Electronic and optical properties of the zinc-blende structured LiZnN under pressure

The electronic and optical properties of the cubic zinc-blende (ZB) structured filled tetrahedral semiconductor α-LiZnN under pressure are investigated by using \textit{ab initio} plane wave pseudopotential density functional theory method within the generalized gradient approximation (GGA). The electronic band structure and the density of state under pressure are systematically described. The basic optical constants, including the reflection and absorption spectra, the energy-loss function, the complex refractive index and the dielectric function, are calculated and analysed at different external pressures. Our results suggested that the ZB α-LiZnN is transparent in the partially ultra-violet to the visible light region, and it seems that the transparency is hardly affected by the pressure.     

Anisotropic properties of TaS2

The anisotropic properties of 1T- and 2H-TaS2 axe investigated by the density functional theory within the framework of full-potential linearized augmented plane wave method. The band structures of 1T- and 2H-TaS2 exhibit anisotropic properties and the calculated electronic specific-heat coefficient γ of 2H-TaS2 accords well with the existing experimental value. The anisotropic frequency-dependent dielectric functions including the effect of the Drude term are analysed, where the ε^xx（ω） spectra corresponding to the electric field E perpendicular to the z axis show excellent agreement with the measured results except for the ε1^xx（ω） of 1T-TaS2 below the energy level of 2.6 eV which is due to the lack of the enough CDW information for reference in our calculation. Furthermore, based on the values of optical effective mass ratio P of 1T and 2H phases it is found that the anisotropy in 2H-TaS2 is stronger than that in 1T-TaS2.     

Structural and thermodynamic properties of wurtzite-type aluminium nitride from first-principles calculations

The lattice parameter, bulk modulus and its pressure derivative of the wurtzite-type aluminium nitride (w-AlN) are investigated by using the Cambridge Serial Total Energy Package (CASTEP) program in the framework of Density Functional Theory (DFT). The calculated results are in good agreement with the available experimental data and other theoretical results. Through the quasi-harmonic Debye model, the dependences of the normalized lattice parameters $a/a_{0}$ and $ c/c_{0}$, axial ratio $c/a$, normalized primitive-cell volume $V/V_{0}$, Debye temperature ${\it\Theta} _{\rm D} $ and heat capacity $C_{\rm V}$ on pressure $P $ and temperature $ T$ are obtained. It is found that the interlayer covalent interactions (Al-N bonds) are more (even a little) sensitive to temperature and pressure than intralayer ones (N--N bonds), which gives rise to a little lattice anisotropy in the w-AlN.     

Pressure-induced stable structures and physical properties of Sr-Ge system

We have systematically investigated the structures of Sr-Ge system under pressures up to 200 GPa and found six stable stoichiometric structures, they being Sr$_{3}$Ge, Sr$_{2}$Ge, SrGe, SrGe$_{2}$, SrGe$_{3}$, and SrGe$_{4}$. We demonstrate the interesting structure evolution behaviors in Sr-Ge system with the increase of germanium content, Ge atoms arranging into isolated anions in Sr$_{3}$Ge, chains in Sr$_{2}$Ge, square units in SrGe, trigonal units and hexahedrons in SrGe$_{2}$, cages in SrGe$_{3}$, hexagons and Ge$_{8}$ rings in SrGe$_{4}$. The structural diversity produces various manifestations of electronic structures, which is of benefit to electrical transportation. Among them, these novel phases with metallic structures show superconductivity (maximum $T_{\rm c}\sim 8.94$ K for Pmmn Sr$_{3}$Ge). Notably, the n-type semiconducting Pnma SrGe$_{2}$ structure exhibits high Seebeck coefficient and excellent electrical conductivity along the $y$ direction, leading to a high $ZT$ value up to 1.55 at 500 K, which can be potential candidates as high-performance thermoelectrics. Our results will enable the development of fundamental science in condensed matter physics and potential applications in novel electronics or thermoelectric materials.     

First-principles investigations on elastic and thermodynamic properties of zinc-blende structure BeS

In this paper the elastic and thermodynamic properties of the cubic zinc-blende structure BeS at different pressures and temperatures are investigated by using \textit{ab initio} plane-wave pseudopotential density functional theory method within the generalized gradient approximation (GGA). The calculated results are in excellent agreement with the available experimental data and other theoretical results. It is found that the zinc-blende structure BeS should be unstable above 60GPa. The thermodynamic properties of the zinc-blende structure BeS are predicted by using the quasi-harmonic Debye model. The pressure-volume-temperature ($P-V-T$) relationship, the variations of the thermal expansion coefficient $\alpha$ and the heat capacity $C_{V}$ with pressure $P$ and temperature $T$, as well as the Gr\"{u}neisen parameter-pressure-temperature ($\gamma -P-T$) relationship are obtained systematically in the ranges of 0--90GPa and 0--2000K.     

Steady-state and transient electronic transport properties of β-(AlxGa1-x)2O3/Ga2O3 heterostructures: An ensemble Monte Carlo simulation

The steady-state and transient electron transport properties of $\beta $-(Al$_{x}$Ga$_{1-x}$)$_{2}$O$_{3}$/Ga$_{2}$O$_{3}$ heterostructures were investigated by Monte Carlo simulation with the classic three-valley model. In particular, the electronic band structures were acquired by first-principles calculations, which could provide precise parameters for calculating the transport properties of the two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG), and the quantization effect was considered in the $\varGamma $ valley with the five lowest subbands. Wave functions and energy eigenvalues were obtained by iteration of the Schrödinger-Poisson equations to calculate the 2DEG scattering rates with five main scattering mechanisms considered. The simulated low-field electron mobilities agree well with the experimental results, thus confirming the effectiveness of our models. The results show that the room temperature electron mobility of the $\beta $-(Al$_{0.188}$Ga$_{0.812}$)$_{2}$O$_{3}$/Ga$_{2}$O$_{3}$ heterostructure at 10 kV$ \cdot$cm$^{-1}$ is approximately 153.669 cm$^{2}\cdot$V$^{-1}\cdot$s$^{-1}$, and polar optical phonon scattering would have a significant impact on the mobility properties at this time. The region of negative differential mobility, overshoot of the transient electron velocity and negative diffusion coefficients are also observed when the electric field increases to the corresponding threshold value or even exceeds it. This work offers significant parameters for the $\beta$-(Al$_{x}$Ga$_{1-x}$)$_{2}$O$_{3}$/Ga$_{2}$O$_{3}$ heterostructure that may benefit the design of high-performance $\beta$-(Al$_{x}$Ga$_{1-x}$)$_{2}$O$_{3}$/Ga$_{2}$O$_{3}$ heterostructure-based devices.     

Effects of preparation parameters on growth and properties of β-Ga2O3 film

The Ga$_{2}$O$_{3}$ films are deposited on the Si and quartz substrates by magnetron sputtering, and annealing. The effects of preparation parameters (such as argon-oxygen flow ratio, sputtering power, sputtering time and annealing temperature) on the growth and properties ($e.g.$, surface morphology, crystal structure, optical and electrical properties of the films) are studied by x-ray diffractometer (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), and ultraviolet-visible spectrophotometer (UV-Vis). The results show that the thickness, crystallization quality and surface roughness of the $\beta $-Ga$_{2}$O$_{3}$ film are influenced by those parameters. All $\beta $-Ga$_{2}$O$_{3 }$films show good optical properties. Moreover, the value of bandgap increases with the enlarge of the percentage of oxygen increasing, and decreases with the increase of sputtering power and annealing temperature, indicating that the bandgap is related to the quality of the film and affected by the number of oxygen vacancy defects. The $I$-$V$ curves show that the Ohmic behavior between metal and $\beta $-Ga$_{2}$O$_{3}$ films is obtained at 900 ${^\circ}$C. Those results will be helpful for the further research of $\beta $-Ga$_{2}$O$_{3}$ photoelectric semiconductor.     

Electronic structure and thermodynamic properties of LiBC under high pressure

This paper investigates the electronic structure and thermodynamic properties of LiBC in the hexagonal structure by using the generalized gradient approximation （GGA） and local density approximation correction scheme in the frame of density functional theory. The geometric structure of LiBC under zero pressure, and the dependences of the normalized lattice parameters a/ao and c/co, the ratio e/a, the normalized primitive volume V/Vo on pressure are given. The thermodynamic quantity （including the heat capacity Cv, Debye temperature 6~D, thermal expansion a and Grfineisen parameter -y） dependences on temperature and pressure are obtained through the GGA method and the quasi-harmonic Debye model. The band structures and density of state of LiBC under different pressures have also been analysed.     

Study on the transition from filamentary discharge to diffuse discharge by using a dielectric barrier surface discharge device

Discharge characteristics have been investigated in different gases under different pressures using a dielectric barrier surface discharge device. Electrical measurements and optical emission spectroscopy are used to study the discharge, and the results obtained show that the discharges in atmospheric pressure helium and in low-pressure air are diffuse, while that in high-pressure air is filamentary. With decreasing pressure, the discharge in air can transit from filamentary to diffuse one. The results also indicate that corona discharge around the stripe electrode is important for the diffuse discharge. The spectral intensity of N电介质 表面放电 扩散放电 发射光谱学dielectric barrier surface discharge, diffuse discharge, optical emission spectroscopyProject supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos 10575027 and 10647123), the National Science Foundation of Hebei Province, China (Grant No A2007000134), the Education Department of Hebei Province, China (Grant No 2006106),2006-10-24Discharge characteristics have been investigated in different gases under different pressures using a dielectric barrier surface discharge device. Electrical measurements and optical emission spectroscopy are used to study the discharge, and the results obtained show that the discharges in atmospheric pressure helium and in low-pressure air are diffuse, while that in high-pressure air is filamentary. With decreasing pressure, the discharge in air can transit from filamentary to diffuse one. The results also indicate that corona discharge around the stripe electrode is important for the diffuse discharge. The spectral intensity of N＋ （391.4nm） relative to N2 （337.1 nm） is measured during the transition from diffuse to filamentary discharge. It is shown that relative spectral intensity increases during the discharge transition. This phenomenon implies that the averaged electron energy in diffuse discharge is higher than that in the filamentary discharge.     

30-5000eV的电子被若干分子散射的总截面计算的一种修正势方法

利用可加性规则，使用Hartree-Fock波函数，采用由束缚原子概念修正过的复光学势，在30~5000eV这一较大的能域内对电子被N2、NO、NO2、CH4、CF4、CF3H、C2H2及C2H4散射的总截面进行了计算。束缚原子不同于自由原子之处，是束缚原子概念考虑了不同分子中的不同的电子云重叠情况，并根据电子云的重叠情况对复光学势进行修正。文中，将定量的计算结果与实验结果及其它理论计算结果进行了比较，结果显示出在30~5000eV内，计算结果与实验结果及其它理论计算结果间有较好的一致性。同时结果也表明，在较低的能量下，尤其是当入射电子的能量低于500eV时，利用被束缚原子概念修正过的复光学势进行计算得到的结果，要比利用未被束缚原子概念修正的复光学势计算得到的结果更接近于实验值。因此，在复光学势中考虑电子云的重叠效应可改善电子被分子散射的总截面的计算精度。     

Magnetic properties and magnetocaloric effect in RE55Co30Al10Si5 (RE = Er and Tm) amorphous ribbons

The magnetic and magnetocaloric effects (MCE) of the amorphous $RE_{55}$Co$_{30}$Al$_{10}$Si$_{5}$ ($RE={\rm Er}$ and Tm) ribbons were systematically investigated in this paper. Compounds with $R ={\rm Er}$ and Tm undergo a second-order magnetic phase transition from ferromagnetic (FM) to paramagnetic (PM) around Curie temperature $T_{\rm C} \sim 9.3$ K and 3 K, respectively. For Er$_{55}$Co$_{30}$Al$_{10}$Si$_{5}$ compound, an obvious magnetic hysteresis and thermal hysteresis were observed at low field below 6 K, possibly due to spin-glass behavior. Under the field change of 0 T-5 T, the maximum values of magnetic entropy change ($-\Delta S_{\rm M}^{\rm max}$) reach as high as 15.6 J/kg$\cdot$K and 15.7 J/kg$\cdot$K for Er$_{55}$Co$_{30}$Al$_{10}$Si$_{5}$ and Tm$_{55}$Co$_{30}$Al$_{10}$Si$_{5}$ compounds, corresponding refrigerant capacity (RC) values are estimated as 303 J/kg and 189 J/kg, respectively. The large MCE makes amorphous $RE_{55}$Co$_{30}$Al$_{10}$Si$_{5 }$ ($RE={\rm Er}$ and Tm) alloys become very attractive magnetic refrigeration materials in the low-temperature region.     

Electronic structure and optical properties of In-doped SrTiO3 by density function theory

The effect of In doping on the electronic structure and optical properties of SrTiO3 is investigated by the first-principles calculation of plane wave ultra-soft pseudo-potential based on the density function theory （DFT）. The calculated results reveal that due to the hole doping, the Fermi level shifts into valence bands （VBs） for SrTi1-x InxO3 with x = 0.125 and the system exhibits p-type degenerate semiconductor features. It is suggested according to the density of states （DOS） of SrTi0.875In0.125O3 that the band structure of p-type SrTIO3 can be described by a rigid band model. At the same time, the DOS shifts towards high energies and the optical band gap is broadened. The wide band gap, small transition probability and weak absorption due to the low partial density of states （PDOS） of impurity in the Fermi level result in the optical transparency of the film. The optical transmittance of In doped SrTiO3 is higher than 85% in a visible region, and the transmittance improves greatly. And the cut-off wavelength shifts into a blue-light region with the increase of In doping concentration.     

First-principles study on the electronic structure and optical properties of T12Cd2（SO4）3 and Rb2Cd2（SO4）3

With the help of ab initio full-potential linearized augmented plane wave （FPLAPW） method, calculating the electronic structure and linear optical properties is carried out for XCd2（SO4）3 （X =Tl, Rb）. The results show that Tl2Cd2（SO4）3 （TlCdS） has a larger band gap than Rb2Cd2（SO4）3 （RbCdS） and the energy bands for RbCdS are more dispersive than those of TlCdS. From their partial densities of states （PDOS）, we have observed that the hybridization between S ionic 2p and O atomic 2p orbitals forms SO4 ionic groups. The remarkable difference between RbCdS and TlCdS is, however, the degree of hybridization between cation （Tl and Rb） and its surrounding oxygen atoms. In the view of quantum chemistry, the strong p-d hybridization indicates the existence of their cation ionic bonds （Cd-O, Rb-O, and Tl-O）. The calculations of TlCdS and RbCdS show their optical properties to be less anisotropic. Their anisotropies in the optical properties mainly occur in a low photon energy region of 5-16 eV.     

Enhanced optical nonlinear absorption of graded Au--TiO2 composite films

This paper reports that single-layer and graded Au-TiO2 granular composite films with Au atom content 15%- 66% were prepared by using reactive co-sputtering technique. The third-order optical nonlinearity of single-layer and graded composite films was investigated by using s- and p-polarized Z-scans in femtosecond time scale. The nonlinear absorption coefficient βeff of single-layer Au-TiO2 films is measured to be -2.3×10^3-0.76×10^3 cm/GW with Au atom content 15%-66%. The βeff value of the 10-layer Au-TiO2 graded film is enhanced to be -2.1×10^4cm/GW calculated from p-polarized Z-scans, which is about ten times the maximum βeff of single-layer films. Broadened response in the wavelength region 730-860 nm of the enhanced optical nonlinearity of graded Au-TiO2 composite films was also investigated.     

Ultra-narrow bandwidth optical filters consisting of one-dimensional photonic crystals with anomalous dispersion materials

We present a new type of optical filter with an ultra-narrow bandwidth and a wide field-of-view （FOV）. This kind of optical filter consists of one-dimensional photonic crystal （PC） incorporating an anomalous-dispersion-material （ADM） with, for instance, an anomalous dispersion of 6P3/2←6S1/2 hyperfine structure transition of a caesium atom. The transmission spectra of optical filters are calculated by using the transfer-matrix method. The simulation results show that the designed optical filter has a bandwidth narrower than 0.33GHz and a wide FOV of ±30°as well. The response of transmission spectrum to an external magnetic field is also investigated.     

Determination of the stellar reaction rate for 12C（α,γ）16O： using a new expression with the reaction mechanism

The astrophysical reaction rate of 12C(α, γ)16O plays a key role in massive star evolution. However, this reaction rate and its uncertainties have not been well determined yet, especially at T9=0.2. The existing results even disagree with each other to a certain extent. In this paper, the E1, E2 and total (E1+E2) 12C(α, γ)16O reaction rates are calculated in the temperature range from T9=0.3 to 2 according to all the available cross section data. A new analytic expression of the 12 C(α, γ)16 O reaction rate is brought forward based on the reaction mechanism. In this expression, each part embodies the underlying physics of the reaction. Unlike previous works, some physical parameters are chosen from experimental results directly, instead of all the parameters obtained from fitting. These parameters in the new expression, with their 3σ fit errors, are obtained from fit to our calculated reaction rate from T9=0.3 to 2. Using the fit results, the analytic expression of 12C(α, γ)16O reaction rate is extrapolated down to T9=0.05 based on the underlying physics. The 12C(α, γ)16 O reaction rate at T9=0.2 is (8.78 ± 1.52) × 1015 cm3s-1mol-1. Some comparisons and discussions about our new 12 C(α, γ)16 O reaction rate are presented, and the contributions of the reaction rate correspond to the different part of reaction mechanism are given. The agreements of the reaction rate below T9=2 between our results and previous works indicate that our results are reliable, and they could be included in the astrophysical reaction rate network. Furthermore, we believe our method to investigate the 12C(α, γ)16O reaction rate is reasonable, and this method can also be employed to study the reaction rate of other astrophysical reactions. Finally, a new constraint of the supernovae production factor of some isotopes are illustrated according to our 12C(α, γ)16O reaction rates.     

Laboratory demonstration of geopotential measurement using transportable optical clocks

We report an experimental demonstration of geopotential difference measurement using a pair of transportable $^{40}$Ca$^{+}$ optical clocks (TOC-729-1 and TOC-729-3) in the laboratory, each of them has an uncertainty of $1.3 \times 10^{-17}$ and an instability of $4.8 \times 10^{-15}/\sqrt{ \tau } $. Referenced to a stationary clock of TOC-729-1, the geopotential difference measurements are realized by moving TOC-729-3 to three different locations and the relevant altitude differences are measured with uncertainties at the level of 20 cm. After correcting the systematic shifts (including gravitational red shift), the two-clock frequency difference is measured to be $-0.7(2.2) \times 10^{-17}$, considering both the statistic $(1.0 \times 10^{-17})$ and the systematic $(1.9 \times 10^{-17})$ uncertainties. The frequency difference between these two clocks is within their respective uncertainties, verifying the reliability of transportable $^{40}$Ca$^{+}$ optical clocks at the low level of 10$^{-17}$.     

The role of hydrogen in hydrogenated microcrystalline silicon film and in deposition process with VHF-PECVD technique

The role of hydrogen in hydrogenated microcrystalline silicon ($\mu $c-Si:H) thin films in deposition processes with very high frequency plasma-enhanced chemical vapour deposition (VHF-PECVD) technique have been investigated in this paper. With \textit{in situ} optical emission spectroscopy (OES) diagnosis during the fabrication of $\mu $c-Si:H thin films under different plasma excitation frequency $\nu _{\rm e }$ (60MHz--90MHz), the characteristic peak intensities ($I_{{\rm SiH}^*}$, $I_{{\rm H}\alpha^*}$ and $I_{{\rm H}\beta ^*}$) in SiHVHF-PECVD技术 氢化微晶硅 光发射光谱 薄膜学VHF-PECVD technique, hydrogenated microcrystalline silicon, role of hydrogen, optical emission spectroscopyProject supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province, China (Grant No 05300378), the State Key Development Program for Basic Research of China (Grant Nos G2000028202 and G2000028203) and the Program on Natural Science of Jinan University, Guangzhou, China (Grant No 51204056).2005-11-252005-11-252006-01-05The role of hydrogen in hydrogenated microcrystalline silicon （μc-Si：H） thin films in deposition processes with very high frequency plasma-enhanced chemical vapour deposition （VHF-PECVD） technique have been investigated in this paper. With in situ optical emission spectroscopy （OES） diagnosis during the fabrication of μc-Si：H thin films under different plasma excitation frequency Ve （60MHz-90MHz）, the characteristic peak intensities （IsiH＊, IHα＊ and IHβ＊ ） in SiH4＋H2 plasma and the ratio of （IHα＊ ＋ IHβ＊ ） to IsiH＊ were measured; all the characteristic peak intensities and the ratio （IHα＊ ＋ IHβ＊ ）/IsiH＊ are increased with plasma excitation frequency. It is identified that high plasma excitation frequency is favourable to promote the decomposition of SiH4＋H2 to produce atomic hydrogen and SiHx radicals. The influences of atomic hydrogen on structural properties and that of SiHx radicals on deposition rate of μc-Si：H thin films have been studied through Raman spectra and thickness measurements, respectively. It can be concluded that both the crystalline volume fraction and deposition rate are enhanced with the increase of plasma excitation frequency, which is in good accord with the OES results. By means of FTIR measurements, hydrogen contents of μc-Si：H thin films deposited at different plasma excitation frequency have been evaluated from the integrated intensity of wagging mode near 640 cm^-1. The hydrogen contents vary from 4% to 5%, which are much lower than those of μc-Si：H films deposited with RF-PECVD technique. This implies that μc-Si：H thin films deposited with VHF-PECVD technique usually have good stability under light-soaking.     

Oscillatory stability of quantum droplets in $\text{}{ \mathcal P }{ \mathcal T }$-symmetric optical lattice

We study stability and collisions of quantum droplets (QDs) forming in a binary bosonic condensate trapped in parity-time (${ \mathcal P }{ \mathcal T }$)-symmetric optical lattices. It is found that the stability of QDs in the ${ \mathcal P }{ \mathcal T }$-symmetric system depends strongly on the values of the imaginary part W₀ of the ${ \mathcal P }{ \mathcal T }$-symmetric optical lattices, self-repulsion strength g, and the condensate norm N. As expected, the ${ \mathcal P }{ \mathcal T }$-symmetric QDs are entirely unstable in the broken ${ \mathcal P }{ \mathcal T }$-symmetric phase. However, the ${ \mathcal P }{ \mathcal T }$-symmetric QDs exhibit oscillatory stability with the increase of N and g in the unbroken ${ \mathcal P }{ \mathcal T }$-symmetric phase. Finally, collisions between ${ \mathcal P }{ \mathcal T }$-symmetric QDs are considered. The collisions of droplets with unequal norms are completely different from that in free space. Besides, a stable ${ \mathcal P }{ \mathcal T }$-symmetric QDs collides with an unstable ones tend to merge into breathers after the collision.     

First-principles study on magnetism of different dimensional Ru systems

The magnetism, the magnetocrystalline anisotropy and the optical properties of the monolayer and atomic chain of 4d transition-metal Ru are investigated by using the full-potential linearized-augmented-plane-wave method in a generalized gradient approximation. The magnetic moments are 1.039~μ __B/atom and 1.130~μ_B/atom for the monolayer and atomic chain, respectively. Both systems have large magnetocrystalline anisotropy energy (MAE). The magnetic easy axis is normal to the monolayer and perpendicular to the chain axis in the atomic chain. The optical properties of the two low-dimensional Ru systems are investigated by calculating the complex optical conductivity tensor. Both systems exhibit anisotropy in photoconductivity, especially for the atomic chain. The physical origins of MAE and photoconductivity are studied based on electronic structures. It is found that the changes in crystal field caused by different symmetry-breaking mechanisms in the two low-dimensional Ru systems result in MAE through spin--orbit coupling, while the anisotropy in photoconductivity mainly comes from the crystallographic anisotropy.