First-Principles Calculations of Structural,Elastic and ElectronicProperties of Tetragonal HfO2under Pressure

Structural, elastic and electronic properties of tetragonal HfO₂ at applied hydrostatic pressure up to 50 GPa have been investigated using the plane-wave ultrasoft pseudopotential technique based on the first-principles density-functional theory (DFT). The calculated ground-state properties are in good agreement with previous theoretical and experimental data. Six independent elastic constants of tetragonal HfO₂ have been calculated at zero pressure and high pressure. From the obtained elastic constants, the bulk, shear and Young's modulus, Poisson's coefficients, acoustic velocity and Debye temperature have been calculated at the applied pressure. Band structure shows that tetragonal HfO₂ is an indirect band gap. The variation of the gap versus pressure is well fitted to a quadratic function.     

Structural and elastic properties of TiN under high pressure

We have investigated the structural and elastic properties of TiN at high pressures by the first-principles plane wave pseudopotential density functional theory method at applied pressures up to 45.4 GPa. The obtained normalized volume dependence of the resulting pressure is in excellent agreement with the experimental data investigated using synchrotron radial x-ray diffraction (RXRD) under nonhydrostatic compression up to 45.4 GPa in a diamond-anvil cell. Three independent elastic constants at zero pressure and high pressure are calculated. From the obtained elastic constants, the bulk modulus, Young's modulus, shear modulus, acoustic velocity and Debye temperature as a function of the applied pressure are also successfully obtained.     

A first-principles study on the structural and elastic properties and the equation of state of wurtzite-type cadmium selenide under pressure

A first-principles investigation on the crystal structural and elastic properties and the equation of state of wurtzite-type cadmium selenide (w-CdSe) has been conducted using the plane-wave pseudo-potential density functional theory and the quasi-harmonic Debye model. The elastic constants, the aggregate elastic moduli, the elastic anisotropy, and Poisson's ratio under pressure have been investigated. Our calculated equilibrium lattice constants, the elastic constants, and the aggregate elastic moduli at zero pressure are in good agreement with the experimental data and other theoretical results. The variations in the compressional and shear elastic wave velocities with pressure at zero temperature up to pressure 2.7 GPa have been studied; the computed Debye temperature at zero pressure and zero temperature is in reasonable agreement with the result of Bonello et al., In addition, the equation of state of w-CdSe in the pressure range of 0–2.7 GPa and up to a temperature of 900 K has also been obtained.     

Electronic,elastic and dynamical properties of MgSe under pressure: rocksalt and iron silicide phase

The electronic, elastic and dynamical properties of MgSe in the rocksalt (B1) and iron silicide (B28) phase and the effects of pressure on these properties are investigated using first-principles method. The calculated electronic band structure indicates that the B1 phase of MgSe presents an indirect band-gap feature and the band gaps initially increase with pressure and subsequently decrease upon compression. Remarkably, an indirect-to-direct band-gap transition has been observed at the phase transition pressure. The elastic constants, bulk modulus, shear modulus, Young’s modulus, elastic anisotropy and B/G ratio of MgSe in the B1 and B28 phase at high pressure have also been investigated. The bulk modulus, shear modulus and Young’s modulus all increase monotonously with the increasing of pressure for the B1 and B28 phase of MgSe. The calculated phonon frequencies of the B1 phase at zero pressure agree well with available theoretical results. And the transverse acoustic phonon TA(X) mode of this phase completely softening to zero at 82 GPa. The phonon curves of the B28 phase under pressure have also been successfully investigated.     

Mechanical,electronic and thermodynamic properties of TE-C36 under high pressure

The structural parameters, mechanical, electronic and thermodynamic properties of TE-C36 under high pressure were calculated via the density functional theory in combination with the quasi-harmonic Debye model. The results show that the pressure has significant effects on the equilibrium structure parameters, mechanical, electronic and thermodynamic properties of TE-C36. The obtained ground state structural parameters are in good agreement with previous theoretical results. The mechanically and dynamically stable under pressure were confirmed by the calculated elastic constants and phonon dispersion spectra. The elastic constants, elastic modulus, B/G ratio, Poisson’s ratio and Vicker’s hardness were determined in the pressure range of 0–100?GPa. The elastic anisotropy of TE-C36 under pressure are also determined in detail. The electronic structure calculations reveal that TE-C36 remains a direct band gap semiconductor when the pressure changes from 0 to 100?GPa, and the band gap decreases with increasing pressure. Furthermore, the pressure and temperature dependence of thermal expansion coefficient, heat capacity and Debye temperature are predicted in a wide pressure (0–90?GPa) and temperature (0–2500?K) ranges. The obtained results are expected to provide helpful guidance for the future synthesis and application of TE-C36.     

ZnSe相变、电子结构的第一性原理计算

基于第一性原理平面波赝势(PWP)和广义梯度近似(GGA)方法,对闪锌矿结构(ZB)和岩盐结构(RS)的ZnSe在0—20GPa高压下的几何结构、态密度、能带结构进行了计算研究,分析了闪锌矿结构ZnSe和岩盐结构ZnSe的几何结构.在此基础上,研究了ZnSe的结构相变、弹性常数、成键情况以及相变压强下电子结构的变化机理.结果发现:通过焓相等原理得到的ZB相到RS相的相变压强为15.3GPa,而由弹性常数判据得到的相变压强为11.52GPa,但在9.5GPa左右并没有发现简单立方相的出现;在结构相变过程中,sp3轨道杂化现象并未消除,Zn原子的4s电子在RS相ZnSe的导电性中起主要贡献.     

EuS高压相变及其弹性和热力学性质

采用平面波赝势密度泛函理论,利用第一性原理的方法研究了EuS的晶体结构、高压相变以及弹性性质．计算结果和实验值以及前人利用不同计算模型得到的理论值相吻合．研究了EuS的弹性常数、弹性模量和弹性的各向异性等力学性质随压力变化的趋势．同时研究了泊松比、德拜温度及纵波和横波的弹性波速随压力的变化趋势．基于德拜模型,进而研究了EuS在0～800 K和0～60 GPa下相变前后的热膨胀系数、热熔、Grüneisen参数等热力学性质．     

Elastic,electronic and thermal properties of topological insulator SmB6: first-principles calculations

Abstract

The pressure dependence of the structural, elastic, electronic and thermal properties of Kondo insulator SmB₆ have been systematically studied by density functional theory combined with the quasi-harmonic Debye model. The calculated structure at zero pressure is in good agreement with the available experimental results at low temperature. The obtained elastic constants, bulk modulus and shear modulus indicate that SmB₆ is mechanically stable and behaves in a brittle manner under the applied pressure 0–20 GPa, consistent with available experimental data. In addition, the elastic-relevant properties, Young’s modulus and the Poisson ratio manifest that increasing pressure results in an enhancement in the stiffness of the compound. It is found that unlike temperature, pressure has little effect on the heat capacity of SmB_6. What more important is that we observed an insulator to metal phase transition at about 5.5 GPa through the disappearance of the band gap, well consistent with the experimental data. This transition has little effect on the physical properties of SmB₆.     

First-principles study of mechanical stability and thermal properties of MNNi₃ （M=Zn,Mg,Al） under pressure

The mechanical stability,elastic,and thermodynamic properties of the anti-perovskite superconductors MNNi 3(M=Zn,Mg,Al) are investigated by means of the first-principles calculations.The calculated structural parameters and elastic properties of MNNi 3 are in good agreement with the experimental and the other theoretical results.From the elastic constants under high pressure,we predict that ZnNNi 3,MgNNi 3,and AlNNi 3 are not stable at the pressures above 61.2 GPa,113.3 GPa,and 122.4 GPa,respectively.By employing the Debye model,the thermodynamic properties,such as the heat capacity and the thermal expansion coefficient,under pressures and at finite temperatures are also obtained successfully.     

高压下非晶碳的弹性性质

 本文报导了利用10 MHz超声脉冲“回波重合法”，测量非晶碳的声速及其在1 GPa压力以内的变化规律，得到非晶碳的二阶弹性常数（SOEC）、三阶弹性常数（TOCE）及组合的四阶弹性常数（FOEC），从而进一步计算和研究非晶碳的Gruneisen常数γ，德拜温度θ_D，比热以及在高压下的状态变化。     

First-principles calculations on elasticity of under pressure

First-principles calculations of the crystal structure and the elastic properties of OsN₂ have been carried out with the plane-wave pseudopotential density functional theory method. The calculated values are in very good agreement with experimental data as well as with some of the existing model calculations. The dependence of the elastic constants c_ij, the aggregate elastic moduli (B,G,E), Poisson’s ratio, and the elastic anisotropy on pressure has been investigated. Moreover, the variation of the Debye temperature and the compressional and shear elastic wave velocities with pressure P up to 60 GPa at 0 K have been investigated for the first time.     

First-principles calculations of the structural,elastic, electronic and optical properties of Si2P2O and Ge2P2O at high pressures

The structures of Si₂P₂O and Ge₂P₂O with the space group Cmc21 are derived. The structural, mechanical, elastic anisotropy, electronic and optoelectronic properties are calculated by first principles calculations based on density functional theory (DFT) with generalized gradient approximation (GGA) at high pressure for Si₂P₂O and Ge₂P₂O. By using the elastic stability criteria, it is shown that their structures are all stable. The phonon dispersion spectra are researched throughout the Brillouin zone as implemented in the CASTEP code, which indicates that the optimized structures are stable dynamically. The brittle/ductile behaviors are assessed in the pressures from 0 GPa to 50 GPa. Our calculations present that the performances of them become ductile with pressure rise. Moreover, the anisotropies of them are discussed by the Young's moduli at different pressure, and the results indicate that the anisotropies of them are obvious. The direct band structures of Ge₂P₂O and the indirect band gap of Si₂P₂O show that Si₂P₂O and Ge₂P₂O present semiconducting character at 0 GPa and 50 GPa. The band structures of Si₂P₂O are changed obviously with the increase of pressure. The total DOS originate mainly from O ‘s’ states, O ‘p’ states, P ‘s’ states and P ‘p’ states and M ‘p’ states (M=Si, Ge). The trends of DOS for Si₂P₂O and Ge₂P₂O display many similarities, and the change of DOS is obviously affected by the pressure for Si₂P₂O. The optoelectronic properties of them are researched. The calculated static dielectric constants, ɛ₁(0), are 3.2 at 0 GPa and 6.4 at 50 GPa for Si₂P₂O, and the values of Ge₂P₂O are 10.2 and 9.2 at 0 GPa and 50 GPa.     

高压下RhB的相变、弹性性质、电子结构及硬度的第一性原理计算

采用密度泛函理论中的赝势平面波方法系统地研究了高压下RhB的结构相变、弹性性质、电子结构和硬度.分析表明,RhB在25.3 GPa时从anti-NiAs结构相变到FeB结构,这两种结构的弹性常数、体弹模量、剪切模量、杨氏模量和弹性各向异性因子的外压力效应明显.电子态密度的计算结果显示,这两种结构是金属性的,且费米能级附近的峰随着压强的增大向两侧移动,赝能隙变宽,轨道杂化增强,共价性增强,非局域化更加明显.此外,硬度计算结果显示,anti-NiAs-RhB的金属性比较弱,有着较高的硬度,属于硬质材料.     

First-principles study of elastic and electronic properties of layered ternary nitride SrZrN2 under pressure

The structural, elastic, and electronic properties of SrZrN₂ under pressure up to 100?GPa have been carried out with first-principles calculations based on density functional theory. The calculated lattice parameters at 0?GPa and 0?K by using the GGA-PW91-ultrasoft method are in good agreement with the available experimental data and other previous theoretical calculations. The pressure dependence of the elastic constants and the elastic-dependent properties of SrZrN₂, such as bulk modulus B, shear modulus G, Young's modulus E, Debye temperature Θ, shear and longitudinal wave velocity V_S and V_L, are also successfully obtained. It is found that all elastic constants increase monotonically with pressure. When the pressure increases up to 140?GPa, the obtained elastic constants do not satisfy the mechanical stability criteria and a phase transition might has occurred. Moreover, the anisotropy of the directional-dependent Young's modulus and the linear compressibility under different pressures are analysed for the first time. Finally, the pressure dependence of the total and partial densities of states and the bonding property of SrZrN₂ are also investigated.     

Effect of hydrostatic pressure on the elastic properties of some rare earth-iron laves phase compounds

The pressure dependence of the Young's and shear moduli of RFe₂ (R = Sm, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho and Er) has been determined at room temperature in the pressure range between 0 and 1 GPa The elastic moduli of GdFe₂, DyFe₂, HoFe₂ and ErFe₂ show a moderate increase with increasing hydrostatic pressure However, the elastic moduli of SmFe₂ and TbFe₂ exhibit an initially drastic increase followed by a high, and linear, pressure dependence From the pressure and temperature derivatives of the elastic moduli of these RFe₂ Laves phase compounds the equations of state and the Gruneisen parameters have been derived The variation of the elastic properties with hydrostatic pressure is compared with the effect of magnetic fields The anomalous behavior of SmFe₂ and TbFe₂ is discussed.     

Structural,elastic and mechanical properties of orthorhombic SrHfO3 under pressure from first-principles calculations

Structural, elastic and mechanical properties of orthorhombic SrHfO₃ under pressure have been investigated using the plane-wave ultrasoft pseudopotential technique based on the first-principles density functional theory. The calculated equilibrium lattice parameters and elastic constants of orthorhombic SrHfO₃ at zero pressure are in good agreement with the available experimental and calculational values. The lattice parameters, total enthalpy, elastic constants and mechanical stability of orthorhombic SrHfO₃ as a function of pressure were studied. With the increasing pressure, the lattice parameters and volume of orthorhombic SrHfO₃ decrease whereas the total enthalpy increases. Orthorhombic SrHfO₃ is mechanically stable with low pressure (<52.9 GPa) whereas that is mechanically instable with high pressure (>52.9 GPa). The bulk modulus, shear modulus, Young's modulus and mechanical anisotropy of orthorhombic SrHfO₃ as a function of pressure were analyzed. It is found that orthorhombic SrHfO₃ under pressure has larger bulk modulus, better ductility and less mechanical anisotropy than orthorhombic SrHfO₃ at 0 GPa.     

Ab initio investigation of the mechanical properties of copper

Employing the ab initio total energy method based on the density functional theory with the generalized gradient approximation, we have systematically investigated the theoretical mechanical properties of copper (Cu). The theoretical tensile strengths are calculated to be 25.3 GPa, 5.9 GPa, and 37.6 GPa for the fcc Cu single crystal in the [001], [110], and [111] directions, respectively. Among the three directions, the [110] direction is the weakest one due to the occurrence of structure transition at the lower strain and the weakest interaction of atoms between the (110) planes, while the [111] direction is the strongest direction because of the strongest interaction of atoms between the (111) planes. In terms of the elastic constants of Cu single crystal, we also estimate some mechanical quantities of polycrystalline Cu, including bulk modulus B, shear modulus G, Young’s modulus E p , and Poisson’s ratio ν.     

Elastic properties study of single crystal NH3 up to 26 GPa

Single crystal Brillouin and Raman scattering measurements on NH₃ in a diamond anvil cell have been performed under pressures up to 26 GPa at room temperature. The pressure dependencies of acoustic velocity, adiabatic elastic constants, and bulk moduli of ammonia from liquid to solid III and solid IV phase have been determined. All the nine elastic constants in orthorhombic structure phase IV were presented for the first time, each elastic constant grows monotonously with pressure and a crossover of the off‐diagonal moduli C₁₂ and C₁₃ was observed at around 12 GPa because of their different pressure derivative values. We also performed ab initio simulations to calculate the bulk elastic moduli for orthorhombic ammonia, the calculated bulk moduli agree well with experimental results. In Raman spectra the very weak bending modes ν₂ and ν₄ for orthorhombic ammonia are both observed at room temperature, a transition point near 12 GPa is also found from the pressure evolution of the Raman bands. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Achievement of ultimate values of the bulk and shear strengths of iron irradiated by femtosecond laser pulses

Shock-wave phenomena generated by femtosecond laser pulses in submicron iron film samples have been studied by the interferometric method with the application of frequency-modulated diagnostics in the picosecond time range. The splitting of the shock wave into the elastic and plastic waves with a compression stress of up to 27.5 GPa behind the front of an elastic precursor has been detected. The corresponding maximum shear stress reaches 7.9 GPa, which is even somewhat higher than the calculated ideal shear strength. The measured spall strengths reach 20.3 GPa, which is also comparable to the calculated values of the ideal tensile strength.     

First-principles study of mechanical stability and thermal properties of MNNi3 （M=Zn,Mg,Al） under pressure

The mechanical stability,elastic,and thermodynamic properties of the anti-perovskite superconductors MNNi 3（M=Zn,Mg,Al） are investigated by means of the first-principles calculations.The calculated structural parameters and elastic properties of MNNi 3 are in good agreement with the experimental and the other theoretical results.From the elastic constants under high pressure,we predict that ZnNNi 3,MgNNi 3,and AlNNi 3 are not stable at the pressures above 61.2 GPa,113.3 GPa,and 122.4 GPa,respectively.By employing the Debye model,the thermodynamic properties,such as the heat capacity and the thermal expansion coefficient,under pressures and at finite temperatures are also obtained successfully.