Observation of nuclear wave packets in the excited state of the F-center in alkali halides

Oscillations of nuclear wave packets (NWPs) in the excited state of the F-center in four alkali halides, potassium chloride (KCl), potassium bromide (KBr), potassium iodide (KI), and rubidium chloride (RbCl), are investigated. In KCl, the dominant mode is the LO mode near the zone center in the Brillouin zone. In KBr, the NWP oscillation consists mainly of the LO mode near the zone center and the LA modes near the singularity points in the [1 0 0] and/or [1 1 0] crystal directions. In KI, the totally symmetric local mode is dominant in the NWP oscillation. In RbCl, the LO mode near the zone boundary [1 0 0] predominantly forms the NWP oscillation. We comprehensively elucidate correspondences and differences between the present results and the resonance Raman spectra by considering the spatial extension of the electronic wave function and the perturbed phonon density of states.     

Fuchs-Kliewer phonon spectrum of Co3O4(110) single crystal surfaces by high resolution electron energy loss spectroscopy

The Fuchs-Kliewer phonon spectrum of single crystal Co₃O₄(110) has been analyzed by high resolution electron energy loss spectroscopy (HREELS) and the four fundamental phonon losses have been identified at 26.8, 47.5, 71.1 and 84.7 meV (216, 383, 573 and 683 cm⁻¹). This is the first HREELS study reported for an intrinsic spinel single-crystal surface with primary focus on the Fuchs-Kliewer phonon structure. The Co₃O₄ crystal is first characterized by Auger electron spectroscopy (AES), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and low-energy electron diffraction (LEED), which establish the composition, cleanliness, and order of the (110) surface. Electron scattering is then used to obtain a series of well-resolved Fuchs-Kliewer phonon spectra over 2.25-14.25 eV incident electron energy range. The variation in phonon intensity with primary beam energy is shown to agree with that predicted by dielectric theory.     

Electron-LO-phonon interaction in wurtzite GaN quantum wells under a magnetic field

We calculate the electron-LO-phonon relaxation rates in wurtzite GaN quantum wells in the presence of a magnetic field parallel to the growth direction. Using the dielectric continuum model (DCM), we are able to include contributions from both the interface and the quasi-confined phonon modes. The relaxation rate expression takes the phonon dispersion into account, and is applicable to all phonon modes. We find that the relaxation rates show strong oscillations as a function of the applied magnetic field. In relatively wide (8 nm) quantum wells, the inclusion of interface phonon mode decreases this oscillation amplitude. But in thin wells (5 nm), the interface phonon mode is of the same importance as the quasi-confined mode, and it strongly modifies the oscillation behavior.     

Lattice mechanical properties of alkaline earth metals in bcc and fcc phases

A model pseudopotential depending on an effective core radius treated as a parameter is used for alkaline earth metals in bcc and fcc phases to study the Binding energy, Interatomic interactions, phonon dispersion curves, Phonon density of states, Debye-Waller factor, mean square displacement, Debye-Waller temperature parameters, dynamical elastic constants (C₁₁, C₁₂ and C₄₄), bulk modulus (B), shear modulus (C′), deviation from Cauchy relation (C₁₂−C₄₄), Poisson's ratio (σ), Young's modulus (Y), behavior of phonon frequencies in the elastic limit independent of the direction (Y₁), limiting value in the [1 1 0] direction (Y₂), degree of elastic anisotropy (A) and propagation velocities of the elastic waves. The contribution of s-like electrons is incorporated through the second-order perturbation theory due to model potential. The theoretical results are compared with the existing experimental data. A good agreement between theoretical investigations and experimental findings has confirmed the ability of our potential to yield large numbers of lattice mechanical properties of certain alkaline earth metals.     

Ab initio calculations of structural, electronic and dynamical properties of BeSe(1 1 0) surface

We use an ab initio pseudopotential method within the local-density approximation to determine the structural and electronic properties of the BeSe(1 1 0) surface. The relaxed geometry of this surface shows tilted cation-anion chains, with the anions being raised. The general pattern of the electronic structure of this surface is similar to that on other II-VI(1 1 0) surfaces. The phonon spectrum and corresponding surface density of states are also calculated using a linear response approach based on the density functional perturbation theory. In our calculations, we have found two localized phonon modes in the acoustic-optical gap region. The atomic displacement patterns of these surface phonon modes are presented and discussed.     

Ground-state properties of arsenic deposited on the Ge(0 0 1)(2 × 1) surface

We present results of ab initio calculations of structural, electronic and vibrational properties of the Ge(0 0 1) surface covered with a monolayer of arsenic. The fully occupied π_u bonding and π_g antibonding electronic states due to the As-As dimer formation are quite close in energy and their ordering is same as that found on the Si(0 0 1) surface. Using our calculated atomic and electronic structures, surface lattice dynamics was studied by employing a linear response approach based on density functional perturbation theory. A comparison of the phonon spectrum of the Ge(0 0 1)/As(2 × 1) surface with that of the clean Ge(0 0 1)(2 × 1) surface indicates the presence of several new characteristic phonon modes due to adsorption of As atoms.     

Electron-phonon interaction in NbB2: a comparison with MgB2

We present a comparison of electron-phonon interaction in NbB₂ and MgB₂, calculated using full-potential, density-functional-based methods in P6/mmm crystal structure. Our results, described in terms of (i) electronic structure, (ii) phonon density of states F(ω), (iii) Eliashberg function α²F(ω), and (iv) the solutions of the isotropic Eliashberg gap equation, clearly show significant differences in the electron-phonon interaction in NbB₂ and MgB₂. We find that the average electron-phonon coupling constant λ is equal to 0.59 for MgB₂ and 0.43 for NbB₂, leading to superconducting transition temperatures T_c at around 22 K for MgB₂ and 3 K for NbB₂.     

Surface electronic structure of the (3 × 2) reconstruction induced by Yb on a Si(1 1 1) surface

We have investigated the electronic structure of the Yb/Si(1 1 1)-(3 × 2) surface using angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy. Five surface states have been identified in the gap of the bulk band projection. Among these five surface state, the dispersions of three of them agree well with those of the surface states of monovalent atom adsorbed Si(1 1 1)-(3 × 1) surfaces. The dispersions of the two other surface states agree well with those observed on the Ca/Si(1 1 1)-(3 × 2) surface, whose basic structure is the same as that of monovalent atom adsorbed Si(1 1 1)-(3 × 1) surfaces. Taking these results into account, we conclude that the five surface states observed in the band gap originate from the orbitals of Si atoms that form a honeycomb-chain-channel structure.     

First-principles study of lattice dynamics of LiFePO4

Lattice dynamics of lithium iron orthophosphate (LiFePO₄) isostructural with olivine have been investigated using the first-principles calculations taking into account the on-site Coulomb interaction within the GGA + U scheme. Born effective charge tensors, phonon frequencies at the Brillouin zone center and phonon dispersion curves are calculated and analyzed. The Born effective charge tensors exhibit anisotropy, which gives a convincing evidence for the one-dimensional Li migration tunnel along the [010] direction in LiFePO₄, which has been proposed by other theoretical calculations and experimental observation. The calculated phonon frequencies at the Γ point of the Brillouin zone show good agreement with the available experimental observations.     

Theoretical studies of electronic states and phonon modes on the TiC(0 0 1)(1 × 1) surface

We present a comprehensive picture of structural and electronic properties of the TiC(0 0 1)(1 × 1) surface. Our investigations are based on first-principles calculations within the local-density approximation of the density-functional theory. Good agreement has been observed between our calculation and experimental data for the atomic geometry of the surface. In particular, the calculated bond lengths between the first-layer C and the second-layer Ti (d_1C-2Ti = 2.188 Å) and between the first-layer Ti and the second-layer C (d_1Ti-2C = 2.031 Å) are in good agreement with the corresponding experimental values of 2.25 Å and 2.14 Å, respectively. We have also identified surface electronic states and provided clear support for previously available photoemission measurements. We have further calculated surface phonon modes at the zone centre and at the zone-edge point X using a linear response scheme based on the ab initio pseudopotential method. Our calculated surface phonon results are in excellent agreement with electron energy loss spectroscopy results.     

Ultraslow phonon-assisted collapse of tubular image states

We predict ultraslow collapse of “tubular image states” (TIS) on material surfaces. TIS are bound Rydberg-like electronic states formed at large distances (∼30 nm) from the surfaces of suspended circularly-symmetric nanowires, such as metallic C nanotubes. The states are formed in potential wells, resulting from a combination of the TIS-electron attraction to image charges in the nanotube and its centrifugal repulsion, caused by spinning around the tube. We demonstrate that TIS can collapse on the tube surface by passing their angular momentum l to circularly polarized flexural phonons excited in the tube. Our analysis shows that for highly detached TIS with l ? 6 the relaxation lifetimes are of the order of 10 ns-1 μs, while for l < 6 these lifetimes are reduced by several orders of magnitude.     

Hydrogen-induced metallization on Ge(1 1 1) c(2 × 8)

We have studied hydrogen adsorption on the Ge(1 1 1) c(2 × 8) surface using scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy (ARPES). We find that atomic hydrogen preferentially adsorbs on rest atom sites. The neighbouring adatoms appear higher in STM images, which clearly indicates a charge transfer from the rest atom states to the adatom states. The surface states near the Fermi-level have been followed by ARPES as function of H exposure. Initially, there is strong emission from the rest atom states but no emission at the Fermi-level which confirms the semiconducting character of the c(2 × 8) surface. With increasing H exposure a structure develops in the close vicinity of the Fermi-level. The energy position clearly indicates a metallic character of the H-adsorbed surface. Since the only change in the STM images is the increased brightness of the adatoms neighbouring a H-terminated rest atom, we identify the emission at the Fermi-level with these adatom states.     

Order-disorder transition for corrugated Au layers

Atomic-scale structure of the growth of a gold film on (1 1 2) plane of Mo single crystal was investigated by means of low energy electron diffraction (LEED) and scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) up to two monolayers (ML) of gold coverage. Both LEED and STM results establish that Au grows on Mo(1 1 2) in a layer-by-layer mode, for at least the first two monolayers. A number of ordered structures are formed and both the first and second layers adopt the Mo(1 1 2) 1 × 1 surface structure upon completion. For some gold layers on Mo(1 1 2), notably the 1.66 monolayer 3 × 1 and 1.75 monolayer 4 × 1 gold overlayers, we find evidence of a phase transition associated with increasing disorder in gold layers with structural corrugation and anisotropic band structure. The signature of this phase transition, at temperatures in the range of 400-500 K, is a sharp decrease in the overlayer effective Debye temperature.     

Physical properties of the cubic spinel LiMn2O4

We have performed an ab initio study of structural, electronic, magnetic, vibrational and thermal properties of the cubic spinel LiMn₂O₄ by employing the density functional theory, the linear-response formalism, and the plane-wave pseudopotential method. An analysis of the electronic structure with the help of electronic density of states shows that the density of states at the Fermi level (N (E_F)) is found to be governed by the Mn 3d electrons with some contributions from the 2p states of O atoms. It is important to note that the contribution of Mn 3d states to N(_EF)$N\left(E_F\right)$ is as much as 85%. From our phonon calculations, we have obtained that the main contribution to phonon density of states (below 250 cm⁻¹) comes from the coupled motion of Mn and O atoms while phonon modes between 250 cm⁻¹ and 375 cm⁻¹ are characterized by the vibrations of all the three types of atoms. The contribution from Li increases rapidly at higher frequency (above 375 cm⁻¹) due to the light mass of this atom. Finally, the specific heat and the Debye temperature at 300 K are calculated to be 249.29 J/mol K and 820.80 K respectively.     

Anharmonic effects on B2-FeAl(1 1 0) surface: A molecular dynamics study

Using molecular dynamics simulations and the analytic embedded-atom method (AEAM), the surface anharmonicity of B2-FeAl(1 1 0) has been studied in the temperature range from 0 K to 1400 K. The temperature dependence of the interlayer spacing, mean square vibrational amplitudes, surface phonon frequencies and line-widths, and layer structure factor have been calculated. The obtained results indicate that the anharmonic effects are small in the temperature range from 0 K to 900 K. The temperature dependences of the interlayer spacing indicates that the rippling effect of the B2-FeAl(1 1 0) surface is exhibited by the contraction of Fe surface atoms and the expansion of Al atoms, which persists at high temperatures. The temperature dependence of the layer structure factors shows that the B2-FeAl(1 1 0) surface does not disorder until the temperature of 1300 K.     

Charge transfer in the atomic structure of Ge (1 0 5)

The atomic structure and charge transfer on the Ge (1 0 5) surface formed on Si substrates are studied using scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy (STM and STS). The bias-dependent STM images of the whole Ge (1 0 5) facets formed on a Ge “hut” structure on Si (0 0 1) are observed, which are well explained by the recently confirmed structure model. The local surface density of states on the Ge (1 0 5) surface is measured by STS. The localization of the electronic states expected from charge transfer mechanism is observed in the dI/dV spectra. The surface band gap is estimated as 0.8-0.9 eV, which is even wider than the bulk bandgap of Ge, indicating the strong charge transfer effect to make the dangling bonds stable. The shape of normalized tunnel conductance agrees with the theoretical band structure published recently by Hashimoto et al.     

Ruthenium adsorption and diffusion on the GaN(0 0 0 1) surface

We report first principles calculations to analyze the ruthenium adsorption and diffusion on GaN(0 0 0 1) surface in a 2×2geometry. The calculations were performed using the generalized gradient approximation (GGA) with ultrasoft pseudopotential within the density functional theory (DFT). The surface is modeled using the repeated slabs approach. To study the most favorable ruthenium adsorption model we considered T₁, T₄ and H₃ special sites. We find that the most energetically favorable structure corresponds to the Ru- T₄ model or the ruthenium adatom located at the T₄ site, while the ruthenium adsorption on top of a gallium atom (T₁ position) is totally unfavorable. The ruthenium diffusion on surface shows an energy barrier of 0.612 eV. The resultant reconstruction of the ruthenium adsorption on GaN(0 0 0 1)- 2×2 surface presents a lateral relaxation of some hundredth of Å in the most stable site. The comparison of the density of states and band structure of the GaN(0 0 0 1) surface without ruthenium adatom and with ruthenium adatom is analyzed in detail.     

Magnon-TA phonon interaction and the specific heat during the premartensitic transformation in ferromagnetic Ni2MnGa

From the basic spin electron-phonon coupling, we deduced the magnon-TA phonon interaction in the Ni₂MnGa alloy instead of the magnetoelastic coupling between the magnetization and the amplitude of the TA phonon and suggested that the premartensitic transformation (PT) can be driven by the one-magnon-one-TA phonon interaction. Based on the established interaction Hamiltonian, the specific heat varying with the temperature has been calculated and the specific heat anomaly at the PT temperature has been predicated to make a great contribution to the latent heat during the PT because of the strong magnon-phonon interaction. The PT latent heat has been evaluated to be about 5 J/mol which is in agreement with the experimental results measured [Planes et al. Phys. Rev. Lett. 79 (1997) 3926].     

Inelastic X-ray scattering investigations of lattice dynamics in SmFeAsO1−xFysuperconductors

We report measurements of the phonon density of states as probed with inelastic X-ray scattering in SmFeAsO_1−xF_y powders. An unexpected strong renormalization of phonon branches around 23 meV is observed as fluorine is substituted for oxygen. Phonon dispersion measurements on SmFeAsO_1−xF_y single crystals allow us to identify the 21 meV A_1g in-phase (Sm,As) and the 26 meV B_1g (Fe,O) modes to be responsible for this renormalization, and may reveal unusual electron-phonon coupling through the spin channel in iron-based superconductors.     

Ab initio calculations and dynamical properties of the Se:InP(1 1 0) and Te:InP(1 1 0)

We present results of ab initio theoretical investigations of the structural and dynamical properties of the Se:InP(1 1 0) and Te:InP(1 1 0) surfaces, by employing the plane wave pseudopotential method, the local density approximation of the density functional theory, and a linear response scheme. For both adsorbates we have used the so-called exchange geometry (the chalcogen atoms replacing P in the top two atomic layers). A detailed discussion is provided of the relaxed surface geometry and phonon dispersion curves along two principal symmetry directions. It is found that the adsorption of Se (or Te) atoms on InP(1 1 0) leads to phonon modes in the acoustic-optical gap region for bulk InP. The characteristic atomic displacement patterns of selected phonon modes on these surfaces have been compared and contrasted with those on the clean InP(1 1 0) surface.