First-principles calculations on structural, elastic, electronic, optical and thermal properties of CsPbCl3 perovskite

The structural, elastic, electronic, optical and thermal properties of the semiconductor perovskite CsPbCl₃ were investigated using the pseudo-potential plane wave (PP-PW) scheme in the frame of generalized gradient approximation (GGA) and local density approximation (LDA). The computed lattice constant agrees reasonably with experimental and theoretical ones. The CsPbCl₃ crystal behaves as ductile material. The valence bands are separated from the conduction bands by a direct band gap R-R. We distinguished hybridization between Pb-p states and Cl-p states in the valence bonding region. Under compression at P=30 GPa, this material will have a metallic character. The thermal effect on the lattice constant, bulk modulus, Debye temperature and heat capacity C_V was predicted using the quasi-harmonic Debye model. To the author's knowledge, most of the studied properties are reported for the first time.     

Elastic and thermodynamic properties of CaB6 under pressure from first principles

The elastic and thermodynamic properties of CsCl-type structure CaB₆ under high pressure are investigated by first-principles calculations based on plane-wave pseudopotential density functional theory method within the generalized gradient approximation (GGA). The calculated lattice parameters of CaB₆ under zero pressure and zero temperature are in good agreement with the existing experimental data and other theoretical data. The pressure dependences of the elastic constants, bulk modulus B (GPa), and its pressure derivative B′, shear modulus G, Young's modulus E, elastic Debye temperature Θ_B, Zener's anisotropy parameter A, Poisson ratios σ, and Kleinmann parameter ζ are also presented. An analysis for the calculated elastic constants has been made to reveal the mechanical stability of CaB₆ up to 100 GPa. The thermodynamic properties of the CsCl-type structure CaB₆ are predicted using the quasi-harmonic Debye model. The pressure-volume-temperature (P-V-T) relationship, the variations of the heat capacity C_V, Debye temperature Θ_D, and the thermal expansion α with pressure P and temperature T, as well as the Grüneisen parameters γ are obtained systematically in the ranges of 0-100 GPa and 0-2000 K.     

Ab initio study of phase stability,thermodynamic and elastic properties of C3N2 derived from cubic C20

In this work, we report a quite different conclusion from Tian et al. [Phys. Rev. B 78 (2008) 235431]. It is proved that β-C₃N₂ is the only phase under high pressure, and α-C₃N₂ does not exist. β-C₃N₂ is a covalent crystal composed of strong CC and CN covalent bonds. Band gap of β-C₃N₂ increases with pressure. The width of antibonding state, shown in partial density of states (PDOS), keeps about 5 eV with rising pressures, which brings stable CN or CC covalent bonds. At sufficiently low temperatures, heat capacity (C_v) is proportional to T³; and at intermediate temperatures, C_v is governed by the details of vibrations of the atoms; finally, C_v reaches to β-C₃N₂'s Dulong–Pettit limit (about 120 J/mol K). Though thermal expansion coefficient (α) increases with temperature, α is less than 1×10⁻⁵ K⁻¹. Elastic constants rise with pressure, but shear moduli is quite steady which increases just a little with pressures.     

First-principles investigations on elastic, phonon and thermodynamic properties of SrB6 under pressure

The elastic, phonon and thermodynamic properties of the divalent alkaline-earth hexaboride SrB₆ are investigated by using plane-wave pseudopotential density functional theory method. The calculated structure parameters and bulk modulus are well consistent with the available experiment and theoretical data. The pressure dependences of elastic constants C_ij, bulk modulus B₀, shear modulus G, Young's modulus E and Poisson's ratio σ are also presented. With these elastic parameters, we investigate the mechanical stability and compressibility of SrB₆. For the thermodynamic properties, both phonon and quasi-harmonic Debye model methods are adopted. Through the comparison with experimental and other theoretical results, we found the method of quasi-harmonic Debye model is a little better. Moreover, the phonon dispersion relations are also obtained. It is found that there are two LO/TO splitting around 5 THz and 26 THz, respectively.     

First principle calculation of elastic and thermodynamic properties of stishovite

Using ab initio plane-wave pseudo-potential density functional theory method,the elastic constants and band structures of stishovite were calculated.The calculated elastic constants under ambient conditions agree well with previous experimental and theoretical data.C13,C33,C44,and C66 increase nearly linearly with pressure while C 11 and C 12 show irregularly changes with pressure over 20 GPa.The shear modulus(C11-C12)/2 was observed to decrease drastically between 40 GPa and 50 GPa,indicating acoustic mode softening in consistency with the phase transition to CaCl 2-type structure around 50 GPa.The calculated band structures show no obvious difference at 0 and 80 GPa,being consistent with the high incompressibility of stishovite.With a quasi-harmonic Debye model,thermodynamic properties of stishovite were also calculated and the results are in good agreement with available experimental data.     

First-principles calculations of structural and thermodynamic properties of Y 3Al5O12

The pseudo-potential plane-wave method using the generalized gradient approximation (GGA) within the framework of the density functional theory is applied to study the structural and thermodynamic properties of Y ₃Al₅O₁₂. The lattice constants and bulk modulus are calculated. They keep in good agreement with other theoretical data and experimental results. The quasi-harmonic Debye model, in which the phononic effects are considered, is applied to the study of the thermodynamic properties. The temperature effect on the structural parameters, bulk modulus, thermal expansion coefficient, specific heats and Debye temperatures in the whole range from 0 to 20 GPa and temperature range from 0 to 1500 K.     

Structural,elastic and thermodynamic properties under pressure and temperature effects of MgIn2S4 and CdIn2S4

A density functional-based method is used to investigate the structural, elastic and thermodynamic properties of the cubic spinel semiconductors MgIn₂S₄ and CdIn₂S₄ at different pressures and temperatures. Computed ground structural parameters are in good agreement with the available experimental data. Single-crystal elastic parameters are calculated for pressure up to 10 GPa and temperature up to 1200 K. The obtained elastic constants values satisfy the requirement of mechanical stability, indicating that MgIn₂S₄ and CdIn₂S₄ compounds could be stable in the investigated pressure range. Isotropic elastic parameters for ideal polycrystalline MgIn₂S₄ and CdIn₂S₄ aggregates are computed in the framework of the Voigt–Reuss–Hill approximation. Pressure and thermal effects on some macroscopic properties such as lattice constant, volume expansion coefficient and heat capacities are predicted using the quasi-harmonic Debye model in which the lattice vibrations are taken into account.     

Theoretical analysis of structure, thermodynamic properties, and optical properties of Ge-doped amorphous SiO2

Different stable geometric configurations of Ge doped amorphous SiO₂ (a-SiO₂) system, originating from one, two, or three Si atoms in various places of the a-SiO₂ substituted by Ge atoms randomly have been investigated using interatomic potentials in this work. The most stable structures have been identified and corresponding evolutional rules obtained. The structural growth pattern for Ge-doped a-SiO₂ system is that Ge atoms tend to spread far away from each other and keep away from the center. Furthermore, the thermodynamic properties including speci?c heat, Debye temperature, vibrational entropy, and so on are calculated from the structure with 16 Si atoms of the constructed a-SiO₂ cell replaced by Ge atoms and with the biggest Ge-Ge distance. It can be seen that entropy of Ge doped system with larger specific heat is higher than that of the pure system with smaller specific heat. At last, optical properties including optical absorption spectrum and electron energy loss function of nGe-doped a-SiO₂ (n=0-3, 8) system is also obtained.     

Structural, electronic, magnetic and elastic properties of tetragonal layered diselenide KCo2Se2 from first principles calculations

The structural, elastic, magnetic and electronic properties of the layered tetragonal phase KCo₂Se₂ have been examined in details by means of the first-principles calculations and analyzed in comparison with the isostructural KFe₂Se₂ as the parent phase for the newest group of ternary superconducting iron-chalcogenide materials. Our data show that KCo₂Se₂ should be characterized as a quasi-two-dimensional ferromagnetic metal with highly anisotropic inter-atomic bonding owing to mixed ionic, covalent, and metallic contributions inside [Co₂Se₂] blocks, and with ionic bonding between the adjacent [Co₂Se₂] blocks and K sheets. This material should behave in a brittle manner, adopt enhanced elastic anisotropy rather in compressibility than in shear, and should show very low hardness.     

Structural and elastic properties of LaTiO3 under pressure

We investigate the structural and elastic properties of LaTiO₃ by the plane-wave pseudopotential density functional theory method. The lattice constants, bulk modulus and its pressure derivative are obtained. These properties in the equilibrium phase are well consistent with the available experimental data. The pressure dependence of the elastic constants, ductility, mechanical stabilities, sound velocity and Debye temperatures are investigated for the first time. From the ratio G/B, we conclude that LaTiO₃ is ductile at 0 GPa and becomes more ductile at high pressure. In addition, the anisotropy factors for every symmetry plane and axis as well as linear bulk modulus at diverse pressures have been obtained.     

First-principles calculation of elastic and thermodynamic properties of Ni2MnGa Heusler alloy

The equilibrium lattice parameter, heat capacity, thermal expansion coefficient and bulk modulus of Ni 2 MnGa Heusler alloy are successfully obtained using the first-principles plane-wave pseudopotential (PW-PP) method as well as the quasi-harmonic Debye model. We analyse the relationship between bulk modulus B and temperature T up to 800 K and obtain the relationship between bulk modulus B and pressure at different temperatures. It is found that the bulk modulus B increases monotonically with increasing pressure and decreases with increasing temperature. The pressure dependence of heat capacity C v and thermal expansion α at various temperatures are also analysed. Finally, the Debye temperature of Ni 2 MnGa is determined from the non-equilibrium Gibbs function. Our calculated results are in excellent agreement with the experimental data.     

密度泛函理论研究高温高压下UO2弹性与热力学性能

采用第一性原理与准谐德拜模型研究UO2在高温高压条件下的弹性与热力学性能。UO2在高温高压下仍属离子型晶体,并且弹性性能计算表明,四角方向剪切常数在高温与高压下均保持稳定。高温下弹性常数C44没有明显变化,而高压下C44迅速增大。体积模量、剪切模量与杨氏模量均随压强增加而增大;高温条件下,体积模量、剪切模量与杨氏模量也未出现明显的降低,表明UO2在高温度高压下均可保持良好的力学性能。不同压强下,UO2定容热容均随温度迅速增大,并在1000 K 附近趋近于杜隆-佩蒂特极限。德拜温度则随温度降低,随压强升高。在低于室温条件下,热膨胀系数随温度急剧增加;温度继续增加,系数的增加趋势则逐渐变缓。计算结果还表明,UO2的热膨胀系数在相同条件下,远小于其他核材料。     

Theoretical studies of elastic and thermodynamic properties of cubic B20 CoSi

The full potential linearized augmented plane wave (FP-LAPW) method based on the density functional theory as implemented in the WIEN2k package is applied successfully to the study of the equilibrium lattice parameter and the elastic constants of the cubic B20 structural CoSi. The quasi-harmonic Debye model, in which the phononic effects are considered, is used to investigate the thermodynamic properties of B20 CoSi. Young's modulus and Poisson ratio are obtained from the calculated elastic constants and compared with the available data. The pressure and temperature dependence of the volume, the bulk modulus, the thermal expansion coefficient, the heat capacity and the Debye temperature are successfully obtained in the whole pressure range from 0 to 40 GPa and temperature range from 0 to 1400 K .     

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.     

Structures, phase transition, elastic properties of SnO2 from first-principles analysis

We investigate the structural, phase transition and elastic properties of SnO₂ in the rutile-type, pyrite-type, ZrO₂-type and cotunnite-type phases by the plane-wave pseudopotential density functional theory method. The lattice constants, bulk modulus and its pressure derivative are well consistent with the available experimental and other theoretical data. Also, we find that the rutile→pyrite, pyrite→ZrO₂ and ZrO₂→cotunnite phase transition occur at 12.9, 59.1 and 111.1 GPa, which are in better agreement with the experimental results than those of Gracia et al. (2007). Moreover, we obtain the pressure dependences of elastic constants for the four structures.     

Phase stability,elastic, electronic,thermal and optical properties of Ti3Al1−xSixC2 (0≤x≤1): First principle study

The structural parameters with stability upon Si incorporation and elastic, electronic, thermodynamic and optical properties of Ti₃Al_1−xSi_xC₂ (0≤x≤1) are investigated systematically by the plane wave pseudopotential method based on the density functional theory (DFT). The increase of some elastic parameters with increasing Si-content renders the alloys to possess higher compressive and tensile strength. The Vickers hardness value obtained with the help of Mulliken population analysis increases as x is increased from 0 to 1. The solid solutions considered are all metallic with valence and conduction bands, which have a mainly Ti 3d character, crossing the Fermi level. The temperature and pressure dependences of bulk modulus, normalized volume, specific heats, thermal expansion coefficient, and Debye temperature are all obtained through the quasi-harmonic Debye model with phononic effects for T=0−1000 K and P=0−50 GPa. The obtained results are compared with other results available. Further an analysis of optical functions for two polarization vectors reveals that the reflectivity is high in the visible–ultraviolet region up to ∼10.5 eV region showing promise as a good coating material.     

Elastic and electronic properties of YNi2B2C under pressure from first principles

The elastic and electronic structure properties of YNi₂B₂C under pressure are investigated by performing the generalized gradient approximation (GGA) and local density approximation (LDA) correction scheme in the frame of density functional theory (DFT). The pressure dependences of the normalized lattice parameters a/a₀ and c/c₀, the ratio c/a, and the normalized primitive volume V/V₀ of YNi₂B₂C are also obtained. The lattice constants and bulk modulus obtained are in agreement with the available experimental and other theoretical data. We have also studied the pressure dependences of elastic properties. It is found that, as pressure increases, the elastic constants C₁₁, C₃₃, C₆₆, C₁₂, and C₁₃ increase, the variation of elastic constant C₄₄ is not obvious. Moreover, our compressional and shear wave velocities V_L=6.99 km/s and V_S=3.67 km/s as well as the Debye temperature Θ=549.7 K at 0 GPa compare favorably with the available experimental data. The pressure dependences of band structures, energy gap and density of states are also investigated.     

密度泛函理论研究高温高压下UO2弹性与热力学性能

采用第一性原理与准谐德拜模型研究UO2在高温高压条件下的弹性与热力学性能。UO2在高温高压下仍属离子型晶体,并且弹性性能计算表明,四角方向剪切常数在高温与高压下均保持稳定。高温下弹性常数C44没有明显变化,而高压下C44迅速增大。体积模量、剪切模量与杨氏模量均随压强增加而增大;高温条件下,体积模量、剪切模量与杨氏模量也未出现明显的降低,表明UO2在高温度高压下均可保持良好的力学性能。不同压强下,UO2定容热容均随温度迅速增大,并在1000 K 附近趋近于杜隆-佩蒂特极限。德拜温度则随温度降低,随压强升高。在低于室温条件下,热膨胀系数随温度急剧增加;温度继续增加,系数的增加趋势则逐渐变缓。计算结果还表明,UO2的热膨胀系数在相同条件下,远小于其他核材料。     

Elastic and thermodynamic properties of AVO3 (A=Sr, Pb) perovskites

We have investigated the elastic and thermodynamic properties for the perovskite type metavanadate SrVO₃ and the multiferroic PbVO₃, probably for the first time by the means of a Modified Rigid Ion Model (MRIM). We present the elastic constants (C_11,C_12,C₄₄) and other elastic properties like Bulk modulus (B), Young′s modulus (E), shear modulus (G), Poisson′s ratio (σ) and wave velocity (υ_l, υ_s, υ_m). Besides we have reported the thermodynamic properties molecular force constant (f), Reststrahlen frequency (ν), cohesive energy (?), Debye temperature (θ_D) and Gruneisen parameter (γ). We have also computed the variation of heat capacity (C_P) and there by volume thermal expansion coefficient (α) in a wide temperature range. We found that the computed properties reproduce well with the available data in literature. To our knowledge some of the properties are reported for the first time.