The importance of electron correlation in graphene and hydrogenated graphene

Local density approximation (LDA) and Green function effective Coulomb (GW) calculations are performed to investigate the effect of electronic correlations on the electronic properties of both graphene and graphane. The size of band gap in graphane increases from 3.7 eV in LDA to 4.9 eV in GW approximation. By calculating maximally localized Wannier wave functions, we evaluate the necessary integrals to get the Hubbard U and the exchange J interaction from first principles for both graphene and graphane. Our ab-initio estimates indicate that in the case of graphene, in addition to the hopping amplitude t ～ 2.8 eV giving rise to the Dirac nature of low lying excitations, the Hubbard U value of ～8.7 eV gives rise to a super-exchange strength of J _AFM ～ 3.5 eV. This value dominates over the direct (ferromagnetic) exchange value of J _FM ～ 1.6 eV. This brings substantial Mott-Heisenberg aspects into the problem of graphene. Moreover, similarly large values of the Hubbard and super-exchange strength in graphane suggests that the nature of gap in graphane has substantial Mott character.     

Density functional theory prediction for diffusion of lithium on boron-doped graphene surface

The density functional theory (DFT) investigation shows that graphene has changed from semimetal to semiconductor with the increasing number of doped boron atoms. Lithium and boron atoms acted as charge contributors and recipients, which attracted to each other. Further investigations show that, the potential barrier for lithium diffusion on boron-doped graphene is higher than that of intrinsic graphene. The potential barrier is up to 0.22 eV when six boron atoms doped (B₆C₂₆), which is the lowest potential barrier in all the doped graphene. The potential barrier is dramatically affected by the surface structure of graphene.     

Phenolic polymer–surface interactions from ab initio computations

Test calculations show that the diamond surface binding energy of C₁₃H₁₁O₂, the simplest model for phenolic, is virtually the same as that of C₆H₅. Using the C₆H₅ model, we compare the binding to a diamond surface, a graphene sheet, a (10, 0) nanotube, and a silica surface. The binding energy is more than 5?eV for the silica and 2.85?eV for the diamond surface. As expected, the binding energy of a second molecule at a site adjacent to the first molecule is larger than the first binding energy for the graphene sheet and the carbon nanotube, since the first C₆H₅ bond breaks a π bond and the second molecule bonds to the unpaired π electron created by adding the first molecule. For all of the systems, adding a C₂ unit between the surface and the C₆H₅ group increases the binding by at least 0.51?eV and up to 2.3?eV. Part of this increase is due to the intrinsically stronger bonding for the sp hybridization and part due to a decrease in the surface–C₆H₅ repulsion.     

Formation of graphene quantum dots by “Planting” hydrogen atoms at a graphene nanoribbon

Different technological approaches for creating graphene quantum dots by the adsorption of hydrogen atoms are considered. The adsorption can occur both at convex portions of a distorted graphene nanoribbon and in the structure formed by two distorted graphene nanoribbon rows superimposed on each other at the places free from the ribbon crossings. It is shown that settlement of hydrogen atoms at convex portions of the nanoribbons is energetically favorable. This gives rise to the creation of insulating graphane (CH) nanodomains separating the conducting regions. As a result, a graphene quantum dot appears. The variation of the electron spectra of graphene quantum dots with the length of these graphane regions is discussed.     

Significant interplay effect of silicon dopants on electronic properties in graphene

Using first-principles calculations, we have systematically studied the effects of the interplay between Si dopants in graphene. Four stable Si-pair doping configurations have been predicted and investigated. It is shown that the Si dopants tend to agglomerate in graphene. In particular, the band structures can be remarkably modulated by the doping sites of Si atoms in graphene. With the change of the Si–Si distance, the electronic structures can be widely tuned to exhibit isotropic, direction-dependent, and semiconducting properties. Based on this unique interplay effect, we reveal two ordered C–Si alloys, CSi and C₃Si. It is found that CSi has an indirect band gap of 2.5 eV while C₃Si still retains the Dirac features. Our results suggest that more remarkable electronic properties of graphene can be obtained by controllable tuning of the multi-doping of Si in graphene.     

Theoretical investigation of manganese adsorption on graphene and graphane: A first-principles comparative study

Within the framework of spin-polarized generalized gradient approximation (σGGA) of the density functional theory (DFT) and pseudopotential method, the structural, magnetic, and electronic properties of graphene and graphane upon the adsorption of manganese atoms have been theoretically investigated. In contrast to the recent results (New J. Phys. 12, 063020 (2010)), Mn atom has been found to be adsorbed on a hollow-site configuration and no appreciable indication to substitute one of the C atoms of the graphene sheet. Unlike the recent results on Mn-doped graphane (Carbon 48, 3901 (2010)), the Mn adatom prefers to adsorb on the top of a carbon atom, forming a bridge with the uppermost hydrogen atoms. The magnetic moment of the Mn-doped graphene is found to be larger than that of the Mn-doped graphane. The structural parameters and electronic properties of both Mn-doped graphene and Mn-doped graphane are determined and compared with the available data.     

First-principle study of nanostructures of functionalized graphene

We present first-principle calculations of 2D nanostructures of graphene functionalized with hydrogen and fluorine, respectively, in chair conformation. The partial density of states, band structure, binding energy and transverse displacement of C atoms due to functionalization (buckling) have been calculated within the framework of density functional theory as implemented in the SIESTA code. The variation in band gap and binding energy per add atom have been plotted against the number of add atoms, as the number of add atoms are incremented one by one. In all, 37 nanostructures with 18C atoms, 3 × 3 × 1 (i.e., the unit cell is repeated three times along x-axis and three times along y-axis) supercell, have been studied. The variation in C–C, C–H and C–F bond lengths and transverse displacement of C atoms (due to increase in add atoms) have been tabulated. A large amount of buckling is observed in the carbon lattice, 0.0053–0.7487 Å, due to hydrogenation and 0.0002–0.5379 Å, due to fluorination. As the number of add atoms (hydrogen or fluorine) is increased, a variation in the band gap is observed around the Fermi energy, resulting in change in behaviour of nanostructure from conductor to semiconductor/insulator. The binding energy per add atom increases with the increase in the number of add atoms. The nanostructures with 18C+18H and 18C+18F have maximum band gap of 4.98 eV and 3.64 eV, respectively, and binding energy per add atom –3.7562 eV and –3.3507 eV, respectively. Thus, these nanostructures are stable and are wide band-gap semiconductors, whereas the nanostructures with 18C+2H, 18C+4H, 18C+4F, 18C+8F, 18C+10F and 18C+10H atoms are small band-gap semiconductors with the band gap lying between 0.14 eV and 1.72 eV. Fluorine being more electronegative than hydrogen, the impact of electronegativity on band gap, binding energy and bond length is visible. It is also clear that it is possible to tune the electronic properties of functionalized graphene, which makes it a suitable material in microelectronics.     

Quantum Monte Carlo investigations of adsorption energetics on graphene

We have performed calculations of adsorption energetics on the graphene surface using the state-of-the-art diffusion quantum Monte Carlo method. Two types of configurations are considered in this work: the adsorption of a single O, F, or H atom on the graphene surface and the H-saturated graphene system (graphane). The adsorption energies are compared with those obtained from density functional theory with various exchange-correlation functionals. The results indicate that the approximate exchange-correlation functionals significantly overestimate the binding of O and F atoms on graphene, although the preferred adsorption sites are consistent. The energy errors are much less for atomic hydrogen adsorbed on the surface. We also find that a single O or H atom on graphene has a higher energy than in the molecular state, while the adsorption of a single F atom is preferred over the gas phase. In addition, the energetics of graphane is reported. The calculated equilibrium lattice constant turns out to be larger than that of graphene, at variance with a recent experimental suggestion.     

First-principles study on the mechanics,optical, and phonon properties of carbon chains

Besides graphite, diamond, graphene, carbon nanotubes, and fullerenes, there is another allotrope of carbon, carbyne,existing in the form of a one-dimensional chain of carbon atoms. It has been theoretically predicted that carbyne would be stronger, stiffer, and more exotic than other materials that have been synthesized before. In this article, two kinds of carbyne, i.e., cumulene and polyyne are investigated by the first principles, where the mechanical properties, electronic structure, optical and phonon properties of the carbynes are calculated. The results on the crystal binding energy and the formation energy show that though both are difficult to be synthesized from diamond or graphite, polyyne is more stable and harder than cummulene. The tensile stiffness, bond stiffness, and Young's modulus of cumulene are 94.669 eV/?A,90.334 GPa, and 60.62 GPa, respectively, while the corresponding values of polyyne are 94.939 eV/?A, 101.42 GPa, and60.06 GPa. The supercell calculation shows that carbyne is most stable at N = 5, where N is the supercell number, which indicates that the carbon chain with 10 atoms is most stable. The calculation on the electronic band structure shows that cumulene is a conductor and polyyne is a semiconductor with a band gap of 0.37 eV. The dielectric function of carbynes varies along different directions, consistent with the one-dimensional nature of the carbon chains. In the phonon dispersion of cumulene, there are imaginary frequencies with the lowest value down to-3.817 THz, which indicates that cumulene could be unstable at room temperature and normal pressure.     

Metal-semiconductor transition of graphene nanoribbons with different addends

Using a LCAO method, which is based on spinless sp³ scheme, we have studied the electronic properties of graphene nanoribbons with zigzag edges (ZGNRs) terminated partially by methylene groups. Metal-semiconductor transition is proved when the H atoms at both sides of ZGNRs are partially substituted by methylene groups. Furthermore, when one-third of H atoms are substituted and the distribution of methylenes is symmetric, the band gap comes to about 0.59 eV, which is the widest energy gap in this work. Otherwise, when the addends at both sides are of asymmetric distribution, a band gap of only 0.21 eV is obtained. These results suggest that the addends at the edge of ZGNRs play an important role in modifying the electronic properties.     

Structural and electronic properties of H-passivated graphene

The atomic and electronic structures of graphane (hydrogen-passivated graphene) are theoretically investigated using the local density approximation (LDA) of the density functional theory (DFT) and the pseudopotential method. Our total energy calculations suggest that the chairlike configuration for graphane is more energetically stable than the boatlike and tablelike configurations by approximately 0.129 eV/cell and 0.655 eV/cell, respectively. Our calculations suggest that the LDA band gap of the chairlike structure is approximately 3.9 eV. The equilibrium geometry and the band structure of the chairlike conformer are investigated and compared with the available experimental and theoretical data. We further present total and partial charge density to reveal the orbital nature of the highest occupied and the lowest unoccupied states.     

Adsorption-induced magnetism properties in graphene

Using first-principles calculations, we investigate magnetic properties and electronic structures of graphene with H, N and P adsorptions. With a change in adsorption density from 1/50 to 1/162 a band gap changing from ∼1.2 to 0.1 eV emerges in a H-absorbed graphene, leading to the semiconducting graphene and showing ferromagnetism with the magnetic moment of the system changing from 0.76 to 0.42μ_B. The unpaired electrons in the absorbed N/P atoms are polarized and thus it exhibits magnetic moment per N/P atom changing from 0.38/0.20 to 0.60/0.14μ_B and metallic and half-metallic magnetism, respectively. The spin-polarized graphene system has a great application prospect in spintronics.     

Energy exchange between discrete breathers in graphane in thermal equilibrium

Graphane is a fully hydrogenated graphene which is practically interesting for application in electronics, hydrogen storage and transportation, in nanoscale devices. As it was previously shown, the energy of a discrete breather (nonlinear localized mode) in graphane close to the value of the energy barrier at which the dehydrogenation of graphene occurs. In the present work, molecular dynamics simulation is used to investigate the possibility of energy exchange between discrete breathers in graphane in thermal equilibrium at 400 K and 600 K. In thermally equilibrated graphane, hydrogen atoms are spontaneously excited and can be considered as discrete breathers. Comparison of the kinetic energy per atom as the function of time for the selected hydrogen atoms with their displacements along the z axis showed that there is an energy exchange between the discrete breathers at evaluated temperatures. Hydrogen atom, transmitting its energy to the neighboring atom no longer exists as discrete breather. At high temperatures (600 K) the energy exchange between closely located discrete breathers also take place but strong thermo-oscillations of atoms at high temperatures (above 400 K) considerably affect the process.     

H,F修饰单层GeTe的电子结构与光催化性质

采用基于密度泛函理论的第一性原理平面波赝势方法,计算了单层GeTe、表面氢化及氟化单层GeTe的晶体结构、稳定性、电子结构和光学性质.计算结果表明,经过修饰后, GeTe的晶格常数、键角、键长增大,且均具有较好的稳定性.电子结构分析表明,单层GeTe为间接带隙半导体,全氢化修饰、全氟化修饰以及氢氟共修饰(F, Ge同侧;H, Te同侧)则转变为直接带隙半导体,且修饰后的能隙均不同程度减小.载流子有效质量表明,全氢化、全氟化以及氢氟共修饰GeTe (F, Ge同侧;H, Te同侧)的有效质量减小,其载流子迁移率增强.带边势分析结果显示,单层GeTe能够光裂解水制氢和析氧,而修饰后的GeTe的价带带边势明显下移,其氧化性明显增强,能够光裂解水析O2, H2O2, O3以及OH·等产物.光学性质表明,修饰后的GeTe对可见光区和红、紫外区的光谱吸收效果明显增强,表明其在光催化领域有着广阔的应用前景.     

Formation of a quasi-free-standing graphene with a band gap at the dirac point by Pb atoms intercalation under graphene on Re(0001)

The control of the graphene electronic structure is one of the most important problems in modern condensed matter physics. The graphene monolayer synthesized on the Re(0001) surface and then subjected to the intercalation of Pb atoms is studied by angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy and low-energy electron diffraction. The intercalation of Pb atoms under graphene takes place when the substrate is annealed above 500°C. As a result of the intercalation of Pb atoms, graphene becomes quasi-free-standing and a local band gap appears at the Dirac point. The band gap changes with the substrate temperature during the formation of the graphene/Pb/Re(0001) system. The band gap is 0.3 eV at an annealing temperature of 620°C and it increases up to 0.4 eV upon annealing at 830°C. Based on our data, we conclude that the band gap is mainly caused by the hybridization of the graphene π state with the rhenium 5d states located near the Dirac point of the graphene π state.     

Formation of a “cluster molecule” (C20)2 and its thermal stability

The possible formation of a “cluster molecule” (C₂₀)₂ from two single C₂₀ fullerenes is studied by the tight-binding method. Several (C₂₀)₂ isomers in which C₂₀ fullerenes are bound by strong covalent forces and retain their identity are found; actually, these C₂₀ fullerenes play the role of atoms. The so-called open-[2 + 2] isomer has a minimum energy. Its formation path and thermal stability at T = 2000–4000 K are analyzed in detail. This isomer loses its molecular structure due to either the decomposition of one of its C₂₀ fullerenes or the coalescence of its two C₂₀ fullerenes into a C₄₀ cluster. The energy barriers limiting the metastable open-[2 + 2] configuration are calculated to be U = 2?5 eV.     

On the mechanism of carbon nanotube formation in electrochemical processes

Quantum-chemical methods are used to analyze the mechanism of carbon nanotube formation in the electrochemical bath, where tiny fragments of graphene planes are in the environment of atoms and ions of alkali metals and halogens. In the optimal configuration, alkali metal atoms move toward the edge of a graphene fragment, whereas halogen atoms remain at the sites of their initial attachment. When the graphene fragments “burdened” by alkali metal and halogen atoms interact with each other, the overall graphene configuration twists in a natural way into a nanotube-like open-end structure.     

Thin graphite overlayers: Graphene and alkali metal intercalation

Using LEED and angle resolved photoemission for characterisation we have prepared graphite overlayers with down to monolayer thickness by heating SiC crystals and monitored alkali metal intercalation for the multilayer films. The valence band structure of the monolayer is similar to that calculated for graphene though downshifted by around 0.8 eV and with a small gap at the zone corner. The shift suggests that the transport properties, which are of much present interest, are similar to that of a biased graphene sample. Upon alkali metal deposition the 3D character of the π states is lost and the resulting band structure becomes graphene like. A comparison with data obtained for ex situ prepared intercalation compounds indicates that the graphite film has converted to the stage 1 compounds C₈K or C₈Rb. Advantages with the present preparation method is that the graphite film can be recovered by desorbing small amounts of alkali metal and that the progress of compound formation can be monitored. The energy shifts measured after different deposits indicate that saturation is reached in three steps. Our interpretation is that in the first the alkali atoms are dispersed while the final steps are characterized by the formation of first one and then a second (2 × 2) ordered alkali metal layer adjacent to the uppermost carbon layer.     

Ab-initio study of electronic properties of Si(C) honeycomb structures

In this work, the electronic structures of pure and concentrated graphene and Silicene have been studied by performing first-principles pseudo potential plane-wave calculations. The concentrated structures have been obtained by the substitution of Si(C) atoms in the graphene (silicene), respectively. Firstly, the calculations are performed for pure graphene and continued for its concentrations. The concentrated graphene is obtained by substitution of Si atoms (with: 12.5, 25, 37.5 and 50 mol percentage) at different positions in the unit cell of graphene. Similar to graphene, the same calculations are performed for pure silicene as well as for silicene after substitution of C atoms. We have modeled the lattice constant, the band structure and its directivity, while the position and mole fractions of the substituted atoms are changed in the unit cell of the studied compound. Our results showed that: the total energy, the density of States (DOS), the charge density (CD), the opening of the band gap and its directivity are strongly dependent both on the position and mole fraction of the substituted Si(C) atoms. As an interesting result, we found an indirect open band gap, as large as 2.53 eV for silicon doped graphene. Also, it was found that both the elemental concentration and unit cell geometry could offer remarkable advantages for band splitting and band gap opening in these graphene like structures, which have known as ideal structures with many promising potential applications in the electronic, optoelectronic and spintronic.     

Studying the effect of hydrogen on diamond growth by adding C10H10Fe under high pressures and high temperatures

In this paper, hydrogen-doped industrial diamonds and gem diamonds were synthesized in the Fe–Ni–C system with C₁₀H₁₀Fe additive, high pressures and high temperatures range of 5.2–6.2?GPa and 1250–1460°C. Experimental results indicate similar effect of hydrogen on these two types of diamonds: with the increasing content of C₁₀H₁₀Fe added in diamond growth environment, temperature is a crucial factor that sensitively affects the hydrogen-doped diamond crystallization. The temperature region for high-quality diamond growth becomes higher and the morphology of diamond crystal changes from cube-octahedral to octahedral. The defects on the {100} surfaces of diamond are more than those on the {111} surfaces. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) results indicate that the hydrogen atoms enter into the diamond crystal lattice from {100} faces more easily. Most interestingly, under low temperature, nitrogen atoms can also easily enter into the diamond crystal lattice from {100} faces cooperated with hydrogen atoms.