Theoretical Study of the Structural,Electronic, Chemical Bonding and Optical Properties of the A2<Subscript>1</Subscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">am</Emphasis> Orthorhombic SrBi<Subscript>2</Subscript>Ta<Subscript>2</Subscript>O<Subscript>9</Subscript>

The structural parameters, density of states, electronic band structure, charge density, and optical properties of orthorhombic SrBi₂Ta₂O₉ have been investigated using the plane-wave ultrasoft pseudopotential technique based on the first-principle density functional theory (DFT). The calculated structural parameters were in agreement with the previous theoretical and experimental data. The band structure showed an indirect (S to Γ) band gap with 2.071 eV. The chemical bonding along with population analysis has been studied. The complex dielectric function, refractive index, and extinction coefficient were calculated to understand the optical properties of this compound, which showed an optical anisotropy in the components of polarization directions (100), (010), and (001).     

Structural,Electronic, and Optical Properties of Cubic Y<Subscript>2</Subscript>O<Subscript>3</Subscript>: First-Principles Calculations

Structural, electronic, and optical properties of cubic Y₂O₃ were studied using the plane-wave ultrasoft pseudopotential technique based on the first-principles density-functional theory (DFT). The ground-state properties were calculated and these results were in good agreement with the previous work. Furthermore, in order to understand the optical properties of cubic Y₂O₃, the complex dielectric function, refractive index, extinction coefficient, optical reflectivity, absorption coefficient, energy-loss function, and complex conductivity function were calculated, which were in favorable agreement with the theoretical and experimental values. We explained the origin of the absorption peaks using the theories of crystal-field and molecular-orbital bonding and investigated the relation between electronic structure and optical properties.     

UV absorption spectra of thin films of Cs<Subscript>2</Subscript>CdI<Subscript>4</Subscript> and Rb<Subscript>2</Subscript>CdI<Subscript>4</Subscript> ferroelectrics

Thin films of M₂CdI₄ ferroelectrics (M=Cs, Rb) of orthorhombic structure were synthesized, and their electronic optical spectrum was studied. It was established that both compounds belong to direct-gap dielectrics and that their low-frequency excitons are localized on a sublattice made up of (CdI₄)^2? tetrahedra. The temperature dependence of the exciton band parameters was studied for Cs₂CdI₄ within the temperature interval 90–420 K. The phase transitions occurring in this interval manifest themselves as breaks in the temperature behavior of the band spectral positions and weak peaks in the halfwidth and oscillator strength.     

Electronic structure of novel multiple-band superconductor SrPt<Subscript>2</Subscript>As<Subscript>2</Subscript>

The electronic structure of the recently discovered superconductor SrPt₂As₂ with T _c = 5.2 K has been calculated in the local-density approximation. Despite its chemical composition and crystal structure are somehow similar to FeAs-based high-temperature superconductors, the electronic structure of SrPt₂As₂ is very much different. The crystal structure is orthorhombic (or tetragonal if idealized) and has layered nature with alternating PtAs₄ and AsPt₄ tetrahedra slabs sandwiched with Sr ions. The Fermi level is crossed by Pt-5d states with rather strong admixture of As-4p states. Fermi surface of SrPt₂As₂ is essentially three-dimensional, with complicated sheets corresponding to multiple bands. We compare SrPt₂As₂ with 1111 and 122 representatives of FeAs-class of superconductors, as well as with isovalent (Ba,Sr)Ni₂As₂ superconductors. Brief discussion of superconductivity in SrPt₂As₂ is also presented.     

First-principles study of structural,electronic and optical properties of orthorhombic SrZrO3

We have investigated the structural parameters, electronic structure and optical properties of orthorhombic SrZrO₃ using the plane-wave ultrasoft pseudopotential technique based on the first-principles density-functional theory (DFT). Our calculated structural parameters are in good agreement with the previous theoretical and experimental data. Band structure, density of states and chemical bonding have been systematically studied. Furthermore, the complex dielectric function, refractive index, extinction coefficient, optical reflectivity, absorption coefficient, loss function and optical conductivity are calculated, which show an optical anisotropy in the components of polarization directions (100), (010) and (001).     

Calculations of the electronic structure of crystalline SrZrO<Subscript>3</Subscript> in the framework of the density-functional theory in the LCAO approximation

The electronic structures of four well-known modifications of crystalline SrZrO₃ with different symmetries, namely, the cubic (Pm3m), tetragonal (I4/mcm), and two orthorhombic (Cmcm, Pbnm) modifications, are calculated in the framework of the density-functional theory in the basis set of the linear combination of atomic orbitals (LCAO). A comparative analysis of the electronic properties of the crystals under consideration is performed on the basis of the calculated band structures and densities of states (the total densities of states and the densities of states projected onto the atomic states). The calculated relative stabilities of the different modifications are in good agreement with the experimental data on the phase transitions in the SrZrO₃ crystal: the low-temperature modifications with lower symmetry are more stable. The ionicities of chemical bonding in different modifications of crystalline SrZrO₃ are compared by analyzing the Mulliken populations and constructing the localized Wannier functions for the occupied energy bands.     

First-principle calculations for electronic structure and bonding properties in layered Na<Subscript>2</Subscript>Ti<Subscript>3</Subscript>O<Subscript>7</Subscript>

First-principles calculations of Na₂Ti₃O₇ have been carried out with density-functional theory (DFT) and ultrasoft pseudopotentials. The electronic structure and bonding properties in layered Na₂Ti₃O₇ have been studied through calculating band structure, density of states, electron density, electron density difference and Mulliken bond populations. The calculated results reveal that Na₂Ti₃O₇ is a semiconductor with an indirect gap and exhibits both ionic and covalent characters. The stability of the (Ti₃O₇)²⁻ layers is attributed to the covalent bonding of strong interactions between O 2p and Ti 3d orbitals. Furthermore, the O atoms located in the innerlayers interact more strongly with the neighboring Ti atoms than those in the interlayer regions. The ion-exchange property is due to the ionic bonding between the Na⁺ and (Ti₃O₇)²⁻ layers, which can stabilize the interlayers of layered Na₂Ti₃O₇ structure.     

A theoretical investigation of structural,mechanical, electronic and thermoelectric properties of orthorhombic CH<Subscript>3</Subscript>NH<Subscript>3</Subscript>PbI<Subscript>3</Subscript>

The structural, mechanical, electronic and thermoelectric properties of the low temperature orthorhombic perovskite phase of CH₃NH₃PbI₃ have been investigated using density functional theory (DFT). Elastic parameters bulk modulus B, Young’s modulus E, shear modulus G, Poisson’s ratio ν and anisotropy value A have been calculated by the Voigt–Reuss–Hill averaging scheme. Phonon dispersions of the structure were investigated using a finite displacement method. The relaxed system is dynamically stable, and the equilibrium elastic constants satisfy all the mechanical stability criteria for orthorhombic crystals, showing stability against the influence of external forces. The lattice thermal conductivity was calculated within the single-mode relaxation-time approximation of the Boltzmann equation from first-principles anharmonic lattice dynamics calculations. Our results show that lattice thermal conductivity is anisotropic, and the corresponding lattice thermal conductivity at 150 K was found to be 0.189, 0.138, and 0.530 Wm^?1K^?1 in the a, b, and c directions. Electronic structure calculations demonstrate that this compound has a DFT direct band gap at the gamma point of about 1.57 eV. The electronic transport properties have been calculated by solving the semiclassical Boltzmann transport equation on top of DFT calculations, within the constant relaxation time approximation. The Seebeck coefficient S is almost constant from 50 to 150 K. At temperatures 100 and 150 K, the maximal figure of merit is found to be 0.06 and 0.122 in the direction of the c-axis, respectively.     

Specific features of the electronic structure of the CeCu<Subscript>6</Subscript>, CePd<Subscript>3</Subscript>, CeSi<Subscript>2</Subscript>, and CeF<Subscript>3</Subscript> systems

The electronic structure of cerium systems, the hybridization of 4 f and outer-shell electrons, and the influence of the position of the localized 4 f level with respect to the Fermi level E _F in the conduction band have been investigated. The CeCu₆, CePd₃, CeSi₂, and CeF₃ systems have been studied using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The densities of states have been calculated by the tight-binding linearized muffin-tin orbital method within the atomic sphere approximation, which takes into account the covalent character of bonds and the nonspherical distribution of the electron density. The results obtained from the calculations of the total density of states are in good agreement with the valence band X-ray photoelectron data for the systems under investigation. It has been shown that the differences in the properties of the cerium systems are determined by the specific features of their electronic structure. A strong interatomic interaction is characteristic of heavy-fermion systems.     

Electronic and optical properties of Fe<Subscript>2</Subscript>SiO<Subscript>4</Subscript> under pressure effect: ab initio study

We report first-principles studies the structural, electronic, and optical properties of the Fe₂SiO₄ fayalite in orthorhombic structure, including pressure dependence of structural parameters, band structures, density of states, and optical constants up to 30 GPa. The calculated results indicate that the linear compressibility along b axis is significantly higher than a and c axes, which is in agreement with earlier work. Meanwhile, the pressure dependence of the electronic band structure, density of states and partial density of states of Fe₂SiO₄ fayalite up to 30 GPa were presented. Moreover, the evolution of the dielectric function, absorption coefficient (α(ω)), reflectivity (R(ω)), and the real part of the refractive index (n(ω)) at high pressure are also presented.     

Electronic Structure,Optical Properties,and Pressure Behavior of the CdB<Subscript>4</Subscript>O<Subscript>7</Subscript> and HgB<Subscript>4</Subscript>O<Subscript>7</Subscript> Compounds

Ab initio calculations of the structural, electronic, and optical properties of the CdB₄O₇ and HgB₄O₇ tetraborate compounds in three structural modifications with the Pbca, Cmcm, and Pmn2₁ symmetry have been performed in the framework of the density functional theory using the VASP package. The calculations of the electronic band structure showed that these compounds in all the investigated modifications are dielectrics with a band gap of 2–4 eV. The calculation of the structural properties of the tetraborates under pressure showed that the phase transition between the Pbca and Pmn2₁ structures in cadmium and mercury tetraborates occurs under pressures of 4.8 and 4.7 GPa, respectively.     

Pressure-induced structural transformations,orbital order and antiferromagnetism in La<Subscript>0.75</Subscript>Ca<Subscript>0.25</Subscript>MnO<Subscript>3</Subscript>

High pressure evolution of structural, vibrational and magnetic properties of La_0.75Ca_0.25MnO₃ was studied by means of X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy up to 39 GPa, and neutron diffraction up to 7.5 GPa. The stability of different magnetic ground states, orbital configurations and structural modifications were investigated by LDA + U electronic structure calculations. A change of octahedral tilts corresponding to the transformation of orthorhombic crystal structure from the Pnma symmetry to the Immaone occurs above P ~ 6 GPa. At the same time, the evolution of the orthorhombic lattice distortion evidences an appearance of the e _g d _{x² ? z²} orbital polarization at high pressures. The magnetic order in La_0.75Ca_0.25MnO₃ undergoes a continuous transition from the ferromagnetic 3D metallic (FM) ground state to the A-type antiferromagnetic (AFM) state of assumedly 2D pseudo-metallic character under pressure, that starts at about 1 GPa and extends possibly to 20–30 GPa.     

Short-range order,large-scale potential fluctuations,and photoluminescence in amorphous SiN<Subscript>x</Subscript>

The short-range order and electron structure of amorphous silicon nitride SiN_x (x<4/3) have been studied by a combination of methods including high-resolution X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Neither random bonding nor random mixture models can adequately describe the structure of this compound. An intermediate model is proposed, which assumes giant potential fluctuations for electrons and holes, caused by inhomogeneities in the local chemical composition. The characteristic scale of these fluctuations for both electrons and holes is about 1.5 eV. The photoluminescence in SiN_x is interpreted in terms of the optical transitions between quantum states of amorphous silicon clusters.     

Insertion properties of LiFe<Subscript>0.5</Subscript>Mn<Subscript>0.5</Subscript>PO<Subscript>4</Subscript> electrode materials for Li-ion batteries

This paper addresses the synthesis structural and electrochemical properties of LiFe_0.5Mn_0.5PO₄ electrode materials for Li-ion batteries. The charge–discharge reaction of Li/LiPF₆-EC–DEC/LiFe_0.5Mn_0.5PO₄ cell carried out at the 1-C rate shows a capacity retention of 128 mAh/g. The local structure of the delithiated Li _x Fe_0.5Mn_0.5PO₄ phases have been studied by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and magnetometry. Spectral features indicate that the structure of the delithiated phase remains in the orthorhombic system. The compositional dependence of the magnetic moment is found to be in quantitative agreement with the theoretical value predicted for oxidation of M ²⁺ ions in the high spin state. Paper presented at the 11th Euro-Conference on Science and Technology of Ionics, Batz-sur-Mer, France, 9–15 Sept. 2007     

First-Principles Investigations on Structural, Elastic, Electronic, and Optical Properties of Tetragonal HfSiO4

Structural parameters, elastic, mechanical, electronic, chemical bonding, and optical properties of tetragonal HfSiO₄ have been investigated using the plane-wave ultrasoft pseudopotential technique based on the first-principles density-functional theory. The ground-state properties obtained by minimizing the total energy are in agreement with the available experimental and theoretical data. This compound is found to be mechanically stable, and we have obtained the bulk, shear, and Young's modulus; Poisson's coefficient; and Lamé's constants. We have estimated the Debye temperature of tetragonal HfSiO₄ from the acoustic velocity. Electronic and chemical bonding properties have been studied. Moreover, the complex dielectric function, refractive index, extinction coefficient, absorption coefficient, energy-loss spectrum, optical reflectivity, and complex conductivity function are calculated and analyzed.     

Electro-optical properties of tetragonal KNbO<Subscript>3</Subscript>

Linear electro-optical tensor coefficients and optical susceptibility of tetragonal KNbO₃ are calculated using a formalism based on bond charge theory. Results are in close agreement with the experimental data. The covalent Nb-O bonding network comprising the distorted NbO₆ octahedral groups in the structure is found to be a major contributor to the electro-optic coefficients making these groups more sensitive to these properties than the KO₁₂ groups. The orientations of the chemical bonds play an important role in determining these properties.      

过渡金属Tc及其氮化物TcN，TcN$lt;sub$gt;2$lt;/sub$gt;，TcN$lt;sub$gt;3$lt;/sub$gt;与TcN$lt;sub$gt;4$lt;/sub$gt;低压缩性的第一性原理计算研究

采用基于密度泛函理论的第一性原理计算方法研究了Tc及其氮化物的弹性性质、电子结构、原子布局数等,并分析和计算了它的氮化物的理论硬度. 结果表明随着Tc中氮的掺入量的渐增,出现层状结构,它们的弹性模量并非单调增加,其中TcN的体弹模量最大而剪切模量最小;层状结构的TcN₃的剪切模量最大而体弹模量最小,TcN₄的理论计算硬度最大. 说明在Tc的氮化物中,其体弹模量与材料的晶体结构、平均每个原子上的电荷密度和材料的质量密度有关;化学键的共价性结构和氮元素的含量对理论计算硬度有正作用;而剪切模量的极大值则与其层状结构及体系中一定量的方向基本一致的N—N键相关. 关键词： 第一性原理 弹性性质 电子结构     

Electronic structure,magnetic properties,and stability of the binary and ternary carbides (Fe,Cr)<Subscript>3</Subscript>C and (Fe,Cr)<Subscript>7</Subscript>C<Subscript>3</Subscript>

The structural, electronic, and magnetic properties of the binary and ternary carbides (Fe,Cr)₃C and (Fe,Cr)₇C₃ have been investigated within the ab initio density functional theory. The crystal structure of the binary carbides has been optimized and the preferred positions for replacement of chromium or iron impurities in the corresponding carbides have been determined. The changes in the electronic structure and magnetic properties have been investigated, the formation energies of the ternary carbides as functions of the impurity concentrations have been calculated, and conclusions have been drawn regarding the influence of the impurity on the stability of the carbides under investigation.     

Electronic Structure of Oxygen Vacancies in the Orthorhombic Noncentrosymmetric Phase Hf<Subscript>0.5</Subscript>Zr<Subscript>0.5</Subscript>O<Subscript>2</Subscript>

The electronic structure of stoichiometric and oxygen-depleted Hf_0.5Zr_0.5O₂ in the orthorhombic noncentrosymmetric phase has been studied by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and quantum-chemical simulation based on the density functional theory. It has been established that the ion-etching-induced peak in the photoelectron emission spectrum with the energy above the top of the o-Hf_0.5Zr_0.5O₂ valence band is due to oxygen vacancies. A method of estimating the density of oxygen vacancies from the comparison of the experimental and theoretical photoelectron spectra of the valence band has been proposed. It has been established that oxygen polyvacancies in o-Hf_0.5Zr_0.5O₂ are not formed: the energetically favorable spatial arrangement of oxygen vacancies in a crystal corresponds to noninteracting oxygen vacancies distant from each other.     

Elastic,electronic structure,and optical properties of orthorhombic Na<Subscript>3</Subscript>AlF<Subscript>6</Subscript>: a first-principles study

First-principles investigation of elastic, electronic, and optical properties of orthorhombic Na₃AlF₆ has been carried out by DFT using plane-wave pseudo-potentials within the LDA and GGA. Calculated lattice parameters agree well with experimental results. From calculated elastic constants, Na₃AlF₆ is a mechanically stable anisotropic and behaves in a ductile manner. Electronic structure analysis indicates that Na₃AlF₆ behaves as an insulator with a direct band gap of 6.065 eV in LDA and 5.868–5.949 eV in GGA. DOS, population analysis, and charge densities difference indicate that Al-F bonds are mainly ionic as well as partially covalent due to the hybridization of F-2p and Al-3s (3p) states. Moreover, the imaginary part of calculated dielectric function ε₂(ω) shows three prominent peaks due to the inter band transitions F 2p states→Na 3s states. From calculated ε (ω), other optical properties such as reflectivity and refractive index are also obtained up to the photon energy range of 40 eV.