ clusters prefer the low symmetry structures, which is very different to the 3d transition-metal impurity doped Au₆ clusters. Our results are in excellent agreement with available experiment data.     

The 13-atom encapsulated gold cage clusters

The structure and the magnetic moment of transition metal encapsulated in a Au 12 cage cluster have been studied by using the density functional theory.The results show that all of the transition metal atoms(TMA) can embed into the Au 12 cage and increase the stability of the clusters except Mn.Half of them have the I h or O h symmetry.The curves of binding energy have oscillation characteristics when the extra-nuclear electrons increase;the reason for this may be the interaction between parity changes of extra-nuclear electrons and Au atoms.The curves of highest occupied molecular orbital-lowest unoccupied molecular orbital(HOMO-LUMO) gap also have oscillation characteristics when the extra-nuclear electrons increase.The binding energies of many M@Au 12 clusters are much larger than that of the pure Au 13 cluster,while the gaps of some of them are less than that of Au 13,so maybe Cr@Au 12,Nb@Au 12,and W@Au 12 clusters are most stable in fact.For magnetic calculations,some clusters are quenched totally,but the Au 13 cluster has the largest magnetic moment of 5 μ B.When the number of extra-nuclear electrons of the encapsulated TMA is even,the magnetic moment of relevant M@Au 12 cluster is even,and so are the odd ones.     

Geometrical,electronic, and magnetic properties of CunFe (n=1–12) clusters: A density functional study

The geometrical, electronic, and magnetic properties of small Cu_nFe (n=1–12) clusters have been investigated by using density functional method B3LYP and LanL2DZ basis set. The structural search reveals that Fe atoms in low-energy Cu_nFe isomers tend to occupy the position with the maximum coordination number. The ground state Cu_nFe clusters possess planar structure for n=2–5 and three-dimensional (3D) structure for n=6–12. The electronic properties of Cu_nFe clusters are analyzed through the averaged binding energy, the second-order energy difference and HOMO–LUMO energy gap. It is found that the magic numbers of stability are 1, 3, 7 and 9 for the ground state Cu_nFe clusters. The energy gap of Fe-encapsulated cage clusters is smaller than that of other configurations. The Cu₅Fe and Cu₇Fe clusters have a very large energy gap (>2.4 eV). The vertical ionization potential (VIP), electron affinity (EA) and photoelectron spectra are also calculated and simulated theoretically for all the ground-state clusters. The magnetic moment analyses for the ground-state Cu_nFe clusters show that Fe atom can enhance the magnetic moment of the host cluster and carries most of the total magnetic moment.     

Ab initio calculation of the geometric,electronic and magnetic properties of neutral and anionic Au n Pd (n = 1–9) clusters

The ab initio method based on density functional theory at the B3PW91 level has been applied to study the geometric, electronic, and magnetic properties of neutral and anionic Au _n Pd (n?=?1–9) clusters. The results show that the most stable geometric structures adopt a three-dimensional structure for neutral Au₇Pd and Au₈Pd clusters, but for anionic clusters, no three-dimensional lowest-energy structures were obtained. The relative stabilities of neutral and anionic Au _n Pd clusters were analysed by means of the dependent relationships between the binding energies per atom, the dissociation energies, the second-order difference of energies, the HOMO–LUMO energy gaps and the cluster size n, and a local odd–even alternation phenomenon was found. Natural population analysis indicates the sequential transfer from the Pd atom to the Au _n frame in Au_1,2,3,5Pd and Au_2,3Pd^? clusters, and from the Au _n frame to the Pd atom in other clusters. Much to our surprise, irrespective of whether it is the total magnetic moment or the local magnetic moment, the magnetic moment presents an odd–even alternation phenomenon as a function of the cluster size n. The magnetic effects are mainly localized on the various atoms (Au or Pd) for different cluster size n.     

笼状Au$lt;sub$gt;20$lt;/sub$gt;内掺$lt;i$gt;M$lt;/i$gt;$lt;sub$gt;13$lt;/sub$gt;($lt;i$gt;M$lt;/i$gt;=Fe，Ti)团簇磁性的密度泛函计算研究

采用密度泛函理论中的广义梯度近似方法,对M₁₃（M=Fe,Ti）以及M₁₃内掺Au₂₀团簇的几何结构和磁性进行了计算研究.结果表明：M₁₃和M₁₃内掺Au₂₀团簇的几何结构在0.006—0.05 nm误差范围内保持着I_h对称性.Fe₁₃团簇最低能态的总磁矩为44 μ_B,内掺到Au₂₀笼中后形成的Fe₁₃内掺Au₂₀团簇的最低能态总磁矩为38 μ_B,且Au原子与内掺Fe₁₃团簇之间存在着弱铁磁相互作用.Ti₁₃团簇在总磁矩为6 μ_B时能量最低,掺入Au₂₀笼后形成的Ti₁₃内掺Au₂₀团簇最低能态总磁矩是4 μ_B,内表面12个Ti原子与表面Au壳之间是弱铁磁相互作用,而与中心Ti原子之间是弱反铁磁相互作用.由于Au₂₀笼状外壳的影响,Fe₁₃内掺Au₂₀和Ti₁₃内掺Au₂₀团簇中Fe₁₃和Ti₁₃的磁矩比无金壳的Fe₁₃和Ti₁₃团簇的磁矩分别减少了6.81 μ_B和2.88 μ_B. 关键词： 几何结构 磁性 密度泛函理论     

Density functional study of AunCu (n=1-7) clusters

The possible stable geometrical configurations and the relative stabilities of the lowest-lying isomers of copper-doped gold clusters,Au n Cu (n=1-7),are investigated using the density functional theory.Several low-lying isomers are determined.The results indicate that the ground-state Au n Cu clusters have planar structures for n=1-7.The stability trend of the Au n Cu clusters (n=1-7),shows that odd-numbered Au n Cu clusters are more stable than the neighbouring even-numbered ones,thereby indicating the Au 5 Cu clusters are magic cluster with high chemical stability.     

Structural and magnetic properties of Ti12M clusters (M=Sc to Zn)

The geometries, electronic, and magnetic properties of the 3d atom doped icosahedron (ICO) Ti₁₂M (M=Sc to Zn), where a dopant atom replaces either the centra l(Ti₁₂M^c) or surface (Ti₁₂M^s) Ti atom in ICO Ti₁₃ cluster, have been systematically investigated by using the density functional theory. The structures of all the optimized Ti₁₂M^c and Ti₁₂M^s clusters are distorted ICO. Sc, Ni, Cu, and Zn atoms prefer to displace surface Ti atom, V, Cr, Mn, and Fe atoms prefer to displace central Ti atom. The position of impurity atom depends on the strength of the interaction between the central atom and the surface atoms. As compared to the pure Ti₁₃ cluster, Ti₁₂M^c and Ti₁₂M^s (M=V, Fe, Co, and Ni) clusters are more stable, Ti₁₂M^c and Ti₁₂M^s (M=Sc, Cr, Mn, Cu, and Zn) are less stable. Both Ti₁₂Ni^s and Ti₁₂Ni^c are magic clusters, which originate from their electronic as well as geometric closed shells. Because the exchange interaction prevails over the crystal field in Ti₁₂M clusters, the valence electrons fill molecular orbitals in terms of Hund’s rule of maximum spin.     

Ternary alloying effect on the melting of metal clusters

Canonical ensemble Monte Carlo simulations are applied to investigate the melting of the icosahedral 55-atom Ag-Cu-Au clusters. The clusters are modeled by the second-moment approximation of the tight-binding (TB-SMA) many-body potentials. Results show that the introduction of the only Cu atom of the third alloying metal in the bimetallic Ag₄₃Au₁₂ cluster, forming the Ag₄₂Cu₁Au₁₂ cluster, can greatly increase the melting point of the cluster by about 100 K. It is also found that the substitution of the only Cu atom of the third alloying metal in the Ag₁Au₅₄ clusters, forming the Ag₁Cu₁Au₅₃ cluster, can result in an increase of 40 K in the melting point. It can be concluded that the melting points of the bimetallic clusters can be tuned by the third metal impurities doping. In addition, the surface segregation of Ag atoms in the Ag-Cu-Au trimetallic clusters occurs even after melting.     

Insights into the structures,stabilities, electronic and magnetic properties of X2Aun (X = La,Y, and Sc; n = 1–9) clusters: comparison with pure gold clusters

A systematic study of the X₂Au_n (X = La, Y, Sc; n = 1–9) clusters are performed by using the density functional theory at TPSS level. The structures, stabilities, electronic, and magnetic properties are investigated in comparison with pure gold clusters. The results show that the transition points of the doped clusters from two-dimensional to three-dimensional structure are obviously earlier than gold clusters. The impurity X atoms tend to occupy the most highly coordinated position and form the largest probable number of bonds with gold atoms. In addition, the impurity atoms can strongly enhance the stabilities of gold clusters. It indicates that the impurity atoms dramatically affect the geometries and stabilities of the Au_n clusters. The highest occupied molecular orbital–lowest occupied molecular orbital gap, vertical ionisation potential, and chemical hardness show that the X₂Au₆ clusters have higher stabilities than the others. In La₂Au_1–9, Y₂Au_1–7, and Sc₂Au_1–4 clusters, the charges transfer from X atoms to the Au_n frames. The total magnetic moments of X₂Au_n clusters exist distinctly odd–even alternation behaviours except for La₂Au₄ and Sc₂Au₄ clusters.     

AunXm(n+m=4,X=Cu，Al，Y)混合小团簇的结构和稳定性研究

采用基于密度泛函理论的B3LYP方法，优化了Au_nX_m(n+m=4,X=Cu，A l，Y)二元混合团簇的稳定结构.计算了稳定结构的平均结合能、电离势、电子亲和势、最高占据轨道能级和最低空轨道能级及二者间的能隙.结合Mulliken集居数分析研究了二元混合团簇稳定存在的规律，得出掺杂可以增强团簇稳定性的结论. 关键词： 混合团簇 结合能 能隙 分子轨道集居数     

第一性原理计算ZrnFe(n=2—13)团簇的基态结构及其磁性

从第一性原理出发，利用密度泛函理论中的广义梯度近似对Zr_nFe(n=2—13)团簇进行了结构优化、能量和频率计算.在充分考虑自旋多重度的前提下，对每一具体尺寸的团簇，得到了多个平衡构型，并根据能量高低确定了团簇的基态结构.综合团簇的结合能、二阶能量差分以及团簇的最高占据轨道和最低未占据轨道间的能隙可知Zr₅Fe，Zr₇Fe和Zr₁₂Fe团簇的稳定性相对较高，Zr₁₂Fe团簇的结构是具有I_h对称性的正二十面体，而且Zr₁₂Fe的稳定性在所有团簇中是最高的.另外，不仅Zr₅Fe，Zr₇Fe和Zr₁₂Fe团簇的稳定性相对较高，而且它们均为磁性团簇(而Zr_n团簇的磁矩在n≥5时已经发生了淬灭)，由此可知通过选择合适的掺杂元素可能得到高稳定的磁性团簇.从Mulliken布居分析结果可知，除了在Zr₁₂Fe团簇中Fe原子失去少量电荷外，其他团簇中Fe原子均从Zr原子那里得到了一定量电荷，即Fe原子在Zr_nFe(n=2—13，n≠12)团簇中是电子受体.     

The structural,electronic and magnetic properties of Ag4M and Ag4MCO (M = Sc–Zn) clusters

The structures, spectra and electronic and magnetic properties of Ag₄M and Ag₄MCO (M?=?Sc–Zn) clusters have been studied using density functional theory and CALYPSO structure searching method. Structural searches show that M atoms except Zn tend to occupy the highest coordination position in the ground state Ag₄M and Ag₄MCO clusters. Carbon monoxide is most easily adsorbed on Ag atom of Ag₄Zn and M atom of other Ag₄M. Infrared and Raman spectra, photoabsorption spectra and photoelectron spectra of Ag₄M and Ag₄MCO clusters are forecasted and can be used to identify these clusters from experiment. Analysis of electronic properties indicates that the adsorption of CO on Ag₄M clusters changes the zero vibrational energy (ZPVE) and increases stability of the host clusters. Dopant atoms except for Zn improve the stability of silver cluster. The Ag₄Ni cluster shows high chemical activity and maximum adsorption energy for carbon monoxide. Magnetism calculations reveal that the magnetic moment of Ag₄M (M?=?Mn–Ni) cluster adsorbed by carbon monoxide is decreased by 2 μ_B. The change of magnetic moment makes it possible to be used as a nanomaterial for carbon monoxide detection. Simultaneously, it is found that the adsorption of CO on Ag₄Cu cluster is a physical adsorption.     

Geometries, stabilities, and electronic properties of Be-doped gold clusters: a density functional theory study

We have systematically investigated the geometrical structures, relative stabilities and electronic properties of small bimetallic AunBe (n = 1, 2, . . . , 8) clusters using a density functional method at BP86 level. The optimized geometries reveal that the impurity beryllium atom dramatically affects the structures of the Aun clusters. The averaged binding energies, fragmentation energies, second-order difference of energies, the highest occupied-lowest unoccupied molecular orbital energy gaps and chemical hardness are investigated. All of them exhibit a pronounced odd-even alternation, manifesting that the clusters with even number of gold atoms possess relatively higher stabilities. Especially, the linear Au2Be cluster is magic cluster with the most stable chemical stability. According to the natural population analysis, it is found that charge-transferring direction between Au atom and Be atom changes at the size of n = 4.