Density functional theory study on the structure and properties of Si3N4 clusters

The hybrid density functional theory B3LYP with basis sets 6-31G＊ has been used to study on the equilibrium geometries and electronic structures of possible isomers of Si3N4 clusters. 24 possible isomers are obtained. The most stable isomer of Si3N4 is a 3D structure with 7 Si-N bonds and 2 N-N bonds that could beformed by 3 quadrangles. The bond properties of the most stable isomer was analyzed by using natural bond orbital method （NBO）, the results suggest that the charges on Si and N atoms in Si-N bonds are quite large, so theinteraction of N-Si atoms in Si3N4 cluster is of strongly electric interaction. The primary IR and Raman vibrational frequency located at 1033.40 cm^-1, 473.63 cm^-1 respectively. The polarizabilities and hyperpolarizabilities of the most stable isomer are also analyzed.     

Effects of the 3d transition metal doping on the structural,electronic, and magnetic properties of BeO nanotubesEffects of the 3d transition metal doping on the structural,electronic, and magnetic properties of BeO nanotubesEffects of the 3d transition metal doping on the structural,electronic, and magnetic properties of BeO nanotubes

First-principles calculations have been performed on the structural, electronic, and magnetic properties of seven 3d transition-metal （TM） impurities （V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, and Cu） doped armchair （5,5） and zigzag （8,0） beryllium oxide nanotubes （BeONTs）. The results show that there exists a structural distortion around the 3d TM impurities with respect to the pristine BeONTs. The magnetic moment increases for V- and Cr-doped BeONTs and reaches a maximum for Mn-doped BeONT, and then decreases for Fe-, Co-, Ni-, and Cu-doped BeONTs successively, consistent with the predicted trend of Hund＇s rule to maximize the magnetic moments of the doped TM ions. However, the values of the magnetic moments are smaller than the predicted values of Hund＇s rule due to the strong hybridization between the 2p orbitals of the near O and Be ions of BeONTs and the 3d orbitals of the TM ions. Furthermore, the V-, Co-, and Ni-doped （5,5） and （8,0） BeONTs with half-metal ferromagnetism and thus 100% spin polarization character are good candidates for spintronic applications.     

Density functional investigation of structural and electronic properties of small bimetallic silver–gold clusters

Structural and electronic properties of bimetallic silver–gold clusters up to eight atoms are investigated by the density functional theory using Wu and Cohen generalized gradient approximation functional. By substitution of Ag and Au atoms, in the optimized lowest energy structures of pure gold and silver clusters, we determine the ground state conformations of the bimetallic silver–gold ones. We reveal that Ag atoms prefer internal positions whereas Au atoms prefer exposed ones favoring charge transfer from Ag to Au atoms. For each size and composition, binding energy, HOMO–LUMO gap, magnetic moment, vertical ionization potential, electron affinity and chemical hardness were calculated. On increasing the size of the cluster by varying number of Ag atoms with fixed number of Au ones, vertical ionization potential and electron affinity show obvious odd–even oscillations consistent with the pure Ag and Au clusters. Au atoms inclusion in the cluster increases the binding energy and vertical ionization potential, indicating higher stability as the number of Au atoms grows. The variation of chemical hardness with the composition in a cluster with the same size shows peaks when the number of Ag atoms is greater than or equal to Au ones, corresponding to transition from planar to tri-dimensional structures. For clusters with even number of atoms, the peaks indicate that the clusters with the same number of Ag and Au atoms are the most stable ones. Analyzing the density of states, we found that increasing the concentration of Ag atoms affects the energy separation between the HOMO and the low lying occupied states.     

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

The equilibrium geometries,relative stabilities,and electronic properties of Mn Agm(M=Na,Li;n + m ≤ 7) as well as pure Ag n,Na n,Li n(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 Ag n,Na n,and Li n 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 Na n Ag m and Li n Ag m clusters.When n + m ≥ 5,a striking feature is that the trigonal bipyramid becomes the main subunit of Li n Ag m.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.     

Density functional theory study on the structure and properties of Si3N4clusters

The hybrid density functional theory B3LYP with basis sets 6-31G· has been used to study on the equilibrium geometries and electronic structures of possible isomers of Si3N4 clusters. 24 possible isomers are obtained. The most stable isomer of Si3N4 is a 3D structure with 7 Si-N bonds and 2 N-N bonds that could be formed by 3 quadrangles. The bond properties of the most stable isomer was analyzed by using natural bond orbital method (NBO), the results suggest that the charges on Si and N atoms in Si-N bonds are quite large, so the interaction of N-Si atoms in Si3N4 cluster is of strongly electric interaction. The primary IR and Raman vibrational frequency located at 1033.40 cm-1, 473.63 cm-1 respectively. The polarizabilities and hyperpolarizabilities of the most stable isomer are also analyzed.     

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.     

Density functional theory study on LaNi4.5Al0.5 hydride phase： electronic properties and sites occupation＊

In this paper the crystal structure, electronic structure and hydrogen site occupation of LaNi4.5Al0.5Hy hydride phase （y = 5.0, 6.0） have been investigated by using full-potential linearized augmented plane wave method. The hydrogen atoms were found to prefer the 6m, 12o and 12n sites, while no 4h sites were occupied. A narrowed Ni-d band is found due to the lattice expansion, the total density of states at EF increases with y, which indicates that the compounds become less stable. The interaction between Al and Ni, H plays a dominant role in the stability of LaNi4.5Al0.5 hydride phase. The smaller the shift of EF towards the higher energy region, the more stable the compounds will be. The obtained results are compared with experimental data and discussed in the light of previous works.     

Effect of the“3-d” band filling on the structural,electronic, magnetic and optical properties of TMScO3 perovskite

The effect of filling of 3-d orbitals on structural, electronic, magnetic and optical properties of TMScO₃ perovskite, where TM is 3-d series from Ti to Zn, is studied through the Density Functional Theory (DFT) utilizing full potential linearized augmented plane wave (FP-LAPW) method using mBJ approximation.Filling the outer “d” shells of TM atoms in TMScO₃ changes the compounds behavior as TM atoms changes from Ti to Zn properties of materials. The total magnetic moment (M_t) increases as the 3-d orbitals filling increases, its maximum value occurs for MnScO₃ perovskite as Mn is in the middle of the 3-d transition series. Beyond this M_t tends to decrease with a minimum value for ZnScO₃. All compounds show half metallicity behavior (except for TiScO₃ which shows metallic behavior). The rest of properties (lattice constant, energy band gaps E_g and optical properties) are also affected by 3d-shell filling.     

Density functional investigations for geometric and electronic properties of In4M and In12M （M = C,Si, In） clusters

First-principle calculations are performed to study geometric and electronic properties of both neutral and anionic In4M and In12M （M = C, Si, In） clusters. In4C and In4Si are found to be tetrahedral molecules. The icosahedral structure is found to be unfavourable for In12M. The most stable structure for In12C is a distorted buckled biplanar structure while for In12Si it is of an In-cage with the Si located in the centre. Charge effect on the structure of In12M is discussed. In4C has a significantly large binding energy and an energy gap between the highest-occupied molecularorbital level and the lowest unoccupied molecular-orbital level, a low electron affinity, and a high ionization potential, which are the characters of a magic cluster, enriching the family of doped-group-IIIA metal clusters for cluster-assembled materials.     

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.     

Structures,stabilities, and electronic properties of F-doped Sin （n=1～12） clusters：Density functional theory investigation

The geometries, stabilities, and electronic properties of FSin （n=1～12） clusters are systematically investigated by using first-principles calculations based on the hybrid density-functional theory at the B3LYP/6-311G level. The geometries are found to undergo a structural change from two-dimensional to three-dimensional structure when the cluster size n equals 3. On the basis of the obtained lowest-energy geometries, the size dependencies of cluster properties, such as averaged binding energy, fragmentation energy, second-order energy difference, HOMO–LUMO （highest occupied molecular orbital–lowest unoccupied molecular orbital） gap and chemical hardness, are discussed. In addition, natural population analysis indicates that the F atom in the most stable FSin cluster is recorded as being negative and the charges always transfer from Si atoms to the F atom in the FSin clusters.     

Effects of pressure on structural,electronic, and mechanical properties of α,β,and γ uranium

The first-principles methods have been employed to calculate the structural, electronic, and mechanical properties of the α, β, and γ phases of uranium under pressure up to 100 GPa. The electronic structure has been viewed in forms of density of states and band structure. The mechanical stability of metal U in the α, β, and γ phases have been examined.The independent elastic constants, polycrystalline elastic moduli, as well as Poisson's ratio have been obtained. Upon compression, the elastic constants, elastic moduli, elastic wave velocities, and Debye temperature of α phase are enhanced pronouncedly. The value of B/G illustrates that α and γ phases are brittle in ground state.     

First principles calculations of the structural and electronic properties of(CdSe)n clusters

The structural and electronic properties of (CdSe)n(1≤n≤5) clusters are calculated using density functional theory within the pseudopotential and generalized gradient approximations. The calculated binding energies and highest occupied molecular orbital lowest unoccupied molecular orbital gaps are compared with those obtained within local density approximation.     

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

The equilibrium geometries, relative stabilities, and electronic properties of M_nAg_m (M=Na, Li; n+m≤ 7) as well as pure Ag_n, Na_n, Li_n (n≤ 7) clusters are systematically investigated by means of density functional theory. The optimized geometries reveal that for 2≤ n ≤ 7, there are significant similarities in geometry among pure Ag_n, Na_n, and Li_n 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 Na_nAg_m and Li_nAg_m cluters. When n+m ≥ 5, a striking feature is that the trigonal bipyramid becomes the main subunit of Li_nAg_m. Furthermore, dramatic odd-even alternative behaviours are obtained in the fragmentation energies, second-order 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 even electronic configuration (2, 4, 6) possess weakest chemical reactivity and more enhanced stability.     

First-principles studies of the structural and electronic properties of the C14 Laves phase XCr2 (X = Ti,Zr, Nb,Hf and Ta)

The optimized structures, electronic properties and bonding characteristics of the hexagonal C14 Laves phase XCr₂ (X?=?Ti, Zr, Nb, Hf and Ta) have been investigated using first-principles calculations. Our results reveal that the equilibrium formation enthalpies are not depends entirely on the atomic numbers. The total and the partial density of states and valence charge densities of Laves phases are also calculated and applied to reveal the nature of the bonding character in consideration of the different atomic numbers.     

Theoretical investigations of the structural,electronic and optical properties of Hg1−xCdxTe alloys

The structural, electronic and optical properties of mercury cadmium telluride (Hg_1?xCd_xTe; x = 0.0, 0.25, 0.5, 0.75) alloys are studied using density functional theory within full-potential linearized augmented plane wave method. We used the local density approximation (LDA), generalized gradient approximation (GGA), hybrid potentials, the modified Becke–Johnson (LDA/GGA)-mjb and Hubbard-corrected functionals (GGA/LDA + U), for the exchange-correlation potential (E_ex). We found that LDA functional predicts better lattice constants than GGA functional, whereas, both functionals fail to predict the correct electronic structure. However, the hybrid functionals were more successful. For the case of HgTe binary alloy, the GGA + U functional predicted a semi-metallic behaviour with an inverted band gap of ?0.539 eV, which is closest to the experimental value (?0.30 eV). Ternary alloys, however, are found to be semiconductors with direct band gaps. For the x = 0.25 and 0.50, the best band gaps are found to be 0.39 and 0.81 eV using LDA-mbj functional, whereas, the GGA-mbj functional predicted the best band gap of 1.09 eV for Hg_0.25Cd_0.75Te alloy, which is in a very good agreement with the experimental value (1.061 eV). The optical properties of the alloys are obtained by calculating the dielectric function ?(ω). The peaks of the optical dielectric functions are consistent with the electronic gap energies of the alloys.     

Density functional theory of transition metal phthalocyanines,I: electronic structure of NiPc and CoPc—self-interaction effects

We present a two-part systematic density functional theory study of the electronic structure of selected transition metal phthalocyanines. We use a semi-local generalized gradient approximation (GGA) functional, as well as several hybrid exchange-correlation functionals, and compare the results to experimental photoemission data. Here, we study the low-spin systems NiPc and CoPc. We show that hybrid functionals provide computed photoemission spectra in excellent agreement with experimental data, whereas the GGA functional fails qualitatively. This failure is primarily because of under-binding of localized orbitals due to self-interaction errors.     

First-principles calculations of the structural,electronic, optical and thermal properties of the BNxAs1–x alloys

The present paper aims to study the structural, electronic, optical and thermal properties of the boron nitride (BN) and BAs bulk materials as well as the BN_xAs_1–x ternary alloys by employing the full-potential-linearised augmented plane wave method within the density functional theory. The structural properties are determined using the Wu–Cohen generalised gradient approximation that is based on the optimisation of the total energy. For band structure calculations, both the Wu–Cohen generalised gradient approximation and the modified Becke–Johnson of the exchange-correlation energy and potential, respectively, are used. We investigated the effect of composition on the lattice constants, bulk modulus and band gap. Deviations of the lattice constants and the bulk modulus from the Vegard’s law and the linear concentration dependence, respectively, were observed for the alloys where this result allows us to explain some specific behaviours in the electronic properties of the alloys. For the optical properties, the calculated refractive indices and the optical dielectric constants were found to vary nonlinearly with the N composition. Finally, the thermal effect on some of the macroscopic properties was predicted using the quasi-harmonic Debye model in which the lattice vibrations are taken into account.