Density functional theory study of neutral AlS_n(n=2-9) clusters

This paper investigates the geometrical structures and relative stabilities of neutral AlS n(n = 2-9) using the density functional theory.Structural optimisation and frequency analysis are performed at the B3LYP/6-311G(d) level.The ground state structures of the AlS n show that the sulfur atoms prefer not only to evenly distribute on both sides of the aluminum atom but also to form stable structures in AlS n clusters.The structures of pure S n are fundamentally changed due to the doping of the Al atom.The fragmentation energies and the second-order energy differences are calculated and discussed.Among neutral AlS n(n = 2-9) clusters,AlS 4 and AlS 6 are the most stable.     

Density functional theory study of MgnNi2 （n=1-6） clusters

The geometries of Mg n Ni 2(n = 1-6) clusters are studied by using the hybrid density functional theory(B3LYP) with LANL2DZ basis sets.For the ground-state structures of Mg n Ni 2 clusters,the stabilities and the electronic properties are investigated.The results show that the groundstate structures and symmetries of Mg clusters change greatly due to the Ni atoms.The average binding energies have a growing tendency while the energy gaps have a declining tendency.In addition,the ionization energies exhibit an odd-even oscillation feature.We also conclude that n = 3,5 are the magic numbers of the Mg n Ni 2 clusters.The Mg 3 Ni 2 and Mg 5 Ni 2 clusters are more stable than neighbouring clusters,and the Mg 4 Ni 2 cluster exhibits a higher chemical activity.     

Structures and electronic properties of Mo2nNn（n=1-5）:a density functional study

The lowest-energy structures and the electronic properties of Mo2nNn(n=1-5) clusters have been studied by using the density functional theory(DFT) simulating package DMol 3 in the generalized gradient approximation(GGA).The resulting equilibrium geometries show that the lowest-energy structures are dominated by central cores which correspond to the ground states of Mo n(n = 2,4,6,8,10) clusters and nitrogen atoms which surround these cores.The average binding energy,the adiabatic electron affinity(AEA),the vertical electron affinity(VEA),the adiabatic ionization potential(AIP) and the vertical ionization potential(VIP) of Mo2nNn(n=1-5) clusters have been estimated.The HOMO-LUMO gaps reveal that the clusters have strong chemical activities.An analysis of Mulliken charge distribution shows that charge-transfer moves from Mo atoms to N atoms and increases with cluster size.     

Density functional theory study of Mg_2Ni_n(n= 1–8) clusters

The density functional theory B3PW91 with LANL2DZ basis sets has been used to study the possible geometries of Mg2Nin(n = 1–8) clusters. For the lowest energy structures of the clusters, stabilities, electronic properties, and natural bond orbital(NBO) are calculated and discussed. The results show that the doped Mg atoms reduce the stabilities of pure Ni clusters. The Mg2Ni2, Mg2Ni4, and Mg2Ni6clusters are more stable than neighboring clusters. The system appears magic number characteristics. In addition, the hybridization phenomenon occurs, owing to the interaction of Mg and Ni. The result of charge transfer is that Ni atom is negative and the Mg atom is positive. We also conclude that the 3p and 4d orbitals of the Ni atom have an effect on the stabilities of the clusters.     

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.     

Probing structural and electronic properties of divalent metal Mgn+1 and SrMgn (n=2–12) clusters and their anions

Divalent metal clusters have received great attention due to the interesting size-induced nonmetal-to-metal transition and fascinating properties dependent on cluster size,shape,and doping.In this work,the combination of the CALYPSO code and density functional theory(DFT)optimization is employed to explore the structural properties of neutral and anionic Mg_n+1 and SrMgn(n=2-12)clusters.The results exhibit that as the atomic number of Mg increases,Sr atoms are more likely to replace Mg atoms located in the skeleton convex cap.By analyzing the binding energy,second-order energy difference and the charge transfer,it can be found the SrMg9 cluster with tower framework presents outstanding stability in a studied size range.Further,bonding characteristic analysis reveals that the stability of SrMg9 can be improved due to the strong s-p interaction among the atomic orbitals of Sr and Mg atoms.     

Structural,electronic and magnetic properties of the Mn-Ni(110) c(2×2) surface alloy

<正>Using first-principles total energy method,we study the structural,the electronic and the magnetic properties of the MnNi(110) c(2×2) surface alloy.Paramagnetic,ferromagnetic,and antiferromagnetic surfaces in the top layer and the second layer are considered.It turns out that the substitutional alloy in the outermost layer with ferromagnetic surface is the most stable in all cases.The buckling of the Mn-Ni(110) c(2×2) surface alloy in the top layer is as large as 0.26 A(1 A=0.1 nm) and the weak rippling is 0.038 A in the third layer,in excellent agreement with experimental results.It is proved that the magnetism of Mn can stabilize this surface alloy.Electronic structures show a large magnetic splitting for the Mn atom,which is slightly higher than that of Mn-Ni(100) c(2×2) surface alloy(3.41 eV) due to the higher magnetic moment.A large magnetic moment for the Mn atom is predicted to be 3.81μB.We suggest the ferromagnetic order of the Mn moments and the ferromagnetic coupling to the Ni substrate,which confirms the experimental results.The magnetism of Mn is identified as the driving force of the large buckling and the work-function change.The comparison with the other magnetic surface alloys is also presented and some trends are predicted.     

Geometric,stable and electronic properties of Aun-2Y2（n=3-8） clusters

Employing first-principles methods,based on the density function theory,and using the LANL2DZ basis sets,the ground-state geometric,the stable and the electronic properties of Aun-2Y2 clusters are investigated in this paper.Meanwhile,the differences in property among pure gold clusters,pure yttrium clusters,gold clusters doped with one yttrium atom,and gold clusters doped with two yttrium atoms are studied.We find that when gold clusters are doped by two yttrium atoms,the odd-even oscillatory behaviours of Aun-1Y and Aun disappear.The properties of Aun-2Y2 clusters are close to those of pure yttrium clusters.     

Density functional calculations on 13-atom Pd12M （M= Sc-Ni） bimetallic clusters

The geometric structures,electronic and magnetic properties of the 3d transition metal doped clusters Pd12M(M=Sc-Ni) are studied using the semi-core pseudopots density functional theory.The groundstate geometric structure of the Pd12M cluster is probably of pseudoicosahedron.The Ih-Pd12M cluster has the most thermodynamic stability in five different symmetric isomers.The energy gap shows that Pd12M cluster is partly metallic.Both the absolutely predominant metal bond and very weak covalent bond might exist in the Pd12M cluster.The magnetic moment of Pd12M varies from 0 to 5 μB,implying that it has a potential application in new nanomaterials with tunable magnetic properties.     

The structural,electronic, and magnetic properties of SrFeOn（n=2 and 2.5）： a GGA＋U study

Using density-functional calculations within the generalized gradient approximation (GGA)+U framework,we investigate the structural,electronic,and magnetic properties of the ground states of SrFeOn (n = 2 and 2.5).The magnetism calculations show that the ground states of both SrFeO2 and SrFeO2.5 have G type antiferromagnetic ordering,with indirect band gaps of 0.89 and 0.79 eV,respectively.The electronic structure calculations demonstrate that Fe cations are in the high-spin state of (dz2 )2(dxz,dyz)2(dxy)1(dx2 y2 )1(S = 2),unlike the previous prediction of (dxz,dyz)3(dxy)1(dz2 )1(dx2 y2 )1(S = 2) for SrFeO2,and in the high-spin state of (dxy,dxz,dyz,dx2 y2 ,dz2 )5(S = 5/2) for SrFeO2.5.     

High stability of the goldalloy fullerenes:A density functional theory investigation of M₁₂@Au₂₀（M=Na,Al,Ag,Sc,Y,La,Lu,and Au） clusters

Discovering highly stable metal fullerenes such as the celebrated C 60 is interesting in cluster science as they have potential applications as building blocks in new nanostructures.We here investigated the structural and electronic properties of the fullerenes M 12 @Au 20(M=Na,Al,Ag,Sc,Y,La,Lu,and Au),using a first-principles investigation with the density functional theory.It is found that these compound clusters possess a similar cage structure to the icosahedral Au 32 fullerene.La 12 @Au 20 is found to be particularly stable among these clusters.The binding energy of La 12 @Au 20 is 3.43 eV per atom,1.05 eV larger than that in Au 32.The highest occupied molecular orbital-lowest unoccupied molecular orbital(HOMO-LUMO) gap of La 12 @Au 20 is only 0.31 eV,suggesting that it should be relatively chemically reactive.     

Electronic structure and infrared spectrum of a WnC0＇± （n= 1-6） cluster

W_nC^0,± (n=1-6) clusters are investigated by using the density functional theory (DFT) at the B3LYP/LANL2DZ level. We find that the neutral, anionic and cationic ground state structures are similar within the same size, and constituted by substituting a C atom for one W atom in the structures of W_n+1 clusters. The natural bond orbital (NBO) charge analyses indicate that the direction of electron transfer is from the W atom to the 2p orbital of the C atom. In addition, the calculated infrared spectra of the W_nC^0,± (n=2-6) clusters manifest that the vibrational frequencies of neutral, anionic and cationic clusters are similar in a range of 80 cm^-1-864 cm^-1. The high frequency, strong peak modes are found to be an almost stretched deformation of the carbide atom. Finally, the polarizabilities of W_nC^0,± (n=1-6) clusters are also discussed.     

Structural and magnetic properties of bimetallic Co n − 1Cr clusters with density functional theory

We have investigated the structural and magnetic properties of small bimetallic Co _{n ? 1}Cr (n = 2 ? 9) clusters by means of spin-polarized density functional theory approach. We found the ground state structures of Co _{n ? 1}Cr were very similar to those of pure Co _n except n = 3,6. The clusters were of high stability at n = 6. Magnetic moments showed an interesting size-dependent variation: the magnetic moments of Co _{n ? 1}Cr can be obtained by minus 7µB for n = 2, 4, 6–9 or by plus 1µB for n = 5 from those of the Co _n counterparts. The different magnetic behavior stems from ferromagnetic alignment or ferrimagnetic alignment of Co and Cr atoms in Co _{n ? 1}Cr, associated with their longer or shorter interatomic distances.     

Structural, electronic, and magnetic properties of boron cluster anions doped with aluminum: BnAl- (2≤n≤9)

The geometrical structures, relative stabilities, electronic and magnetic properties of small B n Al (2 ≤ n ≤ 9) clusters are systematically investigated by using the first-principles density functional theory. The results show that the Al atom prefers to reside either on the outer-side or above the surface, but not in the centre of the clusters in all of the most stable B n Al (2 ≤ n ≤ 9) isomers and the one excess electron is strong enough to modify the geometries of some specific sizes of the neutral clusters. All the results of the analysis for the fragmentation energies, the second-order difference of energies, and the highest occupied-lowest unoccupied molecular orbital energy gaps show that B 4 Al and B 8 Al clusters each have a higher relative stability. Especially, the B 8 Al cluster has the most enhanced chemical stability. Furthermore, both the local magnetic moments and the total magnetic moments display a pronounced odd-even oscillation with the number of boron atoms, and the magnetic effects arise mainly from the boron atoms except for the B 7 Al and B 9 Al clusters.     

First-principles calculations on the electronic and vibrational properties of β-V2O5

Using a first-principles approach based on density functional theory,this paper studies the electronic and dynamical properties of β-V2O5.A smaller band gap and much wider split-off bands have been observed in comparison with αV2O5.The Ramanand infrared-active modes at the Γ point of the Brillouin zone are evaluated with LO/TO splitting,where the symbol denotes the longitudinal and transverse optical model.The nonresonant Raman spectrum of a βV2O5 powder sample is also computed,providing benchmark theoretical results for the assignment of the experimental spectrum.The computed spectrum agrees with the available experimental data very well.This calculation helps to gain a better understanding of the transition from αto β-V2O5.     

Photoelectric characteristics of silicon P–N junction with nanopillar texture:Analysis of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy

Silicon nanopillars are fabricated by inductively coupled plasma(ICP) dry etching with the cesium chloride(CsCl)islands as masks originally from self-assembly. Wafers with nanopillar texture or planar surface are subjected to phosphorus(P) diffusion by liquid dopant source(POCl3) at 870℃ to form P–N junctions with a depth of 300 nm. The X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy(XPS) is used to measure the Si 2p core levels of P–N junction wafer with nanopillar texture and planar surface. With a visible light excitation, the P–N junction produces a new electric potential for photoelectric characteristic, which causes the Si 2p core level to have a energy shift compared with the spectrum without the visible light.The energy shift of the Si 2p core level is-0.27 eV for the planar P–N junction and-0.18 eV for the nanopillar one. The difference in Si 2p energy shift is due to more space lattice defects and chemical bond breaks for nanopillar compared with the planar one.     

Geometrical,electronic, and magnetic properties of CunFe (n=1–12) clusters: A density functional study

The geometrical, electronic, and magnetic properties of small Cu_nFe (n=1–12) clusters have been investigated by using density functional method B3LYP and LanL2DZ basis set. The structural search reveals that Fe atoms in low-energy Cu_nFe isomers tend to occupy the position with the maximum coordination number. The ground state Cu_nFe clusters possess planar structure for n=2–5 and three-dimensional (3D) structure for n=6–12. The electronic properties of Cu_nFe clusters are analyzed through the averaged binding energy, the second-order energy difference and HOMO–LUMO energy gap. It is found that the magic numbers of stability are 1, 3, 7 and 9 for the ground state Cu_nFe clusters. The energy gap of Fe-encapsulated cage clusters is smaller than that of other configurations. The Cu₅Fe and Cu₇Fe clusters have a very large energy gap (>2.4 eV). The vertical ionization potential (VIP), electron affinity (EA) and photoelectron spectra are also calculated and simulated theoretically for all the ground-state clusters. The magnetic moment analyses for the ground-state Cu_nFe clusters show that Fe atom can enhance the magnetic moment of the host cluster and carries most of the total magnetic moment.     

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.     

Structural,energetic and magnetic properties of small Ti<Subscript>n</Subscript> (n = 2–13) clusters: a density functional study

The structural, energetic, and magnetic properties of Ti _n clusters (n = 2 to 13 atoms) have been studied using Density Functional Theory (DFT), applying the pseudopotential LCAO method and the generalized gradient approximation for the exchange-correlation functional. The binding energy and the dissociation energy were calculated using the PBE and BLYP approximations for the exchange-correlation potential, in order to evaluate the performance of this functionals in predicting the energetic properties of small Ti clusters. The experimentally observed trend in the dissociation energy of Ti _n as a function of the cluster size is reproduced by both PBE and BLYP calculations. The effects of structural distortion on the magnetism of clusters were studied comparing the ground state structure against non-distorted clusters. It was found that the structural distortion has no effect on the total magnetic moment. For all studied clusters using the BLYP functional, with exception of Ti₆ and Ti₇, magnetism is predicted.