Magnetism on the surface of the bulk paramagnetic intermetallic compound YCo2

Using full-potential electronic structure calculations, we predict that the (111) surface of the cubic Laves phase Pauli paramagnet YCo2 is ferromagnetic. The magnetism of the (111) surface is independent of the termination of the surface, does not extend beyond two Co layers, and is related to the field-induced metamagnetism of the bulk. YCo2 appears to be a prominent candidate to demonstrate the phenomenon of surface-induced itinerant magnetism localized in two dimensions.     

Hydrogenation-induced insulating state in the intermetallic compound LaMg2Ni

Hydrogenation-induced metal-semiconductor transitions usually occur in simple systems based on rare earths and/or magnesium, accompanied by major reconstructions of the metal host (atom shifts >2 A). We report on the first such transition in a quaternary system based on a transition element. Metallic LaMg2Ni absorbs hydrogen near ambient conditions, forming the nonmetallic hydride LaMg2NiH7 which has a nearly unchanged metal host structure (atom shifts <0.7 A). The transition is induced by a charge transfer of conduction electrons into tetrahedral [NiH4]4- complexes having closed-shell electron configurations.     

Analysis of hydrogen adsorption in the bulk and on the surface of magnesium nanoparticles

The stability of magnesium hydride (MgH _x ) nanoparticles (x = 0.5, …, 2) is investigated using ab initio calculations. It is shown that for a nanoparticle diameter of D ～ 5 nm, the internal pressure becomes lower than 3 kbar; for this reason, the structure of hydride nanoparticles coincides with the structure of this hydride in crystalline form. It is found that the phase of partly saturated MgH _x hydrides (x < 2) must decompose into the phase of pure hcp magnesium and the α phase of MgH₂. The frequencies of jumps of hydrogen atoms within the hcp phase of magnesium and in the α phase of MgH₂ are calculated; it is shown that slow diffusion of hydrogen in magnesium is due to the large height of potential barriers for motion of hydrogen within MgH₂. To attain high diffusion rates, the structures of Mg₅₃Sc and Mg₅₃Ti crystals and their hydrides are calculated. It is found that the frequency of jumps of H atoms in Mg₅₃ScH₁₀₈ near the Sc atoms does not noticeably change as compared to the frequency of jumps in the α phase of MgH₂, while the frequency of jumps in Mg₅₃TiH₁₀₈ near Ti atoms is higher by approximately a factor of 2.5 × 10⁶. This means that diffusion in manganese hydride with small admixtures of titanium atoms must be considerably eased. Chemical dissociation of hydrogen molecules on the (0001) surface of hcp magnesium, on the given surface with adjoined individual Ti atoms, and on the surface of a one-layer titanium cluster on the given surface of magnesium is investigated. It is found that dissociation of hydrogen at solitary titanium atoms, as well as on the surface of a Ti cluster, is facilitated to a considerable extent as compared to pure magnesium. This should also sharply increase the hydrogen adsorption rate in magnesium nanoparticles.     

Theoretical study of hydrogen dissociation and diffusion on Nb and Ni co-doped Mg(0001): A synergistic effect

The interaction of H₂ with clean, Ni and Nb doped Mg(0001) surface are investigated by first-principles calculations. Individual Ni and Nb atoms within the outermost surface can reduce the dissociation barrier of the hydrogen molecule. They, however, prefers to substitute for the Mg atoms within the second layer, leading to a weaker catalytic effect for the dissociation of H₂, a bottleneck for the hydriding of MgH₂. Interestingly, co-doping of Ni and Nb stabilizes Ni at the first layer, and results in a significant reduction of the dissociation barrier of H₂ on the Mg surface, coupled with an increase of the diffusion barrier of H. Although codoped Ni and Nb shows no remarkable advantage over single Nb here, it implies that the catalytic effect could be optimized by co-doping of “modest” transition metals with balanced barriers for dissociation of H₂ and diffusion of H on Mg surfaces.     

Features of hydrogen adsorption on a Ni(997) surface

The change of the initial sticking coefficient for a Maxwellian beam of hydrogen on Ni(997) has been determined as a function of beam temperature and angle of incidence. At low temperatures adsorption is governed by the steps, at high temperatures adsorption on the terraces is more dominant. Adsorption on the terraces is probably an activated process whereas adsorption on the step sites is non-activated. There seems to be little diffusion of undissociated H₂ between steps and terraces.     

Energy bands and fermi surface of the intermetallic compound YZn

Energy bands of the simple cubic intermetallic compound YZn have been calculated by using the APW method. The crystal potential (constructed in the muffin-tin approximation from overlapping atomic charge densities and full Slater exchange) was adjusted slightly and a larger set of basis functions was used than in a previous calculation. The resulting Fermi surface is exhibited and shown to be fully in agreement with the results of a recent de Haas-van Alphen experiment.     

First-principles investigation on diffusion behaviours of H isotopes: From W(110) surface into bulk and in bulk W

The diffusion behaviours of hydrogen (H), deuterium (D), and tritium (T) from W(110) surface into bulk and in bulk W are investigated using a first-principles calculations combined with simplified models. The diffusion energy barrier is shown to be 1.87 eV from W(110) surface to the subsurface, along with a much reduced barrier of 0.06 eV for the reverse diffusion process. After H enters into the bulk, its diffusion energy barrier with quantum correction is 0.19 eV. In terms of the diffusion theory presented by Wert and Zener, the diffusion pre-exponential factor of H is calculated to be 1.57×10^-7 m²·s^-1, and it is quantitatively in agreement with experimental value of 4.1×10^-7 m²·s^-1. Subsequently, according to mass dependence (√1/m ) of H isotope effect, the diffusion pre-exponential factors of D and T are estimated to be 1.11×10^-7 m²·s^-1 and 0.91×10^-7 m²·s^-1, respectively.     

Theoretical investigation on the electronic and thermoelectric properties of RuSb2Te compound

The skutterudites are an excellent candidate for thermoelectric materials used in mechanic free heat pump and electric generator. Using the ab initio density functional theory we have calculated the electronic band structure and thermoelectric properties of skutterudite RuSb₂Te. RuSb₂Te compound belongs to an indirect band gap semiconductor. The density of states has a sharp upturn at the conduction band edge and is very low at the valence band top. This feature suggests that Seebeck coefficient is larger for n doped than for p doped RuSb₂Te compound. The calculated Seebeck coefficient confirms this trend. It is in a qualitative agreement with the experiments if the temperature is not too high.     

氢分子在Mg2Ni(010)面的吸附与分解

本文采用基于密度泛函理论(DFT)的第一原理赝势平面波(PW-PP)方法,对氢分子在Mg2Ni(010)面的吸附与分解进行了研究,发现氢分子以Horl的方式吸附在表面层Ni原子的顶位时吸附能最高,为0.6769 eV,这表明氢分子最可能以Horl的方式吸附在表面层Ni原子的顶位,此时氢分子跟表面的距离(rd)和氢分子的键长(rH)分别为1.6286 A和0.9174 (A).在分子吸附的基础上计算了氢分子沿着选取的反应路径分解时的反应势垒,发现要使氢分子分解需要0.2778 eV的活化能,而氢分子分解时的吸附能为0.8390 eV,分解后两个氢原子的距离为3.1712(A).在分子吸附和分解吸附时氢原子跟正下方的Ni原子都有较强的相互作用,氢原子所得到的电子主要来自氢分子正下方的Ni原子.     

Hydrogen adsorption and diffusion on the PdTa alloy surface

The hydrogen adsorption on the PdTa alloy surface is studied using a pseudopotential method with a generalized gradient approximation for an exchange-correlation functional. The most preferable hydrogen adsorption sites on two low-index surfaces ((001), (110)) are determined. It is shown that hydrogen adsorption at the bridge site is preferred on the PdTa(001) surface that terminates by one or two tantalum layers and on PdTa(110). The preference of hydrogen adsorption at tantalum-rich sites is caused by partial population of its d shell. During adsorption, the electronic structure of the states involved in interaction with hydrogen is shown to change most substantially, which is accompanied by the corresponding shifts of these states and the appearance of peaks in the densities of states of the metal in the region of the hydrogen valence band. The effect of hydrogen on the electron and structural characteristics of the surfaces is analyzed. The hydrogen diffusion barriers are calculated in the bulk of the alloy and from the surface into the bulk.     

Dissociative adsorption of hydrogen on the ZrB2(0001) surface

We have studied the dissociation of H₂ on the ZrB₂(0001) surface using density functional theory and reflection absorption infrared spectroscopy (RAIRS). Our results show that H₂ readily dissociates on the Zr-terminated (0001) surface up to a H coverage of 1/2 ML. Furthermore, we show that H is very mobile on the surface and that it desorbs between 545 and 625 K. The calculated vibrational frequencies for the adsorbed H are in excellent agreement with our RAIRS measurements and with previously reported high resolution electron energy loss spectra.     

First-principles investigation of diffusion behaviours of H isotopes:From W(110) surface into bulk and in bulk W

<正>The diffusion behaviours of hydrogen（H）,deuterium（D）,and tritium（T） from W（110） surface into bulk and in bulk W are investigated using first-principles calculations combined with simplified models.The diffusion energy barrier is shown to be 1.87 eV from W（110） surface to the subsurface,along with a much reduced barrier of 0.06 eV for the reverse diffusion process.After H enters into the bulk,its diffusion energy barrier with quantum correction is 0.19 eV. In terms of the diffusion theory presented by Wert and Zener,the diffusion pre-exponential factor of H is calculated to be 1.57×10^-7 m²·s^-1,and it is quantitatively in agreement with the experimental value of 4.1×10^-7 m²·s^-1. Subsequently,according to mass dependence(（1/m）^1/2) of H isotope effect,the diffusion pre-exponential factors of D and T are estimated to be 1.11×10^-7 m²·s^-1 and 0.91×10^-7 m²·s^-1,respectively.     

Monte Carlo simulation of hydrogen adsorption on Ni surfaces

In the present paper the adsorption kinetics of the hydrogen molecule on the (111) and (100) surfaces have been studied with the model proposed by Panczyk and the grand canonical Monte Carlo simulation method. The equilibrium adsorption isotherms are calculated at five different temperatures ranging from 314 K to 376 K and compared with the experimental equilibrium adsorption isotherms. The effects of temperature and pressure on coverage are also analyzed.      

Rotation of hydrogen molecules during the dissociative adsorption on the Mg(0001) surface: a first-principles study

Using first-principles calculations,we systematically study the potential energy surfaces and dissociation processes of the hydrogen molecule on the Mg(0001) surface.It is found that during the dissociative adsorption process with the minimum energy barrier,the hydrogen molecule first orients perpendicularly,and then rotates tobecome parallel to the surface.It is also found that the orientation of the hydrogen molecule in the transition state is neither perpendicular nor parallel to the surface.Most importantly,we find that the rotation causes a reduction of the calculated dissociation energy barrier for the hydrogen molecule.The underlying electronic mechanism for the rotation of the hydrogen molecule is also discussed in the paper.     

Mg2Si的电子结构和热电输运性质的理论研究

利用全势线性缀加平面波法,对Mg₂Si的几何结构和电子结构进行了计算,得到了稳定的晶格参数以及能带和电子态密度.能带结构表明,Mg₂Si为间接带隙半导体,禁带宽度为020 eV.在此基础上利用玻尔兹曼输运理论和刚性带近似计算了材料的电导率、Seebeck系数和功率因子.结果表明,在温度为700 K时p型和n型掺杂的Mg₂Si功率因子达到最大时的最佳载流子浓度分别为7749×10¹⁹ cm^-3和 关键词： 2Si')" href="#">Mg₂Si 全势线性缀加平面波法 热电输运性质     

Two-dimensional surface magnetism in the bulk paramagnetic intermetallic alloy CoAl(100)

Utilizing a combination of the in situ magneto-optical Kerr effect and scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy measurements, we show that the (100) surface of the B2 bulk paramagnetic CoAl is an excellent representation of a two-dimensional ferromagnet. The order-parameter critical exponent beta=0.22+/-0.02 is determined, which is the universal signature of a finite-size two-dimensional XY behavior. The Curie temperature is found to be T(c)=90 K. The magnetism can be explained by the appearance of Co antisite atoms at the surface.     

Nature of the temperature dependence of plasticity in the polycrystalline intermetallic compound Ni3Al

The effect of temperature on the plasticity, the type of failure, and the fractions of brittle intercrystallite and viscous transcrystallite failure of the intermetallic compound Ni-24 at. % Al have been studied with boron and without boron. A method is proposed for determining the cohesive strength of the grain boundaries by using the parameters of the flow curve and taking account of the local plastic deformation at the tip of the crack. It is shown that the cohesive strength of the grain boundaries is quite high in Ni₃Al and it is not the cause of the low-temperature embrittlement. The temperature dependence of the plasticity in the Ni-25 at. % Al alloy with boron and without boron in the region of the anomalous temperature dependence of the flow limit is determined by the change in the deformational hardening coefficient and at higher temperatures by a lowering of the cohesive strength of the grain boundaries.V. D. Kuznetsov Siberian Physicotechnical Institute, Tomsk University. Institute for Strength and Materials Science, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences. Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Fizika, No. 11, pp. 80–89, November, 1994.     

Change in the nature of the Ni diffusion mechanism on the Si(111) surface with adsorption of Co atoms

The diffusion of Ni on a Si (111) surface is investigated by LEED and Auger electron spectroscopy. It is found that, in contrast to the process on the initially clean Si (111)−7×7 surface, on Si (111) surfaces with submonolayer Co coverages the nature of the Ni transport mechanism changes at a temperature of about 750 °C, and the Ni surface diffusion coefficients increase sharply below this temperature. Pis’ma Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 66, No. 9, 611–614 (10 November 1997)