First-principles study of structural, mechanical, electronic and optical properties of 3R- and 2H-CuGaO2

We calculated the structural parameters, elastic, mechanical, electronic and optical properties of 3R- and 2H-CuGaO₂ using the first-principles density-functional theory. The results show that the structural parameters of two phases are in good agreement with previous theoretical and experimental data. Two phases are mechanically stable, behave in ductile manner and have indirect band gap. The analyses of electronic structures and charge densities of two phases show mainly covalent nature in Cu-O bonds and coexistence of both ionic and covalent nature in Ga-O bonds. The optical properties are obtained and discussed, including the complex dielectric function, refractive index, extinction coefficient, optical reflectivity, absorption coefficient, energy-loss spectrum and complex conductivity function, which provide useful information for the future applications of CuGaO₂.     

First-principles study of electronic structures and optical properties of Cu, Ag, and Au-doped anatase TiO2

We perform first-principles calculations to investigate the band structure, density of states, optical absorption, and the imaginary part of dielectric function of Cu, Ag, and Au-doped anatase TiO₂ in 72 atoms systems. The electronic structure results show that the Cu incorporation can lead to the enhancement of d states near the uppermost of valence band, while the Ag and Au doping cause some new electronic states in band gap of TiO₂. Meanwhile, it is found that the visible optical absorptions of Cu, Ag, and Au-doped TiO₂, are observed by analyzing the results of optical properties, which locate in the region of 400-1000 nm. The absorption band edges of Cu, Ag, and Au-doped TiO₂ shift to the long wavelength region compared with the pure TiO₂. Furthermore, according to the calculated results, we propose the optical transition mechanisms of Cu, Ag, and Au-doped TiO₂. Our results show that the visible light response of TiO₂ can be modulated by substitutional doping of Cu, Ag, and Au.     

Structures, phase transition, elastic properties of SnO2 from first-principles analysis

We investigate the structural, phase transition and elastic properties of SnO₂ in the rutile-type, pyrite-type, ZrO₂-type and cotunnite-type phases by the plane-wave pseudopotential density functional theory method. The lattice constants, bulk modulus and its pressure derivative are well consistent with the available experimental and other theoretical data. Also, we find that the rutile→pyrite, pyrite→ZrO₂ and ZrO₂→cotunnite phase transition occur at 12.9, 59.1 and 111.1 GPa, which are in better agreement with the experimental results than those of Gracia et al. (2007). Moreover, we obtain the pressure dependences of elastic constants for the four structures.     

First-principles study of electronic and optical properties of N-doped SrHfO3

The plane-wave ultrasoft pseudopotential technique based on the first-principles density-functional theory (DFT) is used to investigate the doping effect of N substituting for O in cubic SrHfO₃. The calculated results show that the reaction from pure elements to final compounds is favorable and the final compounds are energetically stable. Electronic structure analysis shows the band gaps narrowing with the increase of N concentration due to the presence of the impurity state of N 2p on the top of the valence band and the acceptor energy levels above the Fermi energy, which may be responsible for the red-shift. Besides, the optical absorption edge has been gradually red shifted with increasing N concentration.     

高压下稳态六方Ge2Sb2Te5结构、电子和光学性质的第一性原理研究

采用基于密度泛函理论的广义梯度近似方法研究了稳态六方petrov原子序列结构Ge2Sb2Te5的结构、电子和光学性质。计算所得的平衡态晶格参数与实验数据和先前的理论结果吻合很好。基态的能带结构和态密度表明了稳态六方petrov原子序列结构的Ge2Sb2Te5持有金属性。从压强影响下体积的变化趋势发现稳态六方Ge2Sb2Te5在17 GPa和34 GPa 出现不稳定,暗示在此压强下的相变发生,这与2009年Krbal等人的实验结果相吻合。同时,还系统地研究了稳态六方petrov原子序列结构的Ge2Sb2Te5高压下的光学性质,得到了高压下介电函数、吸收率、光反射率、折射率、消光系数和电子能量损失谱在20 eV内的变化情况。     

Effect of Nd concentration on structural and optical properties of Nd:Y2O3 transparent ceramic

Y₂O₃ transparent ceramics with different Nd concentration (0.1-7.0at%) were fabricated using ZrO₂ as additive. All the samples exhibit high transparency over a broad spectral region. The elements (Y, O and Nd) are uniformly distributed in the ceramic body, and the average grain size increases with Nd content. Based on the absorption spectrum, the Judd-Ofelt intensity parameters are calculated (Ω₂=4.364×10⁻²⁰ cm², Ω₄=3.609×10⁻²⁰ cm² and Ω₆=2.919×10⁻²⁰ cm²). The absorption coefficients increase linearly with Nd³⁺ doping concentration. The absorption cross-section at 804 nm and stimulated emission cross-section at 1078 nm are calculated to be 1.54×10⁻²⁰ and 7.24×10⁻²⁰ cm², respectively. All the emission bands exhibit the highest emission intensities with 1.0at% Nd³⁺ ion content, while the lifetime decreases dramatically from 321.5 μs (0.1at% Nd) to 17.9 μs (7.0at% Nd). According to the emission spectra and measured lifetime, the optimum doping concentration of Nd³⁺ ion in Y₂O₃ transparent ceramic might be around 1.0at%.     

Structural and optical properties of Er, Yb co-doped Y2O3 thin films

Thin Er³⁺, Yb³⁺ co-doped Y₂O₃ films were grown on (1 0 0) YAG substrates by pulsed laser deposition. Ceramic targets having different active ion concentration were used for ablation. The influence of the rare-earth content and oxygen pressure applied during the deposition on the structural, morphological and optical properties of the films were investigated. The films deposited at the lower pressure, 1 Pa, and at 1/10 Er to Yb doping ratio are highly textured along the (1 1 1) direction of the Y₂O₃ cubic phase. In addition to the crystalline structure, these films possess smoother surface compared to those prepared at the higher pressure, 10 Pa. All other films are polycrystalline, consisting of cubic and monoclinic phases of Y₂O₃. The rougher surface of the films produced at the higher-pressure leads to higher scattering losses and different behavior of the reflectivity spectra. Optical anisotropy in the films of less than 0.004 was measured regardless of the monoclinic structure obtained. Waveguide losses of about 1 dB/cm at 633 nm were obtained for the films produced at the lower oxygen pressure.     

First-principles study of the structural, elastic, electronic, optical, and vibrational properties of intermetallic Pd2Ga

The structural, elastic, electronic, optical, and vibrational properties of the orthorhombic Pd₂Ga compound are investigated using the norm-conserving pseudopotentials within the local density approximation in the frame of density functional theory. The calculated lattice parameters have been compared with the experimental values and found to be in good agreement with these results. The second-order elastic constants and the other relevant quantities, such as the Young's modulus, shear modulus, Poisson's ratio, anisotropy factor, sound velocity, and Debye temperature, have been calculated. It is shown that this compound is mechanically stable after analysing the calculated elastic constants. Furthermore, the real and imaginary parts of the dielectric function and the optical constants, such as the optical dielectric constant and the effective number of electrons per unit cell, are calculated and presented. The phonon dispersion curves are derived using the direct method. The present results demonstrate that this compound is dynamically stable.     

Microstructural, optical and photocatalytic properties of CdS doped TiO2 thin films

CdS doped TiO₂ thin films (with CdS content=0, 3, 6, 9 and 12 at%) were grown on glass substrates. The X-ray diffraction analysis revealed that the films are polycrystalline of monoclinic TiO₂ structure. The microstructure parameters of the films such as crystallite size (D_ν) and microstrain (e) are calculated. Both the crystallites size and the microstrain are decreased with increasing CdS content. The optical constants have been determined in terms of Murmann's exact equations. The refractive index and extinction coefficient are increased with increasing CdS content. The optical band gap is calculated in the strong absorption region. The possible optical transition in these films is found to be an allowed direct transition. The values of E_g^opt are found to decrease as the CdS content increased. The films with 3 at% CdS content have better decomposition efficiency than undoped TiO₂. The films with 6 at% and 9 at% CdS content have decomposition efficiency comparable to that of undoped TiO₂, although they have lower band gap. The CdS doped TiO₂ could have a better impact on the decomposing of organic wastes.     

The electronic and optical properties of Cu doped CdI2

Based on the density functional pseudopotential method, the electronic structures and the optical properties of CdI₂ doped with Cu are investigated in detail. The calculation results indicate that the defect of Cu(Cd) exists steadily with a certain solubility. For the Cu doped CdI₂, the new highly localized impurity bands induced by Cu 3d states lie just across the Fermi energy at the top of the valence band. The doping of Cu induces reduction of band gap of CdI₂; red shifts are revealed in both the imaginary part of dielectric function and the absorption spectra corresponding to the change in band gaps. Moreover, the study of the reflection spectrum and the loss function shows that the doped Cu is responsible for the increased reflection peak intensity and the red shift of the plasma resonant frequency of CdI₂.     

Theoretical analysis of structure, thermodynamic properties, and optical properties of Ge-doped amorphous SiO2

Different stable geometric configurations of Ge doped amorphous SiO₂ (a-SiO₂) system, originating from one, two, or three Si atoms in various places of the a-SiO₂ substituted by Ge atoms randomly have been investigated using interatomic potentials in this work. The most stable structures have been identified and corresponding evolutional rules obtained. The structural growth pattern for Ge-doped a-SiO₂ system is that Ge atoms tend to spread far away from each other and keep away from the center. Furthermore, the thermodynamic properties including speci?c heat, Debye temperature, vibrational entropy, and so on are calculated from the structure with 16 Si atoms of the constructed a-SiO₂ cell replaced by Ge atoms and with the biggest Ge-Ge distance. It can be seen that entropy of Ge doped system with larger specific heat is higher than that of the pure system with smaller specific heat. At last, optical properties including optical absorption spectrum and electron energy loss function of nGe-doped a-SiO₂ (n=0-3, 8) system is also obtained.     

BC5力学性质的第一性原理计算

采用平面波赝势密度泛函理论方法对0—60 GPa静水压下BC₅ 六角晶系P3m1和四方晶系I4m2结构的平衡态晶格常数、弹性常数、各向异性以及泊松比与Cauchy扰动进行了研究. 研究结果表明, BC₅的两种结构在高压下是稳定的, 且不可压缩性随着压强的增加而增大. 另外, 对其电子结构也进行了计算, 计算结果表明, BC₅存在一个较宽的带隙, 两种原子间有较强的共价杂化, 材料的性质主要由B的2p¹和C的2p²态电子共同决定. 压强对材料带隙和费米能级附近的态密度几乎没有影响, 只引起微小的漂移, 可推断其很好的高压稳定性.     

Effect of spin polarization on the optical properties of Co-doped TiO2 thin films

A non-linear variation of bandgap energy with Co doping is observed in sputter deposited Co-doped TiO₂ thin films. This peculiar behavior is explained on the basis of mechanical stress in the films together with spin polarization due to s,p-d exchange interaction between the localized Co 3d electrons and delocalized electrons. Quantitative analyses of mechanical stress and grain boundary barrier potential due to spin polarization are performed from the below bandgap absorption tail. Furthermore, anomalous variations in both the refractive indices and extinction coefficients with Co doping are noted and are explained on the basis of ab-initio calculations based on density functional theory.     

Elastic, electronic, and optical properties of hypothetical SnNNi3 and CuNNi3 in comparison with superconducting ZnNNi3

The elastic, electronic, and optical properties of MNNi₃ (M=Zn, Sn, and Cu) have been calculated using the plane-wave ultrasoft pseudopotential technique, which is based on the first-principle density functional theory (DFT) with generalized gradient approximation (GGA). The optimized lattice parameters, independent elastic constants (C₁₁, C₁₂, and C₄₄), bulk modulus B, compressibility K, shear modulus G, and Poisson's ratio υ, as well as the band structures, total and atom projected densities of states and finally the optical properties of MNNi₃ have been evaluated and discussed. The electronic band structures of the two hypothetical compounds show metallic behavior just like the superconducting ZnNNi₃. Using band structures, the origin of features that appear in different optical properties of all the three compounds has been discussed. The large reflectivity of the predicted compounds in the low energy region might be useful in good candidate materials for coating to avoid solar heating.     

The electronic properties tuned by the phase transition between the semiconducting and metallic phase of monolayer MoS2/WS2

Using first-principles methods, we systematically investigate the electronic properties and atomic mechanism of the monolayer MoS₂/WS₂ homo-junction structure, which contains different phase structures, either the semiconducting hexagonal (H) structure or metallic trigonal (T) structure. Through tuning the size of the lateral homo-junction structure of either MoS₂ or WS₂, it can produce different boundaries which induce different phase transferred styles. More interestingly, the electronic structures of homo-junction structures can also be tuned by changing the size of the armchair and zigzag shapes of nanoribbons. The homo-junction structure of either MoS₂ or WS₂ exhibits alterable band structure and band edge position with the changing of the size. The strong dependence of the band offset on the sizes of the homo-junction monolayer also implicates a possible way of patterning quantum structures with size engineering.     

Structural, elastic, electronic and optical properties of a new layered-ternary Ta4SiC3 compound

We propose a new layered-ternary Ta₄SiC₃ with two different stacking sequences (α- and β-phases) of the metal atoms along c axis and study their structural stability. The mechanical, electronic and optical properties are then calculated and compared with those of other compounds M₄AX₃ (M=V, Nb, Ta; A=Al, Si and X=C). The predicted compound in the α-phase is found to possess higher bulk modulus than these compounds. The independent elastic constants of the two phases are also evaluated and the results discussed. The electronic band structures for α- and β-Ta₄SiC₃ show metallic conductivity. Ta 5d electrons are mainly contributing to the total density of states (DOS). We see that the hybridization peak of Ta 5d and C 2p lies lower in energy and the Ta 5d-C 2p bond is stronger than Ta 5d-Si 3p bond. Further an analysis of the different optical properties shows the compound to possess improved behavior compared to similar types of compounds.     

Belt-like VO2(M) with a rectangular cross section: A new route to prepare, the phase transition and the optical switching properties

Belt-like VO₂(M) with a rectangular cross section was first synthesized by the irreversible transformation of VO₂(A) at the elevated temperatures under the inert atmosphere to the best of our knowledge. The as-obtained samples were characterized by a combination of techniques including XRD, SEM and TEM. The processes of converting VO₂(A) to VO₂(M) were briefly discussed. The as-obtained VO₂(M) has belt-like morphology with a rectangular cross section with typical lengths up to several tens of micrometers, widths ranging from tens of nanometers to several micrometers, and thicknesses about 60-150 nm. The morphology and size of the VO₂(M) were dependent on that of the precursor VO₂(A). The phase transition properties of VO₂(M) were investigated by DSC, indicating that it exhibited a strong phase transition at 67.9 °C in the heating cycle and 61.1 °C in the cooling cycle. Furthermore, the optical switching property of VO₂(M) was studied by the variable-temperature infrared spectra, and it was found that the as-obtained VO₂(M) could be used as the optical switch.     

Concentration-dependent electronic structure and optical absorption properties of B-doped anatase TiO2

The concentration-dependent electronic structures and optical properties of B-doped anatase TiO₂ have been calculated using the density functional theory. The calculated results indicate that the electronic structures of B-doped TiO₂ have changed compared with those of pure TiO₂, which is mainly due to the new midgap states induced by B doping. As to the optical properties, we calculate the imaginary part of dielectric function ε₂(ω) and optical absorption spectra of pure and B-doped TiO₂. Two transitions E₁ and E₂ emerged after B doping. The intensity of absorption is enhanced by B doping both in the UV and visible regions. According to the results of imaginary part of dielectric function ε₂(ω) and DOS, it can be concluded that the two optical transitions correspond to the transitions from the O 2p states in the top of valence band to the midgap states and from the midgap states to the Ti 3d states in the bottom of conduction band, respectively. These results have important implications for the further development of photocatalytic materials.     

Effect of WO3 on structural and optical properties of CeO2-PbO-B2O3 glasses

Pure and WO₃ doped CeO₂-PbO-B₂O₃ glasses are prepared by the melt-quench technique. The structural and optical analyses of glasses are carried out by XRD, FTIR, density and UV-vis spectroscopic measurement techniques. FTIR analysis indicates the transformation of structural units of BO₃ into BO₄ with W-O-W vibration and the presence of WO₄ and WO₆ units observed with increase in WO₃ contents. Decrease in band gap for CeO₂-PbO-B₂O₃ glasses from 2.89 to 2.30 eV and for WO₃ doped glasses from 2.89 to 1.95 eV has been observed and discussed. This decrease in band gap with WO₃ doping approaches to semiconductor behavior. It shows that the presence of WO₃ in the glass samples causes more compaction of the borate network due to the formation of BO₄ groups and the presence of WO₄ and WO₆ groups, which result in a decrease in the optical band gap energy and increase in the density.     

Ab initio study of phase stability,thermodynamic and elastic properties of C3N2 derived from cubic C20

In this work, we report a quite different conclusion from Tian et al. [Phys. Rev. B 78 (2008) 235431]. It is proved that β-C₃N₂ is the only phase under high pressure, and α-C₃N₂ does not exist. β-C₃N₂ is a covalent crystal composed of strong CC and CN covalent bonds. Band gap of β-C₃N₂ increases with pressure. The width of antibonding state, shown in partial density of states (PDOS), keeps about 5 eV with rising pressures, which brings stable CN or CC covalent bonds. At sufficiently low temperatures, heat capacity (C_v) is proportional to T³; and at intermediate temperatures, C_v is governed by the details of vibrations of the atoms; finally, C_v reaches to β-C₃N₂'s Dulong–Pettit limit (about 120 J/mol K). Though thermal expansion coefficient (α) increases with temperature, α is less than 1×10⁻⁵ K⁻¹. Elastic constants rise with pressure, but shear moduli is quite steady which increases just a little with pressures.