Elasticity and thermodynamic properties of RuB2 under pressure

First-principles calculations of the crystal structure and the elastic properties of RuB₂ have been carried out with the plane-wave pseudopotential density functional theory method. The calculated values are in very good agreement with experimental data as well as with some of the existing model calculations. The elastic constants c_ij, the aggregate elastic moduli (B, G, E), Poisson's ratio, and the elastic anisotropy with pressure have been investigated. Through the quasi-harmonic Debye model considering the phonon effects, the isothermal bulk modulus, the thermal expansions, Grüneisen parameters, and Debye temperatures depending on the temperature and pressure are obtained in the whole pressure range from 0 to 60 GPa and temperature range from 0 to 1100 K as well as compared to available data.     

Pressure behaviour and thermal expansion of NiMnSb from first principles calculations

A computational study of the pressure and thermal behaviour of NiMnSb within the framework of density functional theory and the Debye-Grüneisen model is reported. The theoretical values of equilibrium lattice parameter, bulk modulus, its pressure derivative, Debye temperature, Grüneisen constant and coefficient of thermal expansion are estimated from electronic structure calculated by the full-potential nonorthogonal local-orbital minimum basis method (FPLO). The bulk modulus and its pressure derivative have been computed using the Murnaghan form of the equation of states. The volume-temperature dependence was obtained by minimisation of the free energy as a sum of the total energy of the rigid lattice and the free energy of the vibration lattice. The thermal expansion coefficient for the studied NiMnSb, obtained within the Debye theory including anharmonicity, is in good agreement with experimental results.     

First-principles calculations of elastic and thermo-physical properties of Al, Mg and rare earth lanthanide elements

The elastic constants of the Al, Mg and rare earth (RE) lanthanide elements have been calculated at T=0 K by using the projector augmented-wave (PAW) method within the generalized gradient approximation (GGA). The bulk moduli, shear moduli, Young's moduli and Poisson's ratio of poly-crystalline solid are estimated from the calculated elastic constants of single crystal. Based on the quasi-harmonic Debye model, the Debye temperature, heat capacity, Grüneisen parameter and linear thermal expansion coefficient are also estimated. The present calculated results are in reasonable agreement with the available experimental data and other theoretical results. The present calculation of elastic constants for Ce also indicates that the PAW potential (named “Ce_3”), for which one f electron is kept frozen in the core and hence fix the valency of Ce to three (Ce_3) does not yield good results for the elastic constants.     

Analysis of thermodynamic identities for materials under extreme compression

Some basic relationships for materials under extreme compression are analyzed with the help of the calculus of indeterminates. The analysis presented here provides an understanding of the origin of identities and constraints at infinite pressure which are satisfied by all physically acceptable equations of state. These identities involve the bulk modulus and its pressure derivatives, the Grüneisen parameter and its volume derivatives, the thermal expansivity, and the Anderson-Grüneisen parameter. The identity for the third-order Grüneisen parameter in terms of the pressure derivatives of the bulk modulus at extreme compression is valid even if the free-volume parameter changes with pressure.     

Surface vibrations on face centered cubic metal surfaces: the (111) surfaces

We have studied the dynamics of atom motion at face centered metal (111) surfaces. The interactions between atoms are modelled with central forces and angle bending forces. Results for frequencies and polarizations of surface modes are presented for the following metals: Ag, Al, Au, Cu, Ni, Pd and Pt. In addition, the results obtained for phonon spectral densities are presented for nickel.     

Theoretical investigations on structural, elastic and electronic properties of thallium halides

Theoretical investigations on structural, elastic and electronic properties, viz. ground state lattice parameter, elastic moduli and density of states, of thallium halides (viz. TlCl and TlBr) have been made using the full potential linearized augmented plane wave method within the generalized gradient approximation (GGA). The ground state lattice parameter and bulk modulus and its pressure derivative have been obtained using optimization method. Young's modulus, shear modulus, Poisson ratio, sound velocities for longitudinal and shear waves, Debye average velocity, Debye temperature and Grüneisen parameter have also been calculated for these compounds. Calculated structural, elastic and other parameters are in good agreement with the available data.     

Electronic and thermal properties of B2-type AlRE intermetallic compounds: A first principles study

The ground state electronic structure and thermal properties of B₂-type intermetallic compounds AlRE (RE: Pm, Sm, Eu, Tb, Gd and Dy) have been studied using a self-consistent tight-binding linear muffin-tin orbital (TB-LMTO) method at ambient as well as at high pressure. These compounds show metallic behavior under ambient condition. The band structure, total energy, density of states and ground state properties like lattice parameter, bulk modulus are calculated in the present work. The Debye-Grüneisen model is used to calculate the Debye temperature and the Grüneisen constant. The calculated results are in good agreement with the reported experimental and other theoretical results. The variation in the Debye temperature with pressure has also been reported. We present a detailed analysis of the role of f electrons of RE in the AlRE system.     

Analysis of P-V-T relationships and thermodynamic properties for some alkali halides

In this paper, Pandey approximation for the volume dependence of Anderson-Grüneisen parameter at fixed pressure, Anderson approximation for the temperature dependence of thermal expansivity, the equations of thermal expansivity along isobars derived by Shanker et al., and the presented approximation for the volume dependence of Anderson-Grüneisen parameter along isobars, have been used to study and predict the pressure-volume-temperature (P-V-T) data and the variations of the volume expansion coefficient and isothermal bulk modulus with temperature and pressure for NaCl, CsCl, LiF, NaF crystals, up to 30 GPa and in the temperature range 298-1073 K. The calculated values are compared with each other. It is found that these equations-of-state are valid and present good agreement with the available experimental data.     

The Effect of Temperature on Lattice Mechanical Properties of Noble and Transition Metals

A simple pseudopotential model is used for the calculation of the temperature dependence of lattice mechanical properties which also depend on the phonon density of states such as lattice heat capacity C _V , Debye temperature _D, harmonic contribution to free energy, thermal pressure, isothermal bulk modulus corrected to the fourth order, volume thermal expansion coefficient , Debye-Waller factor, mean-square displacement, Debye-Waller temperature parameter, and X-ray characteristic temperature _M of Cu, Ag, Au, Ni, Pd, Pt, Rh, and Ir. The contribution of d-like electrons is taken into account by introducing repulsive short-range Born-Mayer-like term. Very recently proposed screening function due to Sarkar et al. has been used to obtain the screened form factor. The theoretical results are compared with experimental findings wherever possible. A good agreement between theoretical investigations and experimental findings show the ability of our model potential to reproduce wide class of properties in noble and transition metals.     

Equations of state of MgO,Au, Pt,NaCl-B1, and NaCl-B2: Internally consistent high-temperature pressure scales

Semiempirical equations of state (EoS) of Au, Pt, MgO, NaCl-B1, and NaCl-B2 based on expanded Mie–Grüneisen–Debye approach, which are consistent both with the Mie–Grüneisen–Bose–Einstein approach and the thermochemical, X-ray, ultrasonic and shock-wave data in a wide pressure-temperature range, have been constructed. It is shown that to determine the volume dependence of the Grüneisen parameter, not only shock-wave and static compression data, but also experimental information on heat capacity, bulk moduli, volume, and thermal expansion coefficient at zero pressure need to be taken into account. Intrinsic anharmonicity is of great importance at construction of EoS at high temperatures and x=V/V ₀>1. Cross-comparison of the current equations of state with independent measurements shows that these EoS may be used as the internally consistent and independent pressure scales in a wide range of temperatures and pressures.     

The structural, elastic and thermodynamic properties of thorium tetraboride

The structural, elastic and thermodynamic properties of thorium tetraboride (ThB₄) have been investigated by using first-principles plane-wave pseudopotential density functional theory with generalized gradient approximation. The behaviors of structural parameters under 0-70 GPa hydrostatic pressure are studied by means of Broyden, Fletcher, Goldfarb, and Shanno (BFGS) geometry optimization scheme. By using the stress-strain method, single crystal elastic constants are calculated to test the mechanical stability of the crystal structure and to determine mechanical properties such as bulk modulus at each pressure. However, in order to study the thermodynamic properties of ThB₄, the quasi-harmonic Debye model is used. Then, the dependencies of bulk modulus, heat capacities, thermal expansions, Grüneisen parameters and Debye temperatures on the temperature and pressure are obtained in the whole pressure range 0-70 GPa and temperature range 0-1500 K.     

The thermodynamics of elastic deformation—I: Equation of state for solids

The isobaric and isothermal volume derivatives of In B, In μ and In μ' are investigated, where B, μ and μ' are the isothermal bulk modulus and the two shear moduli, respectively, of a cubic crystal. In the case of the bulk modulus, the temperature independence of αB (where α is the volume thermal expansion) for a large number of materials, ensures that the derivatives are constant and approximately equal, while for the shear moduli, evidence is advanced that the isothermal derivatives are constant along an isotherm, but not along an isobar except at high temperatures near the melting point. The relationships satisfied by the bulk modulus enable the explicit temperature and pressure dependence of the molar volume, V, thermal expansion, and bulk modulus to be determined. The most adequate representation of the volume dependence of the Grüneisen parameter, γ, appears to be that γ/V is independent of volume between the Debye and melting temperatures.     

Temperature-dependence of phonons,solid state properties and liquid structure of noble metals: A comparison of pair-potentials

Two groups of effective pair-potentials are studied from the viewpoint of their suitability in being able to describe solid state properties and liquid state structure of noble metals Cu, Ag and Au over a wide temperature range. Since the effective pair-potentials are usually empirical in nature, with parameters obtained by fitting to some reference state properties, the objective of the present study is to determine whether a particular parametrization scheme has any definite advantage over another. We consider Morse potentials with parameters determined by equilibrium lattice parameter, cohesive/sublimation energies as well as bulk modulus values of the solid at low/room temperatures. The other group of potentials considered is Erkoç potentials, where the parameters were determined first by studying dimers and further modified using bulk stability condition and bulk cohesive energy values. The potentials were then used to study the energetics of microclusters containing 3–7 atoms. Quasiharmonic results for the solid obtained at different temperatures and Monte Carlo simulation for the liquid state show that phonon spectra, thermal expansion, temperature-dependence of specific heats and liquid structure are much better described by the latter group. The first group of potentials may have an advantage in reproducing the temperature-dependence of elastic constants and bulk moduli, since they are based on room temperature values of these properties, which show only weak temperature-dependence in general for all metals. It is argued that potentials based on parameters fitted to the properties at a single volume are less versatile in capturing the temperature-dependence of various thermodynamic properties over a wide range. Potentials capable of reproducing the energetics of clusters of different co-ordination numbers and volumes per atom may fare better in this regard.     

Structural, electronic, elastic and thermal properties of Mg2Si

First-principles calculations of the lattice parameter, electron density maps, density of states and elastic constants of Mg₂Si are reported. The lattice parameter is found to differ by less than 0.8% from the experimental data. Calculations of density of states and electron density maps are also performed to describe the orbital mixing and the nature of chemical bonding. Our results indicate that the bonding interactions in the Mg₂Si crystal are more covalent than ionic. The quasi-harmonic Debye model, by means of total energy versus volume calculations obtained with the plane-wave pseudopotential method, is applied to study the elastic, thermal and vibrational effects. The variations of bulk modulus, Grüneisen parameter, Debye temperature, heat capacity C_v, C_p and entropy with pressure P up to 7 GPa in the temperature interval 0-1300 K have been systemically investigated. Significant differences in properties are observed at high pressure and high temperature. When T<1300 K, the calculated entropy and heat capacity agree reasonably with available experimental data. Therefore, the present results indicate that the combination of first-principles and quasi-harmonic Debye model is an efficient approach to simulate the behavior of Mg₂Si.     

Lattice Dynamics of Some Fcc F-Shell Metals

A model pseudopotential depending on an effective core radius but otherwise parameter free is used to study the binding energy, equation of state, ion-ion interaction, phonon dispersion curves (q-space and r-space analysis), phonon density of states, Debye temperature, mode Grüneisen parameters, dynamical elastic constants, Debye-Waller factor, mean-square displacement, Debye-Waller temperature parameter and propagation velocities of elastic waves of some fcc f-shell metals La, Yb, Ce, and Th. The contribution of the s-like electrons is calculated in the second-order perturbation theory for the model potential while d- and f-like electron is taken into account by introduction of repulsive short-range Born-Mayer term. Very recently proposed screening function due to Sarkar et al. has been used to obtain the screened form factor. The parameter of the potential is evaluated by zero pressure condition. Which is independent of any fitting procedure. An excellent agreement between theoretical investigations and experimental findings prove the ability of the potential for d- and f-shell metals exclusively.     

Reconstructed (1 1 0) surfaces of FCC transition metals

The energies of the ideal, missing row (MR) and missing column (MC) (1 1 0) surfaces have been calculated by using modified embedded atom method (MEAM) for seven face centered cubic (FCC) transition metals Au, Pt, Ag, Pd, Rh, Cu and Ni. The results, that the MC reconstruction can not be formed for all metals, while the MR reconstruction can be formed naturally for Au and Pt, inductively for Ag, Pd, Rh and Cu and difficultly for Ni, are better than EAM calculated results in comparing with experimental results. In addition to the surface energy explanation, the results are also related to the surface topography and valence electron structure.     

Acoustical and elastic properties of transition metal nitrides

Elastic moduli of transition metal nitrides, TiN, ZrN and HfN, have been evaluated using electrostatic and Born repulsive potentials. Acoustical dissipation due to phonon-phonon (p-p) interaction, thermoelastic mechanism and dislocation damping due to screw and edge dislocations has been evaluated in the temperature range 50-500 K along the three crystallographic directions of propagation, viz. [1 0 0], [1 1 0] and [1 1 1] for longitudinal and shear modes. Grüneisen numbers, acoustic coupling constants and their ratios have been evaluated for the longitudinal and shear waves. Results are in good agreement with available data.     

Phonon spectra and temperature variation of bulk properties of Cu,Ag, Au and Pt using Sutton–Chen and modified Sutton–Chen potentials

Three potentials of the Finnis–Sinclair type are studied with regard to their suitability for predicting bulk thermal and elastic properties of fcc metals Cu, Ag, Au and Pt over a wide temperature range. We start with a particular parametrization of the Finnis–Sinclair model known as the Sutton–Chen potential and a later version of the same, known as the quantum Sutton–Chen potential. The quasiharmonic lattice dynamics method is used to study the temperature variation of the thermodynamic properties. Both models are found to yield poor results for thermal expansion, which can be traced to rapid softening of transverse phonon frequencies with increasing lattice parameter. The form of the Sutton–Chen potential is modified here to seek improvement in the agreement between quasiharmonic calculations and experimental data. It is found that the modified potential better predicts bulk properties in nearly all cases studied. Significant improvement is seen over the Sutton–Chen potential, while lesser but still substantial improvement is observed over the Quantum-Sutton Chen potential.