Ground- and excited-state properties of inorganic solids from full-potential density-functional calculations

The development in theoretical condensed-matter science based on density-functional theory (DFT) has reached a level where it is possible, from “parameter-free” quantum mechanical calculations to obtain total energies, forces, vibrational frequencies, magnetic moments, mechanical and optical properties and so forth. The calculation of such properties are important in the analyses of experimental data and they can be predicted with a precision that is sufficient for comparison with experiments. It is almost impossible to do justice to all developments achieved by DFT because of its rapid growth. Hence, it has here been focused on a few advances, primarily from our laboratory. Unusual bonding behaviors in complex materials are conveniently explored using the combination of charge density, charge transfer, and electron-localization function along with crystal-orbital Hamilton-population analyses. It is indicated that the elastic properties of materials can reliably be predicted from DFT calculations if one takes into account the structural relaxations along with gradient corrections in the calculations. Experimental techniques have their limitations in studies of the structural stability and pressure-induced structural transitions in hydride materials whereas the present theoretical approach can be applied to reliably predict properties under extreme pressures. From the spin-polarized, relativistic full-potential calculations one can study novel materials such as ruthenates, quasi-one-dimensional oxides, and spin-, charge-, and orbital-ordering in magnetic perovskite-like oxides. The importance of orbital-polarization correction to the DFT to predict the magnetic anisotropy in transition-metal compounds and magnetic moments in lanthanides and actinides are emphasized. Apart from the full-potential treatment, proper magnetic ordering as well as structural distortions have to be taken into account to predict correctly the insulating behavior of transition-metal oxides. The computational variants LDA and GGA fail to predict insulating behavior of Mott insulators whereas electronic structures can be described correctly when correlation effects are taken into account through LDA+U or similar approaches to explain their electronic structures correctly. Excited-state properties such as linear optical properties, magneto-optical properties, XANES, XPS, UPS, BIS, and Raman spectra can be obtained from accurate DFT calculations.     

Raman scattering study of CaB6 and YbB6

Phonon spectra of CaB₆ and RB₆ (R=Yb, Ce, and Pr) have been investigated by Raman scattering. We found clear spectral difference between divalent cation hexaboride and trivalent one. E_g mode shows the doublet spectra for only the divalent crystals of CaB₆ and YbB₆. The doublet spectra are understood by the two-dimensional charge distribution on B₆ without lattice distortion. In addition, the scattered intensities of the phonons change at around the ferromagnetic Curie temperature for YbB₆ and at T?600 K for CaB₆. These are the characteristic temperatures due to the change of the electronic system.     

Thermophysical properties of SrHfO3 and SrRuO3

Polycrystalline samples of strontium series perovskite type oxides, SrHfO₃ and SrRuO₃ were prepared and the thermophysical properties were measured. The average linear thermal expansion coefficients are 1.13×10⁻⁵ K⁻¹ for SrHfO₃ and 1.03×10⁻⁵ K⁻¹ for SrRuO₃ in the temperature range between 423 and 1073 K. The melting temperatures T_m of SrHfO₃ and SrRuO₃ are 3200 and 2575 K, respectively. The longitudinal and shear sound velocities were measured by an ultrasonic pulse-echo method at room temperature in air, which enables to evaluate the elastic moduli and Debye temperature. The heat capacity was measured by using a differential scanning calorimeter, DSC in high-purity argon atmosphere. The thermal diffusivity was measured by a laser flash method in vacuum. The thermal conductivities of SrHfO₃ and SrRuO₃ at room temperature are 5.20 and 5.97 W m⁻¹ K⁻¹, respectively.     

Growth and spectroscopic properties of Nd-doped Sr3Y2 (BO3)4 crystal

A new crystal of Nd³⁺:Sr₃Y₂ (BO₃)₄ with a dimension of Φ 15×30 mm³ was grown by the Czochralski method. The grown crystal was characterized using X-ray diffraction. The absorption and emission spectra of Nd³⁺:Sr₃Y₂ (BO₃)₄ were investigated. The absorption transition at 807 nm has an FWHM of 16 nm. The absorption and emission cross sections are 6.32×10⁻²⁰ cm² at 807 nm and 1.07×10⁻¹⁹ cm² at 1065 nm, respectively. The luminescence lifetime τ_f is 51.7 μs at room temperature.     

Magnetic behavior of spin-chain compounds, Sr3ZnRhO6 and Ca3NiMnO6, from heat capacity and AC susceptibility studies

Heat-capacity (C) and ac susceptibility measurements have been performed on the spin-chain compounds, Sr₃ZnRhO₆ and Ca₃NiMnO₆, to establish their magnetic behavior and to explore whether there are magnetic frustration effects due to antiferromagnetic coupling of the chains arranged in a triangular fashion. While the paramagnetic Curie temperatures have been known to be large with a negative sign, as though antiferromagnetic interaction is very strong, the results establish that (i) the former apparently undergoes inhomogeneous magnetic ordering only around 15 K, however without spin-glass anomalies, and (ii) the latter orders antiferromagnetically at a relatively low temperature (17 K). Thus, the magnetic frustration manifests differently in these compounds.     

Phase segregation in the Gd1−xSrxFeO3−δ series

Gd_1−xSr_xFeO_3−δ ferrites have been studied by means of X-ray powder diffraction in the whole composition range. Single-phase solid solution is found for x<0.09 and for x>0.63. At intermediate Sr content, phase segregation takes place. Compounds with x?0.05 crystallize in the orthorhombic structure, space group Pbnm. Oxygen-deficient Gd_1−xSr_xFeO_3−δ with x?2/3 are cubic or nearly cubic. The oxygen vacancies stabilize the cubic phase for x=2/3 whereas highly oxidized samples show an orthorhombic distortion, which has not been observed earlier. Magnetic and electrical properties have been measured for the single-phase solid solutions. Gd_1−xSr_xFeO_3−δ compounds with x?2/3 order antiferromagnetically below ∼100 K. In the paramagnetic region, their susceptibility follows the Curie-Weiss law in all but SrFeO_2.96 compound. These ferrites show semiconducting behavior in the electrical transport likely related to atomic disorder. We find that the conductivity activation energy becomes larger by increasing either the Gd content or the oxygen vacancies.     

Enhanced quantum yield of yellow photoluminescence of Dy ions in nonlinear optical Ba2TiSi2O8 nanocrystals formed in glass

Transparent crystallized glasses consisting of nonlinear optical Ba₂TiSi₂O₈ nanocrystals (diameter: ∼100 nm) are prepared through the crystallization of 40BaO-20TiO₂-40SiO₂-0.5Dy₂O₃ glass (in the molar ratio), and photoluminescence quantum yields of Dy³⁺ ions in the visible region are evaluated directly by using a photoluminescence spectrometer with an integrating sphere. The incorporation of Dy³⁺ ions into Ba₂TiSi₂O₈ nanocrystals is confirmed from the X-ray diffraction analyses. The total quantum yields of the emissions at the bands of ⁴F_9/2→⁶H_15/2 (blue: 484 nm), ⁴F_9/2→⁶H_13/2 (yellow: 575 nm), and ⁴F_9/2→⁶H_11/2 (red: 669 nm) in the crystallized glasses are ∼15%, being about four times larger compared with the precursor glass. It is found that the intensity of yellow (575 nm) emissions and the branching ratio of the yellow (575 nm)/blue (484 nm) intensity ratio increase largely due to the crystallization. It is suggested from Judd-Ofelt analyses that the site symmetry of Dy³⁺ ions in the crystallized glasses is largely distorted, giving a large increase in the yellow emissions. It is proposed that Dy³⁺ ions substitute Ba²⁺ sites in Ba₂TiSi₂O₈ nanocrystals.     

First principles studies of SnTiO3 perovskite as potential environmentally benign ferroelectric material

In the context of the search for environment-respectful, lead- and bismuth-free chemical compounds for devices such as actuators, SnTiO₃ (ST) is investigated from first principles within DFT. Full geometry optimization provides a stable tetragonal structure relative to cubic one. From the equation of state the equilibrium volume of SnTiO₃ is found smaller than ferroelectric PbTiO₃ (PT) in agreement with a smaller Sn²⁺ radius. While ionic displacements exhibit similar trends between ST and PT, a larger tetragonality (c/a ratio) for ST results in a larger polarization, P_ST = 1.1 Cm⁻². Within ST analyzes of site projected density of states and chemical bonding indicate a reinforcement of the bond covalence with respect to Pb homologue. Both PT and ST exhibit anomalous large effective charges and the dielectric constant of ST is calculated larger than PT.     

Low-temperature heat capacity of triangle antiferromagnetic molecular clusters K12[(VO)3(SbW9O33)2]·15H2O and K12[(VO)3(BiW9O33)2]·29H2O

Energy level diagrams have been determined for two molecular clusters, K₁₂[(VO)₃(SbW₉O₃₃)₂]·15H₂O and K₁₂[(VO)₃(BiW₉O₃₃)₂]·29H₂O, by low-temperature heat capacity measurements down to 85 mK under magnetic field strengths up to 9 T. Both compounds exhibit a broad heat capacity peak dependent upon the magnetic field, which can be explained by the thermal excitation in the magnetic energy levels. A detailed analysis based on the numerical calculation reveals that the spin-spin interaction between the V⁴⁺ ions includes a Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction.     

Antiferromagnetism in MUO3 (M=Na,K,Rb) studied by neutron diffraction

Simultaneous refinements of X-ray and neutron powder diffraction patterns taken on the MUO₃ perovskite compounds with M=Na, K and Rb, were performed to reveal anisotropy in the temperature factors, mainly of oxygen. No anisotropic thermal motion was found.The magnetic ordering of the compounds has been investigated with low temperature neutron diffraction. It is found that all these compounds show G-type antiferromagnetic ordering with a similar, orthorhombic magnetic unit cell. The propagation vector could only be determined for the orthorombic NaUO₃ compound and was found to point in the z-direction. The refined magnetic moment for U⁵⁺ in these structures was found to be around .     

Electronic band structure and chemical bonding in the new antiperovskites AsNMg3 and SbNMg3

The electronic properties of the new Mg-based antiperovskites AsNMg₃ and SbNMg₃ are investigated within the ab initio local-density full-potential LMTO-GGA method. Both compounds are ionic wide-gap semiconductors with a direct energy gap at Γ of 1.332 eV for AsNMg₃ and an indirect energy gap (Γ→M transitions) of 0.623 eV for SbNMg₃. The valence bands are composed mainly of N 2p and (As,Sb) np states. There is some covalent mixing between Mg-N and Mg-(As,Sb) valence states. The equilibrium values of lattice constants and the bulk modulus were also obtained.     

Magnetic structure of rare-earth dodecaborides

We have investigated the magnetic structure of HoB₁₂, ErB₁₂ and TmB₁₂ by neutron diffraction on isotopically enriched single-crystalline samples. Results in zero field as well as in magnetic field up to 5 T reveal modulated incommensurate magnetic structures in these compounds. The basic reflections can be indexed with q=(1/2±δ, 1/2±δ, 1/2±δ), where δ=0.035 both for HoB₁₂ and TmB₁₂ and with q=(3/2±δ, 1/2±δ, 1/2±δ), where δ=0.035, for ErB₁₂. In an applied magnetic field, new phases are observed. The complex magnetic structure of these materials seems to result from the interplay between the RKKY and dipole-dipole interaction. The role of frustration due to the fcc symmetry of dodecaborides and the crystalline electric field effect is also considered.     

Growth and spectroscopic characterization of Nd:Sr6GdSc(BO3)6 crystal

A crystal of Nd³⁺:Sr₆GdSc(BO₃)₆ with the dimension of φ20×30 mm³ was grown by Czochralski method. The grown crystal was characterized by X-ray diffraction and DSC analysis. The DSC analysis showed that the crystal congruently melt at 1306.7°C. The absorption and emission spectra of Nd³⁺:Sr₆GdSc(BO₃)₆ were investigated. The absorption band at 806 nm has a FWHM of 13 nm. The absorption and emission cross-sections are 2.33×10⁻²⁰ cm² at 806 nm and 1.58×10⁻¹⁹ cm² at 1062 nm, respectively. The luminescence lifetime τ_f is 75 μs at room temperature.     

Magnetic properties of DyCo5 and TbCo5 intermetallics from the electronic structure calculations

LSDA and LSDA+U calculations, with spin-orbit coupling (SOC) included, were performed for DyCo₅ and TbCo₅ intermetallic compounds. In the case of magnetic moments, LSDA-SOC calculations give results in good agreement with the experimental data. However, LSDA has shown to be unable to predict relative stabilities of ferromagnetic and ferrimagnetic configurations of the 4f and 3d spin sublattices giving the wrong result that the ferromagnetic configuration is more stable. LSDA+U method cures this problem and gives correct result. Additionally, within the accuracy of available experimental data, the corresponding effective exchange fields are in reasonable agreement with experiment.     

A systematic study on crystal structure and magnetic properties of Ln3GaO6 (Ln=Nd, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho and Er)

The crystal structures of a series of compounds with the composition Ln₃GaO₆(Ln=Nd, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho and Er) synthesized by solid-state reaction at 1400°C are investigated. X-ray diffraction shows that Ln₃GaO₆ has a non-centrosymmetric orthorhombic structure (space group Cmc2₁). Lattice parameters a,b,c and cell volume and the average distances between Ln(1)-O, Ln(2)-O of these compounds decrease with the decreasing of the radii of trivalent Ln ions, which accord with the expected lanthanide contraction behavior. There are two sites of seven-fold coordination for Ln atoms with oxygens, and Ga atoms are in oxygen tetrahedra which are distorted and elongated along the a-axis. Magnetization measurements indicate that the susceptibility χ changes with temperature in Curie-type manner.     

Magnetic and electrical transport properties of CaCrO3

The preparation of crystalline CaCrO₃ and some of its magnetic and electrical properties are reported. The electrical resistivity is metal like. The high-temperature susceptibility is Curie-Weiss paramagnetic with θ = −920°K, indicative of antiferromagnetic interactions; a break in the susceptibility at about 325°K suggests antiferromagnetic ordering at that temperature. A first-order transition occurs at 90°K accompanied by the appearance of a very small ferromagnetic moment and a discontinuity in the resistivity. X-ray data indicate that this is an 0-orthorhombic → 0′-orthorhombic crystallographic transformation. The low temperature state is probably a canted antiferromagnet.     

Growth modes and self-organization in the epitaxy of ferromagnetic SrRuO3 on SrTiO3(001)

We report on the self-organized formation of one-dimensional finger-like structures and the subsequent surface smoothing that occurs in the epitaxial growth of ferromagnetic and conductive SrRuO₃ films on SrTiO₃(001) substrates. We show that at an early stage of growth there are three-dimensional (3D) islands nucleated along the substrate steps, and we detail their coalescence to form fingers and later the coalescence of fingers to form planar surfaces. The influence of the Erlich–Schwoebel barrier on the morphology evolution is demonstrated. We discuss on the driving forces promoting 3D growth at the early stages.     

Optical properties of CeBO3 and CeB3O6 compounds: first-principles calculations and experimental results

The cerium borates o-CeBO₃, m-CeBO₃ and CeB₃O₆ have been shown to be isostructural to their lanthanum derivatives. From diffuse reflectance, electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) and band structure calculations, it has been evidenced that a Ce³⁺ 4f-5d transition is responsible for weak absorption peaks around 3.5 eV while the O2p-Ce5d charge transfer gives rise to a strong absorption around 7 eV. Starting from self-consistent full potential LAPW calculations, the dielectric tensors of the three compounds were computed and compared to experimental data. It results in a satisfactory fit between the observed and the calculated extinction coefficient k and the index of refraction n.     

Crystal structure and magnetic properties of Li,Cr-containing molybdates Li3Cr(MoO4)3, LiCr(MoO4)2 and Li1.8Cr1.2(MoO4)3

Single crystals of LiCr(MoO₄)₂, Li₃Cr(MoO₄)₃ and Li_1.8Cr_1.2(MoO₄)₃ were grown by a flux method during the phase study of the Li₂MoO₄-Cr₂(MoO₄)₃ system at 1023 K. LiCr(MoO₄)₂ and Li₃Cr(MoO₄)₃ single phases were synthesized by solid-state reactions. Li₃Cr(MoO₄)₃ adopts the same structure type as Li₃In(MoO₄)₃ despite the difference in ionic radii of Cr³⁺ and In³⁺ for octahedral coordination. Li₃Cr(MoO₄)₃ is paramagnetic down to 7 K and shows a weak ferromagnetic component below this temperature. LiCr(MoO₄)₂ is isostructural with LiAl(MoO₄)₂ and orders antiferromagnetically below 20 K. The magnetic structure of LiCr(MoO₄)₂ was determined from low-temperature neutron diffraction and is based on the propagation vektor . The ordered magnetic moments were refined to 2.3(1) μ_B per Cr-ion with an easy axis close to the [1 1 1¯] direction. A magnetic moment of 4.37(3) μ_B per Cr-ion was calculated from the Curie constant for the paramagnetic region.The crystal structures of the hitherto unknown Li_1.8Cr_1.2(MoO₄)₃ and LiCr(MoO₄)₂ are compared and reveal a high degree of similarity: In both structures MoO₄-tetrahedra are isolated from each other and connected with CrO₆ and LiO₅ via corners. In both modifications there are Cr₂O₁₀ fragments of edge-sharing CrO₆-octahedra.     

Magnetic Co3O4 nanowires,preparation and properties

The Co₃O₄ nanowires have been successfully synthesized via modified template method.The as-prepared products have been characterized by EDS,TEM and HRTEM analysis.The magnetic behavior of it is investigated by a magnetic property measurement system.The nanowires exhibit some novel magnetic properties,which are different from its bulk material.The temperature dependence curves of magnetization in zero-field-cooling and field-cooling exhibit two peaks of antiferromagnetic at blocking temperature of～23 K and～31 K,respectively.The field dependent M（H） curves of the Co₃O₄ nanowires at T = 5 and 300 K both exhibit PM properties.Moreover,the diameter of nanowires is hence determined according to the finite size effect as approximately 7-11 nm,in consistent with the characterizations by HRTEM.