Electronic structure and physical properties of ScN in pressure: density-functional theory calculations

Local density functional is investigated by using the full-potential linearized augmented plane wave （FP-LAPW） method for ScN in the hexagonal structure and the rocksalt structure and for hexagonal structures linking a layered hexagonal phase with wurtzite structure along a homogeneous strain transition path. It is found that the wurtzite ScN is unstable and the layered hexagonal phase, labelled as ho, in which atoms are approximately fivefold coordinated, is metastable, and the rocksalt ScN is stable. The electronic structure, the physical properties of the intermediate structures and the energy band structure along the transition are presented. It is found that the band gaps change from 4.0 to 1.0 eV continuously when c/a value varies from 1.68 to 1.26. It is noticeable that the study of ScN provides an opportunity to apply this kind of material （in wurtzite[h]-derived phase）.     

Optoelectronic and thermoelectric properties of Zintl YLi_3A_2(A = Sb,Bi) compounds through modified Becke-Johnson potential

In the present work,we investigate the structural,optoelectronic and thermoelectric properties of the YLi_3X_2(X = Sb,Bi) compounds using the full potential augmented plane wave plus local orbital(FP-APW+lo) method.The exchangecorrelation potential is treated with the generalized gradient approximation/local density approximation(GGA/LDA) and with the modified Becke-Johnson potential(TB-mBJ) in order to improve the electronic band structure calculations.In addition,the estimated ground state properties such as the lattice constants,external parameters,and bulk moduli agree well with the available experimental data.Our band structure calculations with GGA and LDA predict that both compounds have semimetallic behaviors.However,the band structure calculations with the GGA/TB-mBJ approximation indicate that the ground state of the YLi_3Sb_2 compound is semiconducting and has an estimated indirect band gap(Γ-L) of about 0.036 eV while the ground state of YLi_3Bi_2 compound is semimetallic.Conversely the LDA/TB-mBJ calculations indicate that both compounds exhibit semiconducting characters and have an indirect band gap(Γ-L) of about 0.15 eV and 0.081 eV for YLi_3Sb and YLi_3Bi_2 respectively.Additionally,the optical properties reveal strong responses of the herein materials in the energy range between the IR and extreme UV regions.Thermoelectric properties such as thermal conductivity,electrical conductivity,Seebeck coefficient,and thermo power factors are also calculated.     

First principles study on the charge density and the bulk modulus of the transition metals and their carbides and nitrides

A first principles study of the electronic properties and bulk modulus （B0） of the fcc and bcc transition metals, transition metal carbides and nitrides is presented. The calculations were performed by plane-wave pseudopotential method in the framework of the density functional theory with local density approximation. The density of states and the valence charge densities of these solids are plotted. The results show that B0 does not vary monotonically when the number of the valence d electrons increases. B0 reaches a maximum and then decreases for each of the four sorts of solids. It is related to the occupation of the bonding and anti-bonding states in the solid. The value of the valence charge density at the midpoint between the two nearest metal atoms tends to be proportional to B0.     

Layered Transition Metal Electride Hf2Se with Coexisting Two-Dimensional Anionic d-Electrons and Hf–Hf Metallic Bonds

Electrides are unique materials,whose anionic electrons are confined to interstitial voids,and they have broad potential applications in various areas.In contrast to the majority of inorganic electrides,in which the anionic electrons primarily consist of s-electrons of metals,electrides with anionic d-electrons are very rare.Based on first-principles electronic structure calculations,we predict that the layered transition metal chalcogenide Hf₂Se is a novel electride candidate with anionic d-electrons.Our results indicate that the anionic electrons confined in the Hf₆ octahedra vacancy between [Hf₂Se] layers mainly come from the Hf-5 d orbitals.In addition,the anionic electrons coexist with the Hf-Hf multiple-center metallic bonds located in the center of neighboring Hf₄ tetrahedra.The calculated work function(3.33 eV) for the(110) surface of Hf₂Se is slightly smaller than that of Hf₂S,which has recently been reported to exhibit good electrocatalytic performance.Our study of Hf2 Se will enrich the electride family,and promote further research into the physical properties and applications of electrides.     

Electronic Structures of the Filled Tetrahedral Semiconductor Li3AlN2

The first-principles total energy calculations with the local density approximation （LDA） and the plane wave pseudopotential method are employed to investigate the structural properties and electronic structures of Li3AlN2. The calculated lattice constants and internal coordination of atoms agree well with the experimental results. Detailed studies of the electronic structure and the charge-density redistribution reveal the features of the strong ionicity bonding of Al-N and Al-Li, and strong hybridizations between Li and N in Li3AlN2. Our band structure calculation verifies Li3AlN2 is a direct gap semiconductor with the LDA gap value of about 2.97eV and transition at Г.     

First-principles study of atomic and electronic structures of kaolinite in soft rock

Kaolinite is a kind of clay mineral which often causes large deformations in soft-rock tunnel engineering and thus causes safety issues.To deal with these engineering safety issues,the physical/chemical properties of the kaolinite should be studied from basic viewpoints.By using the density-functional theory,in this paper,the atomic and the electronic structures of the kaolinite are studied within the local-density approximation(LDA).It is found that the kaolinite has a large indirect band gap with the conduction band minimum(CBM) and the valence band maximum(VBM) being at the Γ and the B points,respectively.The chemical bonding between the cation and the oxygen anion in kaolinite is mainly ionic,accompanied by a minor covalent component.It is pointed that the VBM and the CBM of kaolinite consist of oxygen 2p and cation s states,respectively.The bond lengths between different cations and anions,as well as of the different OH groups,are also compared.     

Quasiparticle Band Structure of BaS

We calculate the band structure of BaS using the local density approximation and the GW approximation （ G WA ）, i.e. in combination of the Green function G and the screened Coulomb interaction W, The Ba 4d states are treated as valence states. We find that BaS is a direct band-gap semiconductor, The result shows that the GWA band gap （Eg-Gw = 3.921 eV） agrees excellently with the experimental result （Eg-EXPT = 3.88 eV or 3.9eV）.     

Optoelectronic Properties,Elastic Moduli and Thermoelectricity of SrAlGa： An Ab Initio Study

Half-Heusler compounds are an impressive class of materials with a huge potential for different applications such as in future energy, especially in the fields of thermoelectrics and solar cells. We present ab fnitio total energy calculations within the modified Becke-Johnson generalized gradient approximation （mBJ-GGA） to obtain the physical properties of SrAlGa compounds. The structural, elastic, acoustic, electronic, chemical bonding, optical, and thermoelectric properties are calculated and compared with the available calculation data. The SrAlGa is found to be a small-band-gap （0.125-0.175 eV） material, suitable for thermoelectric applications with a relatively high Seebeck coefficient. Also, SrAIGa has the potential in the optoelectronic applications due to high optical conductivity and reflectivity in the infrared and visible region of electromagnetic spectra.     

First-principles study of atomic and electronic structures of kaolinite in soft rock

Kaolinite is a kind of clay mineral which often causes large deformations in soft-rock tunnel engineering and thus causes safety issues. To deal with these engineering safety issues, the physical/chemical properties of the kaolinite should be studied from basic viewpoints. By using the density-functional theory, in this paper, the atomic and the electronic structures of the kaolinite are studied within the local-density approximation (LDA). It is found that the kaolinite has a large indirect band gap with the conduction band minimum (CBM) and the valence band maximum (VBM) being at the Γ and the B points, respectively. The chemical bonding between the cation and the oxygen anion in kaolinite is mainly ionic, accompanied by a minor covalent component. It is pointed that the VBM and the CBM of kaolinite consist of oxygen 2p and cation s states, respectively. The bond lengths between different cations and anions, as well as of the different OH groups, are also compared.     

Effects of ⅢB transition metals on optoelectronic and magnetic properties of HoMnO_3: A first principles study

The optoelectronic and magnetic properties of pure Ho Mn O3 and Ho0.67T0.33 Mn O3(T = La, Y) alloys in hexagonal phase are theoretically investigated by using the first-principles calculations. The investigations are performed by means of the density functional theory through using the spin polarized generalized gradient approximation plus the Hubbard potential(SPGGA + U, U eff= 3 eV). The studied material Ho MnO3 exhibits two indirect band gaps: 1.58 eV for the spinup state and 0.72 eV for the spin-down state along the S–G direction within the SPGGA + U approximation. It is found that the band gap of pure Ho Mn O3 for the spin-up state increases with increasing La and Y dopants. The results show that all of the studied materials have semi-metallic behaviors for the spin-up state and semiconducting character for the spin-down state. The substitutions of La and Y for Ho in Ho MnO3 cause the static dielectric constant(ε0) to increase in the x direction but to decrease in the z direction. The calculated optical conductivity spectrum of Ho MnO3 in a low energy range is in good agreement with the recent experimental data.     

Investigation of structural stability and electronic properties of group III nitrides: a first principles study

The high-pressure structural phase transition, electronic, superconducting and elastic properties of group III nitrides (ScN, YN and LaN) are investigated by first principles calculation with the density functional theory. The calculated lattice parameters are in good agreement with the experimental and other theoretical values. Electronic structure reveals that these materials are semiconductors with an indirect band gap of 1.4, 0.87 and 0.65?eV for ScN, YN and LaN, respectively. The obtained cubic NaCl structure is energetically the most stable structure at ambient pressure. A pressure-induced structural phase transition from NaCl to CsCl structure is predicted. The structural phase transition of ScN, YN and LaN occurs at a pressure of 158, 132 and 26.5?GPa, respectively. On further increase in the pressure, semiconductor-to-metallic transition and superconductivity is observed in these nitrides. The estimated T _c values as a function of pressure for ScN, YN and LaN are 31.79, 15.50 and 12.84?K, respectively.     

Electronic structure of ScN, YN, LaN and GdN superlattices

Using the plane wave version of the full potential linear muffin-tin orbital (FPLMTO) method, which enables an accurate treatment of the interstitial regions, the electronic properties of ScN, YN, LaN and GdN rocksalt/rocksalt superlattices are calculated. It is found that apart from YN/ScN, all the other superlattices have negative bandgaps. However, it is shown that these systems can be semiconductors if a correction is made to the local density approximation (LDA).     

Vibrational and thermal properties of ScN and YN: quasi-harmonic approximation calculations and anharmonic effects

The structural, vibrational and thermal properties of rocksalt ScN and YN are investigated by using a first-principles plane-wave approach. The results are discussed in comparison with the similarly calculated results for rocksalt MgO and zincblende AlN. The thermal expansivity (α(V)) computed within the quasi-harmonic approximation shows that there are significant anharmonic effects in ScN and YN, which are comparable to those in MgO. Since no experimental results are available for α(V) of either ScN or YN, the anharmonic effects are accounted for by a variant of the very recently introduced effective semiempirical ansatz (Phys. Rev. B 2009 79 104304) for calculating anharmonic free energy, which does not require any input from experiment. The validity of this very simple approach is demonstrated first by applying it to MgO. For the considered phase of AlN, the quasi-harmonic approximation is valid up to very high temperatures, and the thus obtained α(V) is in good agreement with experiment. The values of α(V) for semiconductor transition metal nitrides that crystallize in the rocksalt phase are higher than those for the zincblende phase of group-IIIB nitrides, and a major part of these differences is due to the crystal structure.     

Quasiparticle band structures and optical properties of magnesium fluoride

The quasiparticle and optical properties of magnesium fluoride (MgF(2)) are computed within the GW approximation based on many-body perturbation theory (MBPT). The many-body effects appearing in self-energy and electron-hole interactions have an important influence on the electronic and optical properties. The DFT-LDA calculation shows a 6.78 eV band gap. Two methods are employed to evaluate the self-energy within the GW approximation in the present work. The generalized plasmon pole model (GPP) provides a band gap of 12.17 eV, which agrees well with the experimental value of 12.4 eV (Thomas et al 1973 Phys. Status Solidi b 56 163). Another band gap value of 11.30 eV is obtained by using a full frequency-dependent self-energy, which is also not far from the experimental value and is much better than the result from the LDA calculation. The calculated optical spectrum within DFT is significantly different from the experiment. Although the calculated optical absorption threshold within the GW method is close to the experiment, the overall shape of the spectrum is still similar to the case of DFT. However, the overall shape of the spectrum via the Bethe-Salpeter equation (BSE) method agrees well with the experiment.     

Electronic structure calculations using dynamical mean field theory

The calculation of the electronic properties of materials is an important task of solid-state theory, albeit particularly difficult if electronic correlations are strong, e.g., in transition metals, their oxides and in f-electron systems. The standard approach to material calculations, the density functional theory in its local density approximation (LDA), incorporates electronic correlations only very rudimentarily and fails if the correlations are strong. Encouraged by the success of dynamical mean field theory (DMFT) in dealing with strongly correlated model Hamiltonians, physicists from the bandstructure and the many-body communities have joined forces and developed a combined LDA + DMFT method recently. Depending on the strength of electronic correlations, this new approach yields a weakly correlated metal as in the LDA, a strongly correlated metal or a Mott insulator. This approach is widely regarded as a breakthrough for electronic structure calculations of strongly correlated materials. We review this LDA + DMFT method and also discuss alternative approaches to employ DMFT in electronic structure calculations, e.g., by replacing the LDA part with the so-called GW approximation. Different methods to solve the DMFT equations are introduced with a focus on those that are suitable for realistic calculations with many orbitals. An overview of the successful application of LDA + DMFT to a wide variety of materials, ranging from Pu and Ce, to Fe and Ni, to numerous transition metal oxides, is given.     

The importance of electron correlation in graphene and hydrogenated graphene

Local density approximation (LDA) and Green function effective Coulomb (GW) calculations are performed to investigate the effect of electronic correlations on the electronic properties of both graphene and graphane. The size of band gap in graphane increases from 3.7 eV in LDA to 4.9 eV in GW approximation. By calculating maximally localized Wannier wave functions, we evaluate the necessary integrals to get the Hubbard U and the exchange J interaction from first principles for both graphene and graphane. Our ab-initio estimates indicate that in the case of graphene, in addition to the hopping amplitude t ～ 2.8 eV giving rise to the Dirac nature of low lying excitations, the Hubbard U value of ～8.7 eV gives rise to a super-exchange strength of J _AFM ～ 3.5 eV. This value dominates over the direct (ferromagnetic) exchange value of J _FM ～ 1.6 eV. This brings substantial Mott-Heisenberg aspects into the problem of graphene. Moreover, similarly large values of the Hubbard and super-exchange strength in graphane suggests that the nature of gap in graphane has substantial Mott character.     

Structural phase stability,elastic parameters and thermal properties of YN from first-principles calculation

The structural phase stability, elastic parameters and thermodynamic properties of YN at normal and under high pressure are reported. The calculations are mainly performed using the full-potential linearized augmented plane wave method within the density functional theory. Both local density approximation (LDA) and generalized gradient approximation (GGA) are used to model the correlation-exchange potential. The calculated equilibrium lattice parameter and the bulk modulus show good accordance with the experimental and previous theoretical reports. The phase transition from the NaCl (B1) structure to the CsCl (B2) structure is found to occur at 131?GPa within GGA and 115?GPa within LDA. The linear pressure coefficients of the different elastic moduli being addressed here are also determined along with the mechanical and dynamical stability criteria which are shown to be satisfied for YN with B1 phase under normal conditions. Besides, the heat capacity and other thermodynamic parameters are examined and discussed versus temperature.     

Electron correlation effects on Compton profiles of copper in the GW approximation

The Compton profiles (CPs) of copper are calculated by the GW approximation with FLAPW basis sets on the LDA. In the quasiparticle band structure in the GW approximation, the width of fully occupied 3d valence band which is overestimated in the LDA, is in good agreement with experimental observation. The dynamical screening effects are important for band width narrowing. The occupation number densities are evaluated from the spectral function calculation within the GW calculations. The CPs obtained using these GW calculations successfully reproduce experimental results.     

Optoelectronic and thermoelectric properties of Zintl YLi3X2(X=Sb,Bi) compounds through modified Becke—Johnson potential

In the present work, we investigate the structural, optoelectronic and thermoelectric properties of the YLi₃X₂(X=Sb, Bi) compounds using the full potential augmented plane wave plus local orbital (FP-APW+lo) method. The exchange-correlation potential is treated with the generalized gradient approximation/local density approximation (GGA/LDA) and with the modified Becke-Johnson potential (TB-mBJ) in order to improve the electronic band structure calculations. In addition, the estimated ground state properties such as the lattice constants, external parameters, and bulk moduli agree well with the available experimental data. Our band structure calculations with GGA and LDA predict that both compounds have semimetallic behaviors. However, the band structure calculations with the GGA/TB-mBJ approximation indicate that the ground state of the YLi₃Sb₂ compound is semiconducting and has an estimated indirect band gap (Γ-L) of about 0.036 eV while the ground state of YLi₃Bi₂ compound is semimetallic. Conversely the LDA/TB-mBJ calculations indicate that both compounds exhibit semiconducting characters and have an indirect band gap (Γ-L) of about 0.15 eV and 0.081 eV for YLi₃Sb and YLi₃Bi₂ respectively. Additionally, the optical properties reveal strong responses of the herein materials in the energy range between the IR and extreme UV regions. Thermoelectric properties such as thermal conductivity, electrical conductivity, Seebeck coefficient, and thermo power factors are also calculated.