A photoelectron study of the alkali chlorides

Precise values have been determined for the binding energies of the outer electronic bands of the alkali chlorides using ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy. A constant difference of 1.2(1) eV between experimental and Born model binding energies is attributed to polarization effects. A splitting of 1.8 eV (spin-orbit) in the Cs 5p band, and a splitting of 2.1 eV (crystal field) in the LiCl (cl^?3p) band have been observed. The measured widths of the Cl^?3p bands are compared with density of states calculations.     

First-principles electronic structure study of the monoclinic crystal bismuth triborate BiB3O6

Monoclinic BiB(3)O(6) is an excellent nonlinear optical material with many advantages compared to other borate crystals. The origins of the optical effects and the chemical stability of BiB(3)O(6) are studied with gradient-corrected hybrid B3PW density functional theory within the Gaussian-orbital-based CO-LCAO scheme. Including spin-orbit coupling, the B3PW hybrid functional provides an estimate of the indirect band gap of 4.29-4.99 eV closer to the experimental value of 4.3 eV than HF, LDA, or GGA. The crystal orbital overlap population to give a detailed first-principles analysis of chemical bonding and the density of optical absorptions by convoluting the occupied density of states and the virtual density of states have been calculated. Obvious Bi-O covalent bonds have been found with different energy ranges for 6s-2p and 6p-2p interactions. The reason that [BiO(4)](5-) units are mainly responsible for the optics of BiB(3)O(6) in the long-wavelength region is due to the electronic transfer from occupied O 2p to empty Bi 6p orbitals favored by the Bi-O covalent bonds. The relativistic and correlation effects lead to fundamental differences of the band structure, chemical bonds, and optical effects for BiB(3)O(6) compared with nonrelativistic and uncorrelated calculations.     

The triplet state of cytosine and its derivatives: electron impact and quantum chemical study

The excitation of the lowest electronic states and vibrational excitation of cytosine (C) have been studied using electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS, 0-100 eV) with angular analysis. The singlet states have been found to be in good agreement with UV-VIS absorption results on sublimed films, slightly blueshifted by about 0.1 eV. The EEL spectra recorded at residual energy below 2 eV show clear shoulders at energy losses of 3.50 and 4.25 eV (+/-0.1 eV). They are assigned to the lowest triplet electronic states of cytosine. Energies and molecular structures of the lowest-lying triplet state of C and its methylated and halogenated 5-X-C, 6-X-C, and 5-X, 6-X-C substituted derivatives (X=CH3, F, Cl, and Br) have been studied using quantum chemical calculations with both molecular orbital and density functional methods, in conjunction with the 6-311++G(d,p), 6-311++G(3df,2p), and aug-cc-pVTZ basis sets. The triplet-singlet energy gap obtained using coupled-cluster theory [CCSD(T)] and density functional theory (DFT) methods agrees well with those derived from EELS study. The first C's vertical triplet state is located at 3.6 eV, in good agreement with experiment. The weak band observed at 4.25 eV is tentatively assigned to the second C's vertical triplet excitation. For the substituted cytosines considered, the vertical triplet state is consistently centered at 3.0-3.2 eV above the corresponding singlet ground state but about 1.0 eV below the first excited singlet state. Geometrical relaxation involving out-of-plane distortions of hydrogen atoms leads to a stabilization of 0.6-1.0 eV in favor of the equilibrium triplet. The lowest-lying adiabatic triplet states are located at 2.3-3.0 eV. Halogen substitution at both C(5) and C(6) positions tends to reduce the triplet-singlet separations whereas methylation tends to enlarge it. The vibrational modes of triplet cytosine and the ionization energies of substituted derivatives were also evaluated.     

Electronic structure of A- and B-site doped lanthanum manganites: a combined X-ray spectroscopic study

The electronic properties of a series of colossal magnetoresistance (CMR) compounds, namely LaMnO3, La(1-x)Ba(x)(MnO3 (0.2 < or = x < or = 0.55), La(0.76)Ba(0.24)Mn(0.84)Co(0.16)O3, and La(0.76)Ba(0.24)Mn(0.78)Ni(0.22)O3, have been investigated in a detailed spectroscopic study. A combination of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), X-ray emission spectroscopy (XES), X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS), and resonant inelastic X-ray scattering (RIXS) was used to reveal a detailed picture of the electronic structure in the presence of Ba, Co, and Ni doping in different concentrations. The results are compared with available theory. The valence band of La(1-x)()Ba(x)MnO3 (0 < or = x < or = 0.55) is dominated by La 5p, Mn 3d, and O 2p states, and strong hybridization between Mn 3d and O 2p states is present over the whole range of Ba concentrations. Co-doping at the Mn site leads to an increased occupancy of the e(g) states near the Fermi energy and an increase in the XPS valence band intensity between 0.5 and 5 eV, whereas the Ni-doped sample shows a lower density of occupied states near the Fermi energy. The Ni d states are located in a band spanning the energy range of 1.5-5 eV. XAS spectra indicate that the hole doping leads to mixed Mn 3d-O 2p states. Furthermore, RIXS at the Mn L edge has been used to probe d-d transitions and charge-transfer excitations in La(1-x)Ba(x)MnO3.     

Quantum chemical modeling of photoadsorption properties of the nitrogen-vacancy point defect in diamond

Quantum chemical calculations of geometric and electronic structure and vertical transition energies for several low-lying excited states of the neutral and negatively charged nitrogen-vacancy point defect in diamond (NV(0) and NV(-)) have been performed employing various theoretical methods and basis sets and using finite model NC(n)H(m) clusters. Unpaired electrons in the ground doublet state of NV(0) and triplet state of NV(-) are found to be localized mainly on three carbon atoms around the vacancy and the electronic density on the nitrogen and rest of C atoms is only weakly disturbed. The lowest excited states involve different electronic distributions on molecular orbitals localized close to the vacancy and their wave functions exhibit a strong multireference character with significant contributions from diffuse functions. CASSCF calculations underestimate excitation energies for the anionic defect and overestimate those for the neutral system. The inclusion of dynamic electronic correlation at the CASPT2 level leads to a reasonable agreement (within 0.25 eV) of the calculated transition energy to the lowest excited state with experiment for both systems. Several excited states for NV(-) are found in the energy range of 2-3 eV, but only for the 1(3)E and 5(3)E states the excitation probabilities from the ground state are significant, with the first absorption band calculated at approximately 1.9 eV and the second lying 0.8-1 eV higher in energy than the first one. For NV(0), we predict the following order of electronic states: 1(2)E (0.0), 1(2)A(2) (approximately 2.4 eV), 2(2)E (2.7-2.8 eV), 1(2)A(1), 3(2)E (approximately 3.2 eV and higher).     

A Probe of Valence and Conduction Band Electronic Structure of Lead Oxide Films for Photodetectors

We investigate how the electronic structure of amorphous lead oxide (a-PbO) films deposited on ITO substrate is changed after annealing at various temperatures. Both experimental soft X-ray spectroscopic and density functional theory (DFT) based computational techniques are used to explore the electronic structure of this material. X-ray emission, resonant X-ray inelastic scattering, and X-ray absorption spectroscopic techniques are employed to directly probe the valence and conduction bands. We discover that the films are very stable and remain amorphous when exposed to temperatures below 300 °C. An amorphous-to-polycrystalline (α-PbO phase) transformation occurs during annealing at 400 °C. At 500 °C, an alpha to beta phase change is observed. These structural modifications are accompanied by the band gap value changing from 1.4±0.2 eV to 2.0±0.2 eV upon annealing at 400 °C and to 2.6±0.2 eV upon annealing at 500 °C. A difference between surface and bulk structural properties is found for all samples annealed at 500 °C and above; these samples also exhibit an unexpected suppression of O : 2p density of states (DOS) near the bottom of the conduction band, whereas additional electronic states appear well within the valence band. This study provides a significant step forward to understanding the electronic properties of two polymorphic forms of PbO needed for optimization of this material for use in X-ray sensors.     

DFT calculations on the electronic structures of BiOX (X = F, Cl, Br, I) photocatalysts with and without semicore Bi 5d states

The electronic structures of BiOX (X = F, Cl, Br, I) photocatalysts have been calculated with and without Bi 5d states using the experimental lattice parameters, via the plane-wave pseudopotential method based on density functional theory (DFT). BiOF exhibits a direct band gap of 3.22 or 3.12 eV corresponding to the adoption of Bi 5d states or not. The indirect band gaps of BiOCl, BiOBr, and BiOI are 2.80, 2.36, and 1.75 eV, respectively, if calculated with Bi 5d states, whereas the absence of Bi 5d states reduces them to 2.59, 2.13, and 1.53 eV successively. The calculated gap characteristics and the falling trend of gap width with the increasing X atomic number agree with the experimental results, despite the common DFT underestimation of gap values. The shapes of valence-band tops and conduction-band bottoms are almost independent of the involvement of Bi 5d states. The indirect characteristic becomes more remarkable, and the conduction-band bottom flattens in the sequence of BiOCl, BiOBr, and BiOI. Both O 2p and X np (n = 2, 3, 4, and 5 for X = F, Cl, Br, and I, respectively) states dominate the valence bands, whereas Bi 6p states contribute the most to the conduction bands. With the growing X atomic number, the localized X np states shift closer toward the valence-band tops, and the valence and conduction bandwidths evolve in opposite trends. Atomic and bond populations have also been explored to elucidate the atomic interactions, along with the spatial distribution of orbital density.     

DFT+U study of defects in bulk rutile TiO(2)

We present a systematic study of electronic gap states in defected titania using our implementation of the Hubbard-U approximation in the grid-based projector-augmented wave density functional theory code, GPAW. The defects considered are Ti interstitials, O vacancies, and H dopants in the rutile phase of bulk titanium dioxide. We find that by applying a sufficiently large value for the Hubbard-U parameter of the Ti 3d states, the excess electrons localize spatially at the Ti sites and appear as states in the band gap. At U=2.5?eV, the position in energy of these gap states are in fair agreement with the experimental observations. In calculations with several excess electrons and U=2.5?eV, all of these end up in gap states that are spatially localized around specific Ti atoms, thus effectively creating one Ti(3+) ion per excess electron. An important result of this investigation is that regardless of which structural defect is the origin of the gap states, at U=2.5?eV, these states are found to have their mean energies within a few hundredths of an eV from 0.94 eV below the conduction band minimum.     

Theoretical study of CeO2 and Ce2O3 using a screened hybrid density functional

The predicted structures and electronic properties of CeO(2) and Ce(2)O(3) have been studied using conventional and hybrid density functional theory. The lattice constant and bulk modulus for CeO(2) from local (LSDA) functionals are in good agreement with experiment, while the lattice parameter from a generalized gradient approximation (GGA) is too long. This situation is reversed for Ce(2)O(3), where the LSDA lattice constant is much too short, while the GGA result is in reasonable agreement with experiment. Significantly, the screened hybrid HSE functional gives excellent agreement with experimental lattice constants for both CeO(2) and Ce(2)O(3). All methods give insulating ground states for CeO(2) with gaps for the 4f band lying between 1.7 eV (LSDA) and 3.3 eV (HSE) and 6-8 eV for the conduction band. For Ce(2)O(3) the local and GGA functionals predict a semimetallic ground state with small (0-0.3 eV) band gap but weak ferromagnetic coupling between the Ce(+3) centers. By contrast, the HSE functional gives an insulating ground state with a band gap of 3.2 eV and antiferromagnetic coupling. Overall, the hybrid HSE functional gives a consistent picture of both the structural and electronic properties of CeO(2) and Ce(2)O(3) while treating the 4f band consistently in both oxides.     

Electronic and structural properties of the (1010) and (1120) ZnO surfaces

The structural and electronic properties of ZnO (1010) and (1120) surfaces were investigated by means of density functional theory applied to periodic calculations at B3LYP level. The stability and relaxation effects for both surfaces were analyzed. The electronic and energy band properties were discussed on the basis of band structure as well as density of states. There is a significant relaxation in the (1010) as compared to the (1120) terminated surfaces. The calculated direct gap is 3.09, 2.85, and 3.09 eV for bulk, (1010), and (1120) surfaces, respectively. The band structures for both surfaces are very similar.     

The electronic states of 1,2,3-triazole studied by vacuum ultraviolet photoabsorption and ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy, and a comparison with ab initio configuration interaction methods

The Rydberg states in the vacuum ultraviolet photoabsorption spectrum of 1,2,3-triazole have been measured and analyzed with the aid of comparison to the UV valence photoelectron ionizations and the results of ab initio configuration interaction (CI) calculations. Calculated electronic ionization and excitation energies for singlet, triplet valence, and Rydberg states were obtained using multireference multiroot CI procedures with an aug-cc-pVTZ [5s3p3d1f] basis set and a set of Rydberg [4s3p3d3f] functions. Adiabatic excitation energies obtained for several electronic states using coupled-cluster (singles, doubles, and triples) and complete active space self-consistent field procedures agree well with experimental values. Variations in bond lengths with the electronic state are discussed. The lowest energy UV band (～5.5-6.5 eV) is assigned to three electronically excited states and demonstrates the occurrence of a nonplanar upper state on the low energy side. A UV photoelectron spectrum with an improved resolution yielded adiabatic and vertical ionization energies and reorganization energies for several of the lowest cationic states. As well as excitations to the s, p, d-Rydberg states are the excitations consistent with an f-series.     

Electronic spectroscopy and ultrafast energy relaxation pathways in the lowest Rydberg States of trimethylamine

Resonance-enhanced multiphoton ionization photoelectron spectroscopy has been applied to study the electronic spectroscopy and relaxation pathways among the 3p and 3s Rydberg states of trimethylamine. The experiments used femtosecond and picosecond duration laser pulses at wavelengths of 416, 266, and 208 nm and employed two-photon and three-photon ionization schemes. The binding energy of the 3s Rydberg state was found to be 3.087 +/- 0.005 eV. The degenerate 3p x, y states have binding energies of 2.251 +/- 0.005 eV, and 3p z is at 2.204 +/- 0.005 eV. Using picosecond and femtosecond time-resolved experiments we spectrally and temporally resolved an intricate sequence of energy relaxation pathways leading from the 3p states to the 3s state. With excitation at 5.96 eV, trimethylamine is found to decay from the 3p z state to 3p x, y in 539 fs. The decay to 3s from all the 3p states takes place with a 2.9 ps time constant. On these time scales, trimethylamine does not fragment at the given internal energies, which range from 0.42 to 1.54 eV depending on the excitation wavelength and electronic state.     

Probing the electronic structures of ternary perovskite and pyrochlore oxides containing Sn(4+) or Sb(5+)

Experimental and computational studies were performed to understand the electronic structure of ternary perovskites (ASnO(3), A = Ca, Sr, Ba, Cd), pyrochlores (RE(2)Sn(2)O(7), RE = Y, La, Lu; Cd(2)Sb(2)O(7)), and defect pyrochlore oxides (Ag(2)Sb(2)O(6)) containing the main group ions Sn(4+) and Sb(5+). In all compounds, the lowest energy states in the conduction band arise primarily from the antibonding Sn/Sb 5s-O 2p interaction. In the alkaline-earth stannate perovskites (BaSnO(3), SrSnO(3), and CaSnO(3)) the conduction bandwidth decreases strongly in response to the octahedral tilting distortion triggered by the decreasing size of the alkaline-earth cation. This in turn leads to a corresponding increase in the band gap from 3.1 eV in BaSnO(3) to 4.4 eV in CaSnO(3). The band gap of CdSnO(3) is relatively small (3.0 eV) considering the large octahedral tilting distortion. The origin of this apparent anomaly is the mixing between the empty Cd 5s orbitals and the antibonding Sn 5s-O 2p states. This mixing leads to a widening of the conduction band and a corresponding decrease in the band gap. The participation of the normally inert A-site cation in the electronic structure near the Fermi level can be considered an inductive effect, as it utilizes substitution on the A-site to directly modify the electronic structure of the SnO(3)(2)(-) framework. While the pyrochlore structure is more complicated, the energy level and width of the lowest energy conduction band can be analyzed in a manner similar to that utilized on the perovskite structure. The Sn-O-Sn and Sb-O-Sb bonds are highly distorted from linear geometry in pyrochlore, leading to a relatively narrow conduction band and a wide band gap. In Cd(2)Sb(2)O(7) and Ag(2)Sb(2)O(6) the Cd(2+) and Ag(+) ions exhibit a strong inductive effect that widens the conduction band and lowers the band gap significantly, very similar to the effect observed in the perovskite form of CdSnO(3).     

Band structure and electronic properties of lithium azide (LiN3)

Ab initio Hartree–Fock band structure and molecular calculations have been performed to study the electronic structure of LiN₃ in a monoclinic C 2/m crystal structure. The total energy, band structure, density of states, and charge densities are computed. The calculated lattice energy (energy to separate the ions infinitely apart) of 8.6 eV agrees very well with 8.45 eV deduced from Madelung and London polarizability energies. The calculated split of the N 1s core bands of 5.0 eV compares favorably with the experimental X-ray photoelectron value of 4.4 eV. This good agreement is not contributed to crystalline environment effects as proposed in earlier MO studies of N where the best values obtained were 5.1, 5.8, and 6.3 eV, but to the quality of the nitrogen core basis set. The calculated valence density of states supports one of two competing interpretations that peak III observed in the X-ray photoelectron spectrum arises from contaminations or other extrinsic states.     

First-principles study of structural,elastic, electronic and optical properties of perovskites XCaH3 (X = Cs and Rb) under pressure

The stability, structural parameters, elastic constants, electronic and optical properties of perovskites CsCaH₃ and RbCaH₃ were investigated by the density functional theory. The calculated lattice parameters are in agreement with previous calculation and experimental data. The energy band structures, density of states, born-effective-charge and Mulliken charge population were obtained. The perovskites CsCaH₃ and RbCaH₃ present a direct band gap of 3.15 eV and 3.27 eV at equilibrium. The top of the valence bands reflects the s electronic character for both structures. Furthermore, the absorption spectrum, refractive index, extinction coefficient, reflectivity, energy-loss spectrum, and dielectric function were calculated. The origin of the spectral peaks was interpreted based on the electronic structures. The static dielectric constant and refractive index are indeed, inverse proportional to the direct band gap.     

Electronic properties of liquid ammonia: a sequential molecular dynamics/quantum mechanics approach

The electronic properties of liquid ammonia are investigated by a sequential molecular dynamics/quantum mechanics approach. Quantum mechanics calculations for the liquid phase are based on a reparametrized hybrid exchange-correlation functional that reproduces the electronic properties of ammonia clusters [(NH3)n; n=1-5]. For these small clusters, electron binding energies based on Green's function or electron propagator theory, coupled cluster with single, double, and perturbative triple excitations, and density functional theory (DFT) are compared. Reparametrized DFT results for the dipole moment, electron binding energies, and electronic density of states of liquid ammonia are reported. The calculated average dipole moment of liquid ammonia (2.05+/-0.09 D) corresponds to an increase of 27% compared to the gas phase value and it is 0.23 D above a prediction based on a polarizable model of liquid ammonia [Deng et al., J. Chem. Phys. 100, 7590 (1994)]. Our estimate for the ionization potential of liquid ammonia is 9.74+/-0.73 eV, which is approximately 1.0 eV below the gas phase value for the isolated molecule. The theoretical vertical electron affinity of liquid ammonia is predicted as 0.16+/-0.22 eV, in good agreement with the experimental result for the location of the bottom of the conduction band (-V 0=0.2 eV). Vertical ionization potentials and electron affinities correlate with the total dipole moment of ammonia aggregates.     

Energy level and band alignment for GaAs-alkylthiol monolayer-Hg junctions from electrical transport and photoemission experiments

A series of p- and n-GaAs-S-C(n)H(2n+1) || Hg junctions are prepared, and the electronic transport through them is measured. From current-voltage measurements, we find that, for n-GaAs, transport occurs by both thermionic emission and tunneling, with the former dominating at low forward bias and the latter dominating at higher forward bias. For p-GaAs, tunneling dominates at all bias voltages. By combining the analysis of the transport data with results from direct and inverse photoemission spectroscopy, we deduce an energy band diagram of the system, including the tunnel barrier and, with this barrier and within the Simmons tunneling model, extract an effective mass value of 1.5-1.6m(e) for the electronic carriers that cross the junctions. We find that transport is well-described by lowest unoccupied and highest occupied states at 1.3-1.4 eV above and 2.0-2.2 eV below the Fermi level. At the same time, the photoemission data indicate that there are continua of states from the conduction band minimum and the valence band maximum, the density of which varies with energy. On the basis of our results, it appears likely that, for both types of junctions, electrons are the main carrier type, although holes may contribute significantly to the transport in the p-GaAs system.     

On the doubly ionized states of Ar2 and their intra- and interatomic decay to Ar2 3+

Potential energy curves of the Auger state Ar+(2p(-1))-Ar, the different one- and two-site dicationic states Ar2 ++ (with energies in the range of 32-77 eV), and the lowest two-site tricationic states Ar++ - Ar+ (with energies in the range of 64-76 eV) computed using elaborated ab initio methods are reported. The accessible relaxation channels of the electronic states of Ar++ - Ar populated by Auger decay are studied. In particular, we study in detail the interatomic Coulombic decay following the population of one-site satellite states of Ar++(3s(-1)3p(-1))-Ar recently observed experimentally. Other relaxation pathways of Ar++ - Ar, including radiative charge transfer, nuclear dynamics through curve crossing, and intra-atomic decay processes are also investigated.