Ab initio theory and modeling of water.

PubMed

Chen, Mohan; Ko, Hsin-Yu; Remsing, Richard C; Calegari Andrade, Marcos F; Santra, Biswajit; Sun, Zhaoru; Selloni, Annabella; Car, Roberto; Klein, Michael L; Perdew, John P; Wu, Xifan

2017-10-10

Water is of the utmost importance for life and technology. However, a genuinely predictive ab initio model of water has eluded scientists. We demonstrate that a fully ab initio approach, relying on the strongly constrained and appropriately normed (SCAN) density functional, provides such a description of water. SCAN accurately describes the balance among covalent bonds, hydrogen bonds, and van der Waals interactions that dictates the structure and dynamics of liquid water. Notably, SCAN captures the density difference between water and ice I h at ambient conditions, as well as many important structural, electronic, and dynamic properties of liquid water. These successful predictions of the versatile SCAN functional open the gates to study complex processes in aqueous phase chemistry and the interactions of water with other materials in an efficient, accurate, and predictive, ab initio manner.

Ab initio theory and modeling of water

PubMed Central

Chen, Mohan; Ko, Hsin-Yu; Remsing, Richard C.; Calegari Andrade, Marcos F.; Santra, Biswajit; Sun, Zhaoru; Selloni, Annabella; Car, Roberto; Klein, Michael L.; Perdew, John P.; Wu, Xifan

2017-01-01

Water is of the utmost importance for life and technology. However, a genuinely predictive ab initio model of water has eluded scientists. We demonstrate that a fully ab initio approach, relying on the strongly constrained and appropriately normed (SCAN) density functional, provides such a description of water. SCAN accurately describes the balance among covalent bonds, hydrogen bonds, and van der Waals interactions that dictates the structure and dynamics of liquid water. Notably, SCAN captures the density difference between water and ice Ih at ambient conditions, as well as many important structural, electronic, and dynamic properties of liquid water. These successful predictions of the versatile SCAN functional open the gates to study complex processes in aqueous phase chemistry and the interactions of water with other materials in an efficient, accurate, and predictive, ab initio manner. PMID:28973868

Are trinuclear superhalogens promising candidates for building blocks of novel magnetic materials? A theoretical prospect from combined broken-symmetry density functional theory and ab initio study.

PubMed

Yu, Yang; Li, Chen; Yin, Bing; Li, Jian-Li; Huang, Yuan-He; Wen, Zhen-Yi; Jiang, Zhen-Yi

2013-08-07

The structures, relative stabilities, vertical electron detachment energies, and magnetic properties of a series of trinuclear clusters are explored via combined broken-symmetry density functional theory and ab initio study. Several exchange-correlation functionals are utilized to investigate the effects of different halogen elements and central atoms on the properties of the clusters. These clusters are shown to possess stronger superhalogen properties than previously reported dinuclear superhalogens. The calculated exchange coupling constants indicate the antiferromagnetic coupling between the transition metal ions. Spin density analysis demonstrates the importance of spin delocalization in determining the strengths of various couplings. Spin frustration is shown to occur in some of the trinuclear superhalogens. The coexistence of strong superhalogen properties and spin frustration implies the possibility of trinuclear superhalogens working as the building block of new materials of novel magnetic properties.

Ab initio density functional theory investigation of electronic properties of semiconducting single-walled carbon nanotube bundles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moradian, Rostam; Behzad, Somayeh; Azadi, Sam

2008-09-01

By using ab initio density functional theory we investigated the structural and electronic properties of semiconducting (7, 0), (8, 0) and (10, 0) carbon nanotube bundles. The energetic and electronic evolutions of nanotubes in the bundling process are also studied. The effects of inter-tube coupling on the electronic dispersions of semiconducting carbon nanotube bundles are demonstrated. Our results show that the inter-tube coupling decreases the energy gap in semiconducting nanotubes. We found that bundles of (7, 0) and (8, 0) carbon nanotubes have metallic feature, while (10, 0) bundle is a semiconductor with an energy gap of 0.22 eV. To clarify our results the band structures of isolated and bundled nanotubes are compared.

Positive semidefinite tensor factorizations of the two-electron integral matrix for low-scaling ab initio electronic structure.

PubMed

Hoy, Erik P; Mazziotti, David A

2015-08-14

Tensor factorization of the 2-electron integral matrix is a well-known technique for reducing the computational scaling of ab initio electronic structure methods toward that of Hartree-Fock and density functional theories. The simplest factorization that maintains the positive semidefinite character of the 2-electron integral matrix is the Cholesky factorization. In this paper, we introduce a family of positive semidefinite factorizations that generalize the Cholesky factorization. Using an implementation of the factorization within the parametric 2-RDM method [D. A. Mazziotti, Phys. Rev. Lett. 101, 253002 (2008)], we study several inorganic molecules, alkane chains, and potential energy curves and find that this generalized factorization retains the accuracy and size extensivity of the Cholesky factorization, even in the presence of multi-reference correlation. The generalized family of positive semidefinite factorizations has potential applications to low-scaling ab initio electronic structure methods that treat electron correlation with a computational cost approaching that of the Hartree-Fock method or density functional theory.

Derivation of force field parameters for SnO2-H2O surface systems from plane-wave density functional theory calculations.

PubMed

Bandura, A V; Sofo, J O; Kubicki, J D

2006-04-27

Plane-wave density functional theory (DFT-PW) calculations were performed on bulk SnO2 (cassiterite) and the (100), (110), (001), and (101) surfaces with and without H2O present. A classical interatomic force field has been developed to describe bulk SnO2 and SnO2-H2O surface interactions. Periodic density functional theory calculations using the program VASP (Kresse et al., 1996) and molecular cluster calculations using Gaussian 03 (Frisch et al., 2003) were used to derive the parametrization of the force field. The program GULP (Gale, 1997) was used to optimize parameters to reproduce experimental and ab initio results. The experimental crystal structure and elastic constants of SnO2 are reproduced reasonably well with the force field. Furthermore, surface atom relaxations and structures of adsorbed H2O molecules agree well between the ab initio and force field predictions. H2O addition above that required to form a monolayer results in consistent structures between the DFT-PW and classical force field results as well.

Ab initio, density functional theory, and continuum solvation model prediction of the product ratio in the S(N)2 reaction of NO2(-) with CH3CH2Cl and CH3CH2Br in DMSO solution.

PubMed

Westphal, Eduard; Pliego, Josefredo R

2007-10-11

The reaction pathways for the interaction of the nitrite ion with ethyl chloride and ethyl bromide in DMSO solution were investigated at the ab initio level of theory, and the solvent effect was included through the polarizable continuum model. The performance of BLYP, GLYP, XLYP, OLYP, PBE0, B3PW91, B3LYP, and X3LYP density functionals has been tested. For the ethyl bromide case, our best ab initio calculations at the CCSD(T)/aug-cc-pVTZ level predicts product ratio of 73% and 27% for nitroethane and ethyl nitrite, respectively, which can be compared with the experimental values of 67% and 33%. This translates to an error in the relative DeltaG* of only 0.17 kcal mol(-1). No functional is accurate (deviation <0.5 kcal mol(-1)) for predicting relative DeltaG*. The hybrid X3LYP functional presents the best performance with deviation 0.82 kcal mol(-1). The present problem should be included in the test set used for the evaluation of new functionals.

Ab initio theory of the N2V defect in diamond for quantum memory implementation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Udvarhelyi, Péter; Thiering, Gergő; Londero, Elisa; Gali, Adam

2017-10-01

The N2V defect in diamond is characterized by means of ab initio methods relying on density functional theory calculated parameters of a Hubbard model Hamiltonian. It is shown that this approach appropriately describes the energy levels of correlated excited states induced by this defect. By determining its critical magneto-optical parameters, we propose to realize a long-living quantum memory by N2V defect, i.e., H 3 color center in diamond.

Ab initio density functional theory investigation of crystalline bundles of polygonized single-walled silicon carbide nanotubes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moradian, Rostam; Behzad, Somayeh; Chegel, Raad

2008-11-01

By using ab initio density functional theory, the structural characterizations and electronic properties of two large-diameter (13, 13) and (14, 14) armchair silicon carbide nanotube (SiCNT) bundles are investigated. Full structural optimizations show that the cross sections of these large-diameter SiCNTs in the bundles have a nearly hexagonal shape. The effects of inter-tube coupling on the electronic dispersions of large-diameter SiCNT bundles are demonstrated. By comparing the band structures of the triangular lattices of (14, 14) SiCNTs with nearly hexagonal and circular cross sections we found that the polygonization of the tubes in the bundle leads to a further dispersion of the occupied bands and an increase in the bandgap by 0.18 eV.

Ab initio density functional theory investigation of crystalline bundles of polygonized single-walled silicon carbide nanotubes.

PubMed

Moradian, Rostam; Behzad, Somayeh; Chegel, Raad

2008-11-19

By using ab initio density functional theory, the structural characterizations and electronic properties of two large-diameter (13, 13) and (14, 14) armchair silicon carbide nanotube (SiCNT) bundles are investigated. Full structural optimizations show that the cross sections of these large-diameter SiCNTs in the bundles have a nearly hexagonal shape. The effects of inter-tube coupling on the electronic dispersions of large-diameter SiCNT bundles are demonstrated. By comparing the band structures of the triangular lattices of (14, 14) SiCNTs with nearly hexagonal and circular cross sections we found that the polygonization of the tubes in the bundle leads to a further dispersion of the occupied bands and an increase in the bandgap by 0.18 eV.

Ab initio density functional theory investigation of structural and electronic properties of silicon carbide nanotube bundles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moradian, Rostam; Behzad, Somayeh; Chegel, Raad

2008-10-01

By using ab initio density functional theory the structural and electronic properties of isolated and bundled (8,0) and (6,6) silicon carbide nanotubes (SiCNTs) are investigated. Our results show that for such small diameter nanotubes the inter-tube interaction causes a very small radial deformation, while band splitting and reduction of the semiconducting energy band gap are significant. We compared the equilibrium interaction energy and inter-tube separation distance of (8,0) SiCNT bundle with (10,0) carbon nanotube (CNT) bundle where they have the same radius. We found that there is a larger inter-tube separation and weaker inter-tube interaction in the (8,0) SiCNT bundle with respect to (10,0) CNT bundle, although they have the same radius.

Ab initio calculation of resonant Raman intensities of transition metal dichalcogenides

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Miranda, Henrique; Reichardt, Sven; Molina-Sanchez, Alejandro; Wirtz, Ludger

Raman spectroscopy is used to characterize optical and vibrational properties of materials. Its computational simulation is important for the interpretation of experimental results. Two approaches are the bond polarizability model and density functional perturbation theory. However, both are known to not capture resonance effects. These resonances and quantum interference effects are important to correctly reproduce the intensities as a function of laser energy as, e.g., reported for the case of multi-layer MoTe21.We present two fully ab initio approaches that overcome this limitation. In the first, we calculate finite difference derivatives of the dielectric susceptibility with the phonon displacements2. In the second we calculate electron-light and electron-phonon matrix elements from density functional theory and use them to evaluate expressions for the Raman intensity derived from time-dependent perturbation theory. These expressions are implemented in a computer code that performs the calculations as a post-processing step. We compare both methods and study the case of triple-layer MoTe2. Luxembourg National Research Fund (FNR).

Lithium cluster anions: photoelectron spectroscopy and ab initio calculations.

PubMed

Alexandrova, Anastassia N; Boldyrev, Alexander I; Li, Xiang; Sarkas, Harry W; Hendricks, Jay H; Arnold, Susan T; Bowen, Kit H

2011-01-28

Structural and energetic properties of small, deceptively simple anionic clusters of lithium, Li(n)(-), n = 3-7, were determined using a combination of anion photoelectron spectroscopy and ab initio calculations. The most stable isomers of each of these anions, the ones most likely to contribute to the photoelectron spectra, were found using the gradient embedded genetic algorithm program. Subsequently, state-of-the-art ab initio techniques, including time-dependent density functional theory, coupled cluster, and multireference configurational interactions methods, were employed to interpret the experimental spectra.

Transitioning NWChem to the Next Generation of Manycore Machines

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bylaska, Eric J.; Apra, Edoardo; Kowalski, Karol

The NorthWest Chemistry (NWChem) modeling software is a popular molecular chemistry simulation software that was designed from the start to work on massively parallel processing supercomputers[6, 28, 49]. It contains an umbrella of modules that today includes Self Consistent Field (SCF), second order Mller-Plesset perturbation theory (MP2), Coupled Cluster, multi-conguration selfconsistent eld (MCSCF), selected conguration interaction (CI), tensor contraction engine (TCE) many body methods, density functional theory (DFT), time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT), real time time-dependent density functional theory, pseudopotential plane-wave density functional theory (PSPW), band structure (BAND), ab initio molecular dynamics, Car-Parrinello molecular dynamics, classical molecular dynamics (MD), QM/MM,more » AIMD/MM, GIAO NMR, COSMO, COSMO-SMD, and RISM solvation models, free energy simulations, reaction path optimization, parallel in time, among other capabilities[ 22]. Moreover new capabilities continue to be added with each new release.« less

Cluster perturbation theory for calculation of electronic properties of ensembles of metal nanoclusters

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhumagulov, Yaroslav V.; Krasavin, Andrey V.; Kashurnikov, Vladimir A.

2018-05-01

The method is developed for calculation of electronic properties of an ensemble of metal nanoclusters with the use of cluster perturbation theory. This method is applied to the system of gold nanoclusters. The Greens function of single nanocluster is obtained by ab initio calculations within the framework of the density functional theory, and then is used in Dyson equation to group nanoclusters together and to compute the Greens function as well as the electron density of states of the whole ensemble. The transition from insulator state of a single nanocluster to metallic state of bulk gold is observed.

Ab initio approach to the ion stopping power at the plasma-solid interface

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bonitz, Michael; Schlünzen, Niclas; Wulff, Lasse; Joost, Jan-Philip; Balzer, Karsten

2016-10-01

The energy loss of ions in solids is of key relevance for many applications of plasmas, ranging from plasma technology to fusion. Standard approaches are based on density functional theory or SRIM simulations, however, the applicability range and accuracy of these results are difficult to assess, in particular, for low energies. Here we present an independent approach that is based on ab initio nonequilibrium Green functions theory, e.g. that allows to incorporate electronic correlations effects of the solid. We present the first application of this method to low-temperature plasmas, concentrating on proton and alpha-particle stopping in a graphene layer. In addition to the stopping power we present time-dependent results for the local electron density, the spectral function and the photoemission spectrum that is directly accessible in optical, UV or x-ray diagnostics. http://www.itap.uni-kiel.de/theo-physik/bonitz/.

Exchange coupling and magnetic anisotropy in a family of bipyrimidyl radical-bridged dilanthanide complexes: density functional theory and ab initio calculations.

PubMed

Zhang, Yi-Quan; Luo, Cheng-Lin; Zhang, Qiang

2014-05-05

The origin of the magnetic anisotropy energy barriers in a series of bpym(-) (bpym = 2,2'-bipyrimidine) radical-bridged dilanthanide complexes [(Cp*2Ln)2(μ-bpym)](+) [Cp* = pentamethylcyclopentadienyl; Ln = Gd(III) (1), Tb(III) (2), Dy(III) (3), Ho(III) (4), Er(III) (5)] has been explored using density functional theory (DFT) and ab initio methods. DFT calculations show that the exchange coupling between the two lanthanide ions for each complex is very weak, but the antiferromagnetic Ln-bpym(-) couplings are strong. Ab initio calculations show that the effective energy barrier of 2 or 3 mainly comes from the contribution of a single Tb(III) or Dy(III) fragment, which is only about one third of a single Ln energy barrier. For 4 or 5, however, both of the two Ho(III) or Er(III) fragments contribute to the total energy barrier. Thus, it is insufficient to only increase the magnetic anisotropy energy barrier of a single Ln ion, while enhancing the Ln-bpym(-) couplings is also very important. Copyright © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Ab initio quantum chemistry: methodology and applications.

PubMed

Friesner, Richard A

2005-05-10

This Perspective provides an overview of state-of-the-art ab initio quantum chemical methodology and applications. The methods that are discussed include coupled cluster theory, localized second-order Moller-Plesset perturbation theory, multireference perturbation approaches, and density functional theory. The accuracy of each approach for key chemical properties is summarized, and the computational performance is analyzed, emphasizing significant advances in algorithms and implementation over the past decade. Incorporation of a condensed-phase environment by means of mixed quantum mechanical/molecular mechanics or self-consistent reaction field techniques, is presented. A wide range of illustrative applications, focusing on materials science and biology, are discussed briefly.

Ab initio density functional theory investigation of Li-intercalated silicon carbide nanotube bundles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moradian, Rostam; Behzad, Somayeh; Chegel, Raad

2009-06-01

We present the results of ab initio density functional theory calculations on the energetic, and geometric and electronic structure of Li-intercalated ( 6,6) silicon carbide nanotube (SiCNT) bundles. Our results show that intercalation of lithium leads to the significant changes in the geometrical structure. The most prominent effect of Li intercalation on the electronic band structure is a shift of the Fermi energy which occurs as a result of charge transfer from lithium to the SiCNTs. All the Li-intercalated ( 6,6) SiCNT bundles are predicted to be metallic representing a substantial change in electronic properties relative to the undoped bundle, which is a wide band gap semiconductor. Both inside of the nanotube and the interstitial space are susceptible for intercalation. The present calculations suggest that the SiCNT bundle is a promising candidate for the anode material in battery applications.

An ab initio molecular dynamics and density functional theory study of the formation of phosphate chains from metathiophosphates.

PubMed

Mosey, Nicholas J; Woo, Tom K

2006-09-04

The reactions that occur between metathiophosphate (MTP) molecules are identified and examined through ab initio molecular dynamics simulations and static quantum chemical calculations at the density functional level of theory. The simulations show that certain types of MTPs can react to yield phosphate chains, while others only dimerize. These differences are rationalized in terms of reaction energies and the electronic structures of these molecules. In the reaction leading to the formation of phosphate chains, the reactive center, a tri-coordinate phosphorus atom, is continually regenerated. A polymerization mechanism linking MTPs to phosphate chains is developed on the basis of these results. This information sheds light on the underlying processes that may be responsible for the formation of phosphates under high-temperature conditions and may prove useful in the development of protocols for the rational synthesis of complex phosphate structures.

Ab Initio Optimized Effective Potentials for Real Molecules in Optical Cavities: Photon Contributions to the Molecular Ground State

PubMed Central

2018-01-01

We introduce a simple scheme to efficiently compute photon exchange-correlation contributions due to the coupling to transversal photons as formulated in the newly developed quantum-electrodynamical density-functional theory (QEDFT).1−5 Our construction employs the optimized-effective potential (OEP) approach by means of the Sternheimer equation to avoid the explicit calculation of unoccupied states. We demonstrate the efficiency of the scheme by applying it to an exactly solvable GaAs quantum ring model system, a single azulene molecule, and chains of sodium dimers, all located in optical cavities and described in full real space. While the first example is a two-dimensional system and allows to benchmark the employed approximations, the latter two examples demonstrate that the correlated electron-photon interaction appreciably distorts the ground-state electronic structure of a real molecule. By using this scheme, we not only construct typical electronic observables, such as the electronic ground-state density, but also illustrate how photon observables, such as the photon number, and mixed electron-photon observables, for example, electron–photon correlation functions, become accessible in a density-functional theory (DFT) framework. This work constitutes the first three-dimensional ab initio calculation within the new QEDFT formalism and thus opens up a new computational route for the ab initio study of correlated electron–photon systems in quantum cavities. PMID:29594185

Ab-initio atomic level stress and role of d-orbitals in CuZr, CuZn and CuY

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ojha, Madhusudan; Nicholson, Don M.; Egami, Takeshi

2015-03-01

Atomic level stress offers a new tool to characterize materials within the local approximation to density functional theory (DFT). Ab-initio atomic level stresses in B2 structures of CuZr, CuZn and CuY are calculated and results are explained on the basis of d-orbital contributions to Density of States (DOS). The overlap of d-orbital DOS plays an important role in the relative magnitude of atomic level stresses in these structures. The trends in atomic level stresses that we observed in these simple B2 structures are also seen in complex structures such as liquids, glasses and solid solutions. The stresses are however modified by the different coordination and relaxed separation distances in these complex structures. We used the Locally Self-Consistent Multiple Scattering (LSMS) code and Vienna Ab-initio Simulation Package (VASP) for ab-initio calculations.

Large-Scale Hybrid Density Functional Theory Calculations in the Condensed-Phase: Ab Initio Molecular Dynamics in the Isobaric-Isothermal Ensemble

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ko, Hsin-Yu; Santra, Biswajit; Distasio, Robert A., Jr.; Wu, Xifan; Car, Roberto

Hybrid functionals are known to alleviate the self-interaction error in density functional theory (DFT) and provide a more accurate description of the electronic structure of molecules and materials. However, hybrid DFT in the condensed-phase has a prohibitively high associated computational cost which limits their applicability to large systems of interest. In this work, we present a general-purpose order(N) implementation of hybrid DFT in the condensed-phase using Maximally localized Wannier function; this implementation is optimized for massively parallel computing architectures. This algorithm is used to perform large-scale ab initio molecular dynamics simulations of liquid water, ice, and aqueous ionic solutions. We have performed simulations in the isothermal-isobaric ensemble to quantify the effects of exact exchange on the equilibrium density properties of water at different thermodynamic conditions. We find that the anomalous density difference between ice I h and liquid water at ambient conditions as well as the enthalpy differences between ice I h, II, and III phases at the experimental triple point (238 K and 20 Kbar) are significantly improved using hybrid DFT over previous estimates using the lower rungs of DFT This work has been supported by the Department of Energy under Grants No. DE-FG02-05ER46201 and DE-SC0008626.

Covariant density functional theory: predictive power and first attempts of a microscopic derivation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ring, Peter

2018-05-01

We discuss systematic global investigations with modern covariant density functionals. The number of their phenomenological parameters can be reduced considerable by using microscopic input from ab-initio calculations in nuclear matter. The size of the tensor force is still an open problem. Therefore we use the first full relativistic Brueckner-Hartree-Fock calculations in finite nuclear systems in order to study properties of such functionals, which cannot be obtained from nuclear matter calculations.

Assessment of Ab Initio and Density Functional Theory Methods for the Excitations of Donor-Acceptor Complexes: The Case of the Benzene-Tetracyanoethylene Model.

PubMed

Xu, Peng; Zhang, Cai-Rong; Wang, Wei; Gong, Ji-Jun; Liu, Zi-Jiang; Chen, Hong-Shan

2018-04-10

The understanding of the excited-state properties of electron donors, acceptors and their interfaces in organic optoelectronic devices is a fundamental issue for their performance optimization. In order to obtain a balanced description of the different excitation types for electron-donor-acceptor systems, including the singlet charge transfer (CT), local excitations, and triplet excited states, several ab initio and density functional theory (DFT) methods for excited-state calculations were evaluated based upon the selected model system of benzene-tetracyanoethylene (B-TCNE) complexes. On the basis of benchmark calculations of the equation-of-motion coupled-cluster with single and double excitations method, the arithmetic mean of the absolute errors and standard errors of the electronic excitation energies for the different computational methods suggest that the M11 functional in DFT is superior to the other tested DFT functionals, and time-dependent DFT (TDDFT) with the Tamm-Dancoff approximation improves the accuracy of the calculated excitation energies relative to that of the full TDDFT. The performance of the M11 functional underlines the importance of kinetic energy density, spin-density gradient, and range separation in the development of novel DFT functionals. According to the TDDFT results, the performances of the different TDDFT methods on the CT properties of the B-TCNE complexes were also analyzed.

Joint density-functional theory and its application to systems in solution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Petrosyan, Sahak A.

The physics of solvation, the interaction of water with solutes, plays a central role in chemistry and biochemistry, and it is essential for the very existence of life. Despite the central importance of water and the advent of the quantum theory early in the twentieth century, the link between the fundamental laws of physics and the observable properties of water remain poorly understood to this day. The central goal of this thesis is to develop a new formalism and framework to make the study of systems (solutes or surfaces) in contact with liquid water as practical and accurate as standard electronic structure calculations without the need for explicit averaging over large ensembles of configurations of water molecules. The thesis introduces a new form of density functional theory for the ab initio description of electronic systems in contact with a molecular liquid environment. This theory rigorously joins an electron density-functional for the electrons of a solute with a classical density-functional theory for the liquid into a single variational principle for the free energy of the combined system. Using the new form of density-functional theory for the ab initio description of electronic systems in contact with a molecular liquid environment, the thesis then presents the first detailed study of the impact of a solvent on the surface chemistry of Cr2O3, the passivating layer of stainless steel alloys. In comparison to a vacuum, we predict that the presence of water has little impact on the adsorption of chloride ions to the oxygen-terminated surface but has a dramatic effect on the binding of hydrogen to that surface. A key ingredient of a successful joint density functional theory is a good approximate functional for describing the solvent. We explore how the simplest examples of the best known class of approximate forms for the classical density functional fail when applied directly to water. The thesis then presents a computationally efficient density-functional theory for water which overcomes this difficulty and gives reasonable agreement with molecular dynamics simulation data for the solvation of hard spheres in water and sufficient agreement with experimental data for hydration of inert gas atoms to justify its use in a joint theory with standard approximate density functionals used in electronic structure calculations. The last study in the thesis combines the previous ideas and presenting an approximate model density functional which includes a description of cavitation effects through a classical density-functional theory; a description of dielectric effects through a non-local polarizability, and a description of the coupling of the solvent to the electrons of the solute through a pseudopotential. Without any empirical fitting of parameters to solvation data, this theory predicts solvation energies at least as well as state-of-the-art quantum-chemical cavity approaches, which do employ such fitting. Although this agreement without adjustable parameters is very encouraging and shows the promise of the joint density-functional approach, the functionals which we develop here are models and do not yet include all of the microscopic physics. The thesis concludes with a description of the directions future work should take to address this weakness.

Density functional calculations on structural materials for nuclear energy applications and functional materials for photovoltaic energy applications (abstract only).

PubMed

Domain, C; Olsson, P; Becquart, C S; Legris, A; Guillemoles, J F

2008-02-13

Ab initio density functional theory calculations are carried out in order to predict the evolution of structural materials under aggressive working conditions such as cases with exposure to corrosion and irradiation, as well as to predict and investigate the properties of functional materials for photovoltaic energy applications. Structural metallic materials used in nuclear facilities are subjected to irradiation which induces the creation of large amounts of point defects. These defects interact with each other as well as with the different elements constituting the alloys, which leads to modifications of the microstructure and the mechanical properties. VASP (Vienna Ab initio Simulation Package) has been used to determine the properties of point defect clusters and also those of extended defects such as dislocations. The resulting quantities, such as interaction energies and migration energies, are used in larger scale simulation methods in order to build predictive tools. For photovoltaic energy applications, ab initio calculations are used in order to search for new semiconductors and possible element substitutions for existing ones in order to improve their efficiency.

Charge and Spin Currents in Open-Shell Molecules:  A Unified Description of NMR and EPR Observables.

PubMed

Soncini, Alessandro

2007-11-01

The theory of EPR hyperfine coupling tensors and NMR nuclear magnetic shielding tensors of open-shell molecules in the limit of vanishing spin-orbit coupling (e.g., for organic radicals) is analyzed in terms of spin and charge current density vector fields. The ab initio calculation of the spin and charge current density response has been implemented at the Restricted Open-Shell Hartree-Fock, Unrestricted Hartree-Fock, and unrestricted GGA-DFT level of theory. On the basis of this formalism, we introduce the definition of nuclear hyperfine coupling density, a scalar function of position providing a partition of the EPR observable over the molecular domain. Ab initio maps of spin and charge current density and hyperfine coupling density for small radicals are presented and discussed in order to illustrate the interpretative advantages of the newly introduced approach. Recent NMR experiments providing evidence for the existence of diatropic ring currents in the open-shell singlet pancake-bonded dimer of the neutral phenalenyl radical are directly assessed via the visualization of the induced current density.

Spin-Orbit Effect on the Molecular Properties of TeXn (X = F, Cl, Br, and I; n = 1, 2, and 4): A Density Functional Theory and Ab Initio Study.

PubMed

Moon, Jiwon; Kim, Joonghan

2016-09-29

Density functional theory (DFT) and ab initio calculations, including spin-orbit coupling (SOC), were performed to investigate the spin-orbit (SO) effect on the molecular properties of tellurium halides, TeXn (X = F, Cl, Br, and I; n = 1, 2, and 4). SOC elongates the Te-X bond and slightly reduces the vibrational frequencies. Consideration of SOC leads to better agreement with experimental values. Møller-Plesset second-order perturbation theory (MP2) seriously underestimates the Te-X bond lengths. In contrast, B3LYP significantly overestimates them. SO-PBE0 and multireference configuration interactions with the Davidson correction (MRCI+Q), which include SOC via a state-interaction approach, give the Te-I bond length of TeI2 that matches the experimental value. On the basis of the calculated thermochemical energy and optimized molecular structure, TeI4 is unlikely to be stable. The use of PBE0 including SOC is strongly recommended for predicting the molecular properties of Te-containing compounds.

Lattice dynamics calculations based on density-functional perturbation theory in real space

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shang, Honghui; Carbogno, Christian; Rinke, Patrick; Scheffler, Matthias

2017-06-01

A real-space formalism for density-functional perturbation theory (DFPT) is derived and applied for the computation of harmonic vibrational properties in molecules and solids. The practical implementation using numeric atom-centered orbitals as basis functions is demonstrated exemplarily for the all-electron Fritz Haber Institute ab initio molecular simulations (FHI-aims) package. The convergence of the calculations with respect to numerical parameters is carefully investigated and a systematic comparison with finite-difference approaches is performed both for finite (molecules) and extended (periodic) systems. Finally, the scaling tests and scalability tests on massively parallel computer systems demonstrate the computational efficiency.

Electron transport in all-Heusler Co2CrSi/Cu2CrAl/Co2CrSi device, based on ab-initio NEGF calculations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mikaeilzadeh, L.; Pirgholi, M.; Tavana, A.

2018-05-01

Based on the ab-initio non-equilibrium Green's function (NEGF) formalism based on the density functional theory (DFT), we have studied the electron transport in the all-Heusler device Co2CrSi/Cu2CrAl/Co2CrSi. Results show that the calculated transmission spectra is very sensitive to the structural parameters and the interface. Also, we obtain a range for the thickness of the spacer layer for which the MR effect is optimum. Calculations also show a perfect GMR effect in this device.

An ab initio study of the conformational energy map of acetylcholine

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Segall, M. D.; Payne, M. C.; Boyes, R. N.

An ab initio density functional theory study is reported of the conformational energy map of acetylcholine, with respect to the two central dihedral angles of the molecule. The acetylcholine molecule pays a central role in neurotransmission and has been studied widely using semi-empirical computational modelling. The ab initio results are compared with a number of previous investigations and with experiment. The ab initio data indicate that the most stable conformation of acetylcholine is the trans , gauche arrangement of the central dihedral angles. Furthermore, Mulliken population analysis of the electronic structure of the molecule in this conformation indicates that the positive charge of the molecule is spread over the exterior of the cationic head of the molecule.

Data files for ab initio calculations of the lattice parameter and elastic stiffness coefficients of bcc Fe with solutes

DOE PAGES

Fellinger, Michael R.; Hector, Jr., Louis G.; Trinkle, Dallas R.

2016-11-29

Here, we present computed datasets on changes in the lattice parameter and elastic stiffness coefficients of BCC Fe due to substitutional Al, B, Cu, Mn, and Si solutes, and octahedral interstitial C and N solutes. The data is calculated using the methodology based on density functional theory (DFT). All the DFT calculations were performed using the Vienna Ab initio Simulations Package (VASP). The data is stored in the NIST dSpace repository.

Quantum ring-polymer contraction method: Including nuclear quantum effects at no additional computational cost in comparison to ab initio molecular dynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

John, Christopher; Spura, Thomas; Habershon, Scott; Kühne, Thomas D.

2016-04-01

We present a simple and accurate computational method which facilitates ab initio path-integral molecular dynamics simulations, where the quantum-mechanical nature of the nuclei is explicitly taken into account, at essentially no additional computational cost in comparison to the corresponding calculation using classical nuclei. The predictive power of the proposed quantum ring-polymer contraction method is demonstrated by computing various static and dynamic properties of liquid water at ambient conditions using density functional theory. This development will enable routine inclusion of nuclear quantum effects in ab initio molecular dynamics simulations of condensed-phase systems.

JDFTx: Software for joint density-functional theory

DOE PAGES

Sundararaman, Ravishankar; Letchworth-Weaver, Kendra; Schwarz, Kathleen A.; ...

2017-11-14

Density-functional theory (DFT) has revolutionized computational prediction of atomic-scale properties from first principles in physics, chemistry and materials science. Continuing development of new methods is necessary for accurate predictions of new classes of materials and properties, and for connecting to nano- and mesoscale properties using coarse-grained theories. JDFTx is a fully-featured open-source electronic DFT software designed specifically to facilitate rapid development of new theories, models and algorithms. Using an algebraic formulation as an abstraction layer, compact C++11 code automatically performs well on diverse hardware including GPUs (Graphics Processing Units). This code hosts the development of joint density-functional theory (JDFT) thatmore » combines electronic DFT with classical DFT and continuum models of liquids for first-principles calculations of solvated and electrochemical systems. In addition, the modular nature of the code makes it easy to extend and interface with, facilitating the development of multi-scale toolkits that connect to ab initio calculations, e.g. photo-excited carrier dynamics combining electron and phonon calculations with electromagnetic simulations.« less

JDFTx: Software for joint density-functional theory

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sundararaman, Ravishankar; Letchworth-Weaver, Kendra; Schwarz, Kathleen A.

Density-functional theory (DFT) has revolutionized computational prediction of atomic-scale properties from first principles in physics, chemistry and materials science. Continuing development of new methods is necessary for accurate predictions of new classes of materials and properties, and for connecting to nano- and mesoscale properties using coarse-grained theories. JDFTx is a fully-featured open-source electronic DFT software designed specifically to facilitate rapid development of new theories, models and algorithms. Using an algebraic formulation as an abstraction layer, compact C++11 code automatically performs well on diverse hardware including GPUs (Graphics Processing Units). This code hosts the development of joint density-functional theory (JDFT) thatmore » combines electronic DFT with classical DFT and continuum models of liquids for first-principles calculations of solvated and electrochemical systems. In addition, the modular nature of the code makes it easy to extend and interface with, facilitating the development of multi-scale toolkits that connect to ab initio calculations, e.g. photo-excited carrier dynamics combining electron and phonon calculations with electromagnetic simulations.« less

Communication: Improved ab initio molecular dynamics by minimally biasing with experimental data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

White, Andrew D.; Knight, Chris; Hocky, Glen M.; Voth, Gregory A.

2017-01-01

Accounting for electrons and nuclei simultaneously is a powerful capability of ab initio molecular dynamics (AIMD). However, AIMD is often unable to accurately reproduce properties of systems such as water due to inaccuracies in the underlying electronic density functionals. This shortcoming is often addressed by added empirical corrections and/or increasing the simulation temperature. We present here a maximum-entropy approach to directly incorporate limited experimental data via a minimal bias. Biased AIMD simulations of water and an excess proton in water are shown to give significantly improved properties both for observables which were biased to match experimental data and for unbiased observables. This approach also yields new physical insight into inaccuracies in the underlying density functional theory as utilized in the unbiased AIMD.

Communication: Improved ab initio molecular dynamics by minimally biasing with experimental data.

PubMed

White, Andrew D; Knight, Chris; Hocky, Glen M; Voth, Gregory A

2017-01-28

Accounting for electrons and nuclei simultaneously is a powerful capability of ab initio molecular dynamics (AIMD). However, AIMD is often unable to accurately reproduce properties of systems such as water due to inaccuracies in the underlying electronic density functionals. This shortcoming is often addressed by added empirical corrections and/or increasing the simulation temperature. We present here a maximum-entropy approach to directly incorporate limited experimental data via a minimal bias. Biased AIMD simulations of water and an excess proton in water are shown to give significantly improved properties both for observables which were biased to match experimental data and for unbiased observables. This approach also yields new physical insight into inaccuracies in the underlying density functional theory as utilized in the unbiased AIMD.

Optimization of an exchange-correlation density functional for water

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Fritz, Michelle; Fernández-Serra, Marivi; Institute for Advanced Computational Science, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York 11794-3800

2016-06-14

We describe a method, that we call data projection onto parameter space (DPPS), to optimize an energy functional of the electron density, so that it reproduces a dataset of experimental magnitudes. Our scheme, based on Bayes theorem, constrains the optimized functional not to depart unphysically from existing ab initio functionals. The resulting functional maximizes the probability of being the “correct” parameterization of a given functional form, in the sense of Bayes theory. The application of DPPS to water sheds new light on why density functional theory has performed rather poorly for liquid water, on what improvements are needed, and onmore » the intrinsic limitations of the generalized gradient approximation to electron exchange and correlation. Finally, we present tests of our water-optimized functional, that we call vdW-DF-w, showing that it performs very well for a variety of condensed water systems.« less

DFT-based ab initio MD simulation of the ionic conduction in doped ZrO₂ systems under epitaxial strain.

PubMed

Oka, M; Kamisaka, H; Fukumura, T; Hasegawa, T

2015-11-21

The oxygen ionic conduction in ZrO2 systems under tensile epitaxial strain was investigated by performing ab initio molecular dynamics (MD) calculations based on density functional theory (DFT) to elucidate the essential factors in the colossal ionic conductivity observed in the yttria stabilized ZrO2 (YSZ)/SrTiO3 heterostructure. Three factors were evaluated: lattice strain, oxygen vacancies, and dopants. Phonon calculations based on density functional perturbation theory (DFPT) were used to obtain the most stable structure for nondoped ZrO2 under 7% tensile strain along the a- and b-axes. This structure has the space group Pbcn, which is entirely different from that of cubic ZrO2, suggesting that previous ab initio MD calculations assuming cubic ZrO2 may have overestimated the ionic conductivity due to relaxation from the initial structure to the stable structure (Pbcn). Our MD calculations revealed that the ionic conductivity is enhanced only when tensile strain and oxygen vacancies are incorporated, although the presently obtained diffusion constant is far below the range for the colossal ionic conduction experimentally observed. The enhanced ionic conductivity is due to the combined effects of oxygen sublattice formation induced by strain and deformation of this sublattice by oxygen vacancies.

Ab initio Computations of the Electronic, Mechanical, and Thermal Properties of Ultra High Temperature Ceramics (UHTC) ZrB2 and HfB2

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lawson, John W.; Bauschlicher, Charles W.; Daw, Murray

2011-01-01

Refractory materials such as metallic borides, often considered as ultra high temperature ceramics (UHTC), are characterized by high melting point, high hardness, and good chemical inertness. These materials have many applications which require high temperature materials that can operate with no or limited oxidation. Ab initio, first principles methods are the most accurate modeling approaches available and represent a parameter free description of the material based on the quantum mechanical equations. Using these methods, many of the intrinsic properties of these material can be obtained. We performed ab initio calculations based on density functional theory for the UHTC materials ZrB2 and HfB2. Computational results are presented for structural information (lattice constants, bond lengths, etc), electronic structure (bonding motifs, densities of states, band structure, etc), thermal quantities (phonon spectra, phonon densities of states, specific heat), as well as information about point defects such as vacancy and antisite formation energies.

Ab initio molecular dynamics simulation study of successive hydrogenation reactions of carbon monoxide producing methanol

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Pham, Thi Nu; Ono, Shota; Ohno, Kaoru, E-mail: ohno@ynu.ac.jp

Doing ab initio molecular dynamics simulations, we demonstrate a possibility of hydrogenation of carbon monoxide producing methanol step by step. At first, the hydrogen atom reacts with the carbon monoxide molecule at the excited state forming the formyl radical. Formaldehyde was formed after adding one more hydrogen atom to the system. Finally, absorption of two hydrogen atoms to formaldehyde produces methanol molecule. This study is performed by using the all-electron mixed basis approach based on the time dependent density functional theory within the adiabatic local density approximation for an electronic ground-state configuration and the one-shot GW approximation for an electronicmore » excited state configuration.« less

Ab initio calculations of the electron spectrum and density of states of TlFeS{sub 2} and TlFeSe{sub 2} crystals

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ismayilova, N. A., E-mail: ismayilova-narmin-84@mail.ru; Orudjev, H. S.; Jabarov, S. H.

2017-04-15

The results of ab initio calculations of the electron spectrum of TlFeS{sub 2} and TlFeSe{sub 2} crystals in the antiferromagnetic phase are reported. Calculations are carried out in the context of the density functional theory. The origin of the bands of s, p, and d electron states of Tl, Fe, S, and Se atoms is studied. It is established that, in the antiferromagnetic phase, the crystals possess semiconductor properties. The band gaps are found to be 0.05 and 0.34 eV for TlFeS{sub 2} and TlFeSe{sub 2} crystals, respectively.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Strubbe, David

Octopus is a scientific program aimed at the ab initio virtual experimentation on a hopefully ever-increasing range of system types. Electrons are described quantum-mechanically within density-functional theory (DFT), in its time-dependent form (TDDFT) when doing simulations in time. Nuclei are described classically as point particles. Electron-nucleus interaction is described within the pseudopotential approximation.

An ab initio CASSCF study of zero field splitting fluctuations in the octet ground state of aqueous [Gd(iii)(HPDO3A)(H2O)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Khan, Shehryar; Pollet, Rodolphe; Vuilleumier, Rodolphe; Kowalewski, Jozef; Odelius, Michael

2017-12-01

In this work, we present ab initio calculations of the zero-field splitting (ZFS) of a gadolinium complex [Gd(iii)(HPDO3A)(H2O)] sampled from an ab initio molecular dynamics (AIMD) simulation. We perform both post-Hartree-Fock (complete active space self-consistent field—CASSCF) and density functional theory (DFT) calculations of the ZFS and compare and contrast the methods with experimental data. Two different density functional approximations (TPSS and LC-BLYP) were investigated. The magnitude of the ZFS from the CASSCF calculations is in good agreement with experiment, whereas the DFT results in varying degrees overestimate the magnitude of the ZFS for both functionals and exhibit a strong functional dependence. It was found in the sampling over the AIMD trajectory that the fluctuations in the transient ZFS tensor derived from DFT are not correlated with those of CASSCF nor does the magnitude of the ZFS from CASSCF and DFT correlate. From the fluctuations in the ZFS tensor, we extract a correlation time of the transient ZFS which is on the sub-picosecond time scale, showing a faster decay than experimental estimates.

Ab-initio study of electronic structure and elastic properties of ZrC

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Mund, H. S., E-mail: hmoond@gmail.com; Ahuja, B. L.

2016-05-23

The electronic and elastic properties of ZrC have been investigated using the linear combination of atomic orbitals method within the framework of density functional theory. Different exchange-correlation functionals are taken into account within generalized gradient approximation. We have computed energy bands, density of states, elastic constants, bulk modulus, shear modulus, Young’s modulus, Poisson’s ratio, lattice parameters and pressure derivative of the bulk modulus by calculating ground state energy of the rock salt structure type ZrC.

Multi-Paradigm Multi-Scale Simulations for Fuel Cell Catalysts and Membranes

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-01-01

transfer studies on model systems. . Applying newly developed density functionals QM ( X3LYP ) for estimating the thermodynamics and kinetic energy...Density functional theory methods We have used many QM methods to probe chemical reaction mechanisms and find that the B3LYP and X3LYP [6] flavors of DFT...carried out QM calculations on the surface reactivity of the Pt and PtRu anode catalysts. This QM uses a new ab initio DFT-GGA method ( X3LYP ) [6

Anisotropy of the elastic properties of crystalline cellulose Iß from first principles density functional theory with Van der Waals interactions

Treesearch

Fernando L. Dri; Louis G. Jr. Hector; Robert J. Moon; Pablo D. Zavattieri

2013-01-01

In spite of the significant potential of cellulose nanocrystals as functional nanoparticles for numerous applications, a fundamental understanding of the mechanical properties of defect-free, crystalline cellulose is still lacking. In this paper, the elasticity matrix for cellulose Iß with hydrogen bonding network A was calculated using ab initio...

Relativistic Brueckner-Hartree-Fock theory for neutron drops

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shen, Shihang; Liang, Haozhao; Meng, Jie; Ring, Peter; Zhang, Shuangquan

2018-05-01

Neutron drops confined in an external field are studied in the framework of relativistic Brueckner-Hartree-Fock theory using the bare nucleon-nucleon interaction. The ground-state energies and radii of neutron drops with even numbers from N =4 to N =50 are calculated and compared with results obtained from other nonrelativistic ab initio calculations and from relativistic density functional theory. Special attention has been paid to the magic numbers and to the subshell closures. The single-particle energies are investigated and the monopole effect of the tensor force on the evolutions of the spin-orbit and the pseudospin-orbit splittings is discussed. The results provide interesting insights into neutron-rich systems and can form an important guide for future density functionals.

High-throughput density-functional perturbation theory phonons for inorganic materials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Petretto, Guido; Dwaraknath, Shyam; P. C. Miranda, Henrique; Winston, Donald; Giantomassi, Matteo; van Setten, Michiel J.; Gonze, Xavier; Persson, Kristin A.; Hautier, Geoffroy; Rignanese, Gian-Marco

2018-05-01

The knowledge of the vibrational properties of a material is of key importance to understand physical phenomena such as thermal conductivity, superconductivity, and ferroelectricity among others. However, detailed experimental phonon spectra are available only for a limited number of materials, which hinders the large-scale analysis of vibrational properties and their derived quantities. In this work, we perform ab initio calculations of the full phonon dispersion and vibrational density of states for 1521 semiconductor compounds in the harmonic approximation based on density functional perturbation theory. The data is collected along with derived dielectric and thermodynamic properties. We present the procedure used to obtain the results, the details of the provided database and a validation based on the comparison with experimental data.

Pseudopotential for ab initio calculations of uranium compounds

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smirnov, G. S.; Pisarev, V. V.; Stegailov, V. V.

2018-01-01

The density functional theory (DFT) is a research tool of the highest importance for electronic structure calculations. It is often the only affordable method for ab initio calculations of complex materials. The pseudopotential approach allows reducing the total number of electrons in the model that speeds up calculations. However, there is a lack of pseudopotentials for heavy elements suitable for condensed matter DFT models. In this work, we present a pseudopotential for uranium developed in the Goedecker-Teter-Hutter form. Its accuracy is illustrated using several molecular and solid-state calculations.

A systematic benchmark of the ab initio Bethe-Salpeter equation approach for low-lying optical excitations of small organic molecules

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bruneval, Fabien; Molecular Foundry, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720; Department of Physics, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720

2015-06-28

The predictive power of the ab initio Bethe-Salpeter equation (BSE) approach, rigorously based on many-body Green’s function theory but incorporating information from density functional theory, has already been demonstrated for the optical gaps and spectra of solid-state systems. Interest in photoactive hybrid organic/inorganic systems has recently increased and so has the use of the BSE for computing neutral excitations of organic molecules. However, no systematic benchmarks of the BSE for neutral electronic excitations of organic molecules exist. Here, we study the performance of the BSE for the 28 small molecules in Thiel’s widely used time-dependent density functional theory benchmark setmore » [Schreiber et al., J. Chem. Phys. 128, 134110 (2008)]. We observe that the BSE produces results that depend critically on the mean-field starting point employed in the perturbative approach. We find that this starting point dependence is mainly introduced through the quasiparticle energies obtained at the intermediate GW step and that with a judicious choice of starting mean-field, singlet excitation energies obtained from BSE are in excellent quantitative agreement with higher-level wavefunction methods. The quality of the triplet excitations is slightly less satisfactory.« less

Communication: Unraveling the 4He droplet-mediated soft-landing from ab initio-assisted and time-resolved density functional simulations: Au@4He300/TiO2(110)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

de Lara-Castells, María Pilar; Aguirre, Néstor F.; Stoll, Hermann; Mitrushchenkov, Alexander O.; Mateo, David; Pi, Martí

2015-04-01

An ab-initio-based methodological scheme for He-surface interactions and zero-temperature time-dependent density functional theory for superfluid 4He droplets motion are combined to follow the short-time collision dynamics of the Au@4He300 system with the TiO2(110) surface. This composite approach demonstrates the 4He droplet-assisted sticking of the metal species to the surface at low landing energy (below 0.15 eV/atom), thus providing the first theoretical evidence of the experimentally observed 4He droplet-mediated soft-landing deposition of metal nanoparticles on solid surfaces [Mozhayskiy et al., J. Chem. Phys. 127, 094701 (2007) and Loginov et al., J. Phys. Chem. A 115, 7199 (2011)].

Ab-initio Density Functional Theory (DFT) Studies of Electronic, Transport, and Bulk Properties of Sodium Oxide (Na2O)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Polin, Daniel; Ziegler, Joshua; Malozovsky, Yuriy; Bagayoko, Diola

We present the findings of ab-initio calculations of electronic, transport, and structural properties of cubic sodium oxide (Na2O). These results were obtained using density functional theory (DFT), specifically a local density approximation (LDA) potential, and the linear combination of Gaussian orbitals (LCGO). Our implementation of LCGO followed the Bagayoko, Zhao, and Williams method as enhanced by the work of Ekuma and Franklin (BZW-EF). We describe the electronic band structure of Na2O with a direct band gap of 2.22 eV. Our results include predicted values for the electronic band structure and associated energy eigenvalues, the total and partial density of states (DOS and pDOS), the equilibrium lattice constant of Na2O, and the bulk modulus. We have also calculated the electron and holes effective masses in the Γ to L, Γ to X, and Γ to K directions. Acknowledgments: This work was funded in part by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Louisiana Board of Regents, through LASiGMA [Award Nos. EPS- 1003897, NSF (2010-15)-RII-SUBR] and NSF HRD-1002541, the US Department of Energy - National, Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) (Award No. DE- NA0002630), LaSPACE, and LONI-SUBR.

Mott Transition in GdMnO3: an Ab Initio Study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ferreira, W. S.; Moreira, E.; Frazão, N. F.

2018-04-01

Orthorhombic GdMnO3 is studied using density functional theory considering the pseudo-potential plane-wave method within local-spin-density approximation, LSDA. The electronic band structure and density of states, for several hydrostatic pressures, are studied. The Mott transition was observed at 60 GPa. Calculated lattice parameters are close to the experimental measurements, and some indirect band gaps (S→Γ) were obtained within the LSDA level of calculation, between the occupied O-2 p and unoccupied Gd-4 f states. The variation of the gap reduces with increasing pressure, being well fitted to a quadratic function.

Evidence for anisotropic dielectric properties of monoclinic hafnia using valence electron energy-loss spectroscopy in high-resolution transmission electron microscopy and ab initio time-dependent density-functional theory

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Guedj, C.; CEA, LETI, MINATEC Campus, F-38054 Grenoble; Hung, L.

2014-12-01

The effect of nanocrystal orientation on the energy loss spectra of monoclinic hafnia (m-HfO{sub 2}) is measured by high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and valence energy loss spectroscopy (VEELS) on high quality samples. For the same momentum-transfer directions, the dielectric properties are also calculated ab initio by time-dependent density-functional theory (TDDFT). Experiments and simulations evidence anisotropy in the dielectric properties of m-HfO{sub 2}, most notably with the direction-dependent oscillator strength of the main bulk plasmon. The anisotropic nature of m-HfO{sub 2} may contribute to the differences among VEELS spectra reported in literature. The good agreement between the complex dielectricmore » permittivity extracted from VEELS with nanometer spatial resolution, TDDFT modeling, and past literature demonstrates that the present HRTEM-VEELS device-oriented methodology is a possible solution to the difficult nanocharacterization challenges given in the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors.« less

Optical properties from time-dependent current-density-functional theory: the case of the alkali metals Na, K, Rb, and Cs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ferradás, R.; Berger, J. A.; Romaniello, Pina

2018-06-01

We present the optical conductivity as well as the electron-energy loss spectra of the alkali metals Na, K, Rb, and Cs calculated within time-dependent current-density functional theory. Our ab initio formulation describes from first principles both the Drude-tail and the interband absorption of these metals as well as the most dominant relativistic effects. We show that by using a recently derived current functional [Berger, Phys. Rev. Lett. 115, 137402 (2015)] we obtain an overall good agreement with experiment at a computational cost that is equivalent to the random-phase approximation. We also highlight the importance of the choice of the exchange-correlation potential of the ground state.

Importance of nonlocal electron correlation in the BaNiS2 semimetal from quantum oscillations studies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Klein, Yannick; Casula, Michele; Santos-Cottin, David; Audouard, Alain; Vignolles, David; Fève, Gwendal; Freulon, Vincent; Plaçais, Bernard; Verseils, Marine; Yang, Hancheng; Paulatto, Lorenzo; Gauzzi, Andrea

2018-02-01

By means of Shubnikov-de Haas and de Haas-van Alphen oscillations, and ab initio calculations, we have studied the Fermi surface of high-quality BaNiS2 single crystals, with mean free path l ˜400 Å . The angle and temperature dependence of quantum oscillations indicates a quasi-two-dimensional Fermi surface, made of an electronlike tube centered at Γ , and of four holelike cones, generated by Dirac bands, weakly dispersive in the out-of-plane direction. Ab initio electronic structure calculations, in the density functional theory framework, show that the inclusion of screened exchange is necessary to account for the experimental Fermi pockets. Therefore, the choice of the functional becomes crucial. A modified HSE hybrid functional with 7% of exact exchange outperforms both GGA and GGA +U density functionals, signaling the importance of nonlocal screened-exchange interactions in BaNiS2, and, more generally, in 3 d compensated semimetals.

Ab Initio study on structural, electronic, magnetic and dielectric properties of LSNO within Density Functional Perturbation Theory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Petersen, John; Bechstedt, Friedhelm; Furthmüller, Jürgen; Scolfaro, Luisa

LSNO (La2-xSrxNiO4) is of great interest due to its colossal dielectric constant (CDC) and rich underlying physics. While being an antiferromagnetic insulator, localized holes are present in the form of stripes in the Ni-O planes which are commensurate with the inverse of the Sr concentration. The stripes are a manifestation of charge density waves with period approximately 1/x and spin density waves with period approximately 2/x. Here, the spin ground state is calculated via LSDA + U with the PAW method implemented in VASP. Crystal structure and the effective Hubbard U parameter are optimized before calculating ɛ∞ within the independent particle approximation. ɛ∞ and the full static dielectric constant (including the lattice polarizability) ɛ0 are calculated within Density Functional Perturbation Theory.

On the room-temperature phase diagram of high pressure hydrogen: an ab initio molecular dynamics perspective and a diffusion Monte Carlo study.

PubMed

Chen, Ji; Ren, Xinguo; Li, Xin-Zheng; Alfè, Dario; Wang, Enge

2014-07-14

The finite-temperature phase diagram of hydrogen in the region of phase IV and its neighborhood was studied using the ab initio molecular dynamics (MD) and the ab initio path-integral molecular dynamics (PIMD). The electronic structures were analyzed using the density-functional theory (DFT), the random-phase approximation, and the diffusion Monte Carlo (DMC) methods. Taking the state-of-the-art DMC results as benchmark, comparisons of the energy differences between structures generated from the MD and PIMD simulations, with molecular and dissociated hydrogens, respectively, in the weak molecular layers of phase IV, indicate that standard functionals in DFT tend to underestimate the dissociation barrier of the weak molecular layers in this mixed phase. Because of this underestimation, inclusion of the quantum nuclear effects (QNEs) in PIMD using electronic structures generated with these functionals leads to artificially dissociated hydrogen layers in phase IV and an error compensation between the neglect of QNEs and the deficiencies of these functionals in standard ab initio MD simulations exists. This analysis partly rationalizes why earlier ab initio MD simulations complement so well the experimental observations. The temperature and pressure dependencies for the stability of phase IV were also studied in the end and compared with earlier results.

On real-space Density Functional Theory for non-orthogonal crystal systems: Kronecker product formulation of the kinetic energy operator

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sharma, Abhiraj; Suryanarayana, Phanish

2018-05-01

We present an accurate and efficient real-space Density Functional Theory (DFT) framework for the ab initio study of non-orthogonal crystal systems. Specifically, employing a local reformulation of the electrostatics, we develop a novel Kronecker product formulation of the real-space kinetic energy operator that significantly reduces the number of operations associated with the Laplacian-vector multiplication, the dominant cost in practical computations. In particular, we reduce the scaling with respect to finite-difference order from quadratic to linear, thereby significantly bridging the gap in computational cost between non-orthogonal and orthogonal systems. We verify the accuracy and efficiency of the proposed methodology through selected examples.

Interactions of foreign interstitial and substitutional atoms in bcc iron from ab initio calculations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

You, Y.; Yan, M. F.

2013-05-01

C and N atoms are the most frequent foreign interstitial atoms (FIAs), and often incorporated into the surface layers of steels to enhance their properties by thermochemical treatments. Al, Si, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Co, Ni, Cu, Nb and Mo are the most common alloying elements in steels, also can be called foreign substitutional atoms (FSAs). The FIA and FSA interactions play an important role in the diffusion of C and N atoms, and the microstructures and mechanical properties of surface modified layers. Ab initio calculations based on the density functional theory are carried out to investigate FIA interactions with FSA in ferromagnetic bcc iron. The FIA-FSA interactions are analyzed systematically from five aspects, including interaction energies, density of states (DOS), bond populations, electron density difference maps and local magnetic moments.

Ab-initio study on electronic properties of rocksalt SnAs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Babariya, Bindiya; Vaghela, M. V.; Gajjar, P. N.

2018-05-01

Within the frame work of Local Density Approximation of Exchange and Correlation, ab-initio method of density functional theory with Abinit code is used to compute electronic energy band structure, density of States and charge density of SnAs in rocksalt phase. Our result after optimization for lattice constant agrees with experimental value within 0.59% deviation. The computed electronic energy bands in high symmetry directions Γ→K→X→Γ→L→X→W→L→U shown metallic nature. The lowest band in the electronic band structure is showing band-gap approximately 1.70 eV from next higher band and no crossing between lowest two bands are seen. The density of states revels p-p orbit hybridization between Sn and As atoms. The spherical contour around Sn and As in the charge density plot represent partly ionic and partly covalent bonding. Fermi surface topology is the resultant effect of the single band crossing along L direction at Ef.

Course 4: Density Functional Theory, Methods, Techniques, and Applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chrétien, S.; Salahub, D. R.

Contents 1 Introduction 2 Density functional theory 2.1 Hohenberg and Kohn theorems 2.2 Levy's constrained search 2.3 Kohn-Sham method 3 Density matrices and pair correlation functions 4 Adiabatic connection or coupling strength integration 5 Comparing and constrasting KS-DFT and HF-CI 6 Preparing new functionals 7 Approximate exchange and correlation functionals 7.1 The Local Spin Density Approximation (LSDA) 7.2 Gradient Expansion Approximation (GEA) 7.3 Generalized Gradient Approximation (GGA) 7.4 meta-Generalized Gradient Approximation (meta-GGA) 7.5 Hybrid functionals 7.6 The Optimized Effective Potential method (OEP) 7.7 Comparison between various approximate functionals 8 LAP correlation functional 9 Solving the Kohn-Sham equations 9.1 The Kohn-Sham orbitals 9.2 Coulomb potential 9.3 Exchange-correlation potential 9.4 Core potential 9.5 Other choices and sources of error 9.6 Functionality 10 Applications 10.1 Ab initio molecular dynamics for an alanine dipeptide model 10.2 Transition metal clusters: The ecstasy, and the agony... 10.3 The conversion of acetylene to benzene on Fe clusters 11 Conclusions

Ab Initio Study of Polarizabilities of Oligothiophene, Oligocyclopentadiene and Oligofulvene and their Cyano Substituted Oligomers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lagowski, Jolanta; Ferdous, Sultana

2005-03-01

Ab Initio polarizabilities of thiophene, fulvene and cyclopentadiene based conducting oligomers and polymers and their cyano derivatives have been calculated using the Hartree-Fock (HF), configuration interaction (singles) (CIS ) and density functional (DF) theories with 3-21G* basis using Gaussian software. The main motivation of this investigation is to determine the correlation between the excitation energies and polarizabilities for the conjugated systems studied. It has been found that HF and DF approaches give similar magnitudes for polarizabilities whereas CIS theory provides results that are considerably different. All three methods predict similar trends in polarizabilities as a function of oligomer length and bond alternation along the backbone of the oligomers. It has also been observed that the end groups and the number of `double' bonds have a significant effect on the magnitude of polarizability per C-C bond. Comparison with experimental results will be made where possible.

Comparative study of ab initio nonradiative recombination rate calculations under different formalisms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shi, Lin; Xu, Ke; Wang, Lin-Wang

2015-05-01

Nonradiative carrier recombination is of both great applied and fundamental importance, but the correct ab initio approaches to calculate it remain to be inconclusive. Here we used five different approximations to calculate the nonradiative carrier recombinations of two complex defect structures GaP :Z nGa-OP and GaN :Z nGa-VN , and compared the results with experiments. In order to apply different multiphonon assisted electron transition formalisms, we have calculated the electron-phonon coupling constants by ab initio density functional theory for all phonon modes. Compared with different methods, the capture coefficients calculated by the static coupling theory are 4.30 ×10-8 and 1.46 ×10-7c m3/s for GaP :Z nGa-OP and GaN :Z nGa-VN , which are in good agreement with the experiment results, (4-1+2) ×10-8 and 3.0 ×10-7c m3/s , respectively. We also provided arguments for why the static coupling theory should be used to calculate the nonradiative decays of semiconductors.

Communication: Unraveling the {sup 4}He droplet-mediated soft-landing from ab initio-assisted and time-resolved density functional simulations: Au@{sup 4}He{sub 300}/TiO{sub 2}(110)

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lara-Castells, María Pilar de, E-mail: Pilar.deLara.Castells@csic.es; Aguirre, Néstor F.; Stoll, Hermann

2015-04-07

An ab-initio-based methodological scheme for He-surface interactions and zero-temperature time-dependent density functional theory for superfluid {sup 4}He droplets motion are combined to follow the short-time collision dynamics of the Au@{sup 4}He{sub 300} system with the TiO{sub 2}(110) surface. This composite approach demonstrates the {sup 4}He droplet-assisted sticking of the metal species to the surface at low landing energy (below 0.15 eV/atom), thus providing the first theoretical evidence of the experimentally observed {sup 4}He droplet-mediated soft-landing deposition of metal nanoparticles on solid surfaces [Mozhayskiy et al., J. Chem. Phys. 127, 094701 (2007) and Loginov et al., J. Phys. Chem. A 115,more » 7199 (2011)].« less

First-Principles Study of the Electronic Structure and Bonding Properties of X8C46 and X8B6C40 (X: Li, Na, Mg, Ca) Carbon Clathrates

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

KoleŻyński, Andrzej; Szczypka, Wojciech

2016-03-01

Results from theoretical analysis of the crystal structure, electronic structure, and bonding properties of C46 and B6C40 carbon clathrates doped with selected alkali and alkaline earth metals cations (Li, Na, Mg, Ca) are presented. The ab initio calculations were performed by means of the WIEN2k package (full potential linearized augmented plane wave method (FP-LAPW) within density functional theory (DFT)) with PBESol and modified Becke-Johnson exchange-correlation potentials used in geometry optimization and electronic structure calculations, respectively. The bonding properties were analyzed by applying Bader's quantum theory of atoms in molecules formalism to the topological properties of total electron density obtained from ab initio calculations. Analysis of the results obtained (i.a. equilibrium geometry, equation of state, cohesive energy, band structure, density of states—both total and projected on to particular atoms, and topological properties of bond critical points and net charges of topological atoms) is presented in detail.

Noncovalent Interactions of DNA Bases with Naphthalene and Graphene.

PubMed

Cho, Yeonchoo; Min, Seung Kyu; Yun, Jeonghun; Kim, Woo Youn; Tkatchenko, Alexandre; Kim, Kwang S

2013-04-09

The complexes of a DNA base bound to graphitic systems are studied. Considering naphthalene as the simplest graphitic system, DNA base-naphthalene complexes are scrutinized at high levels of ab initio theory including coupled cluster theory with singles, doubles, and perturbative triples excitations [CCSD(T)] at the complete basis set (CBS) limit. The stacked configurations are the most stable, where the CCSD(T)/CBS binding energies of guanine, adenine, thymine, and cytosine are 9.31, 8.48, 8.53, 7.30 kcal/mol, respectively. The energy components are investigated using symmetry-adapted perturbation theory based on density functional theory including the dispersion energy. We compared the CCSD(T)/CBS results with several density functional methods applicable to periodic systems. Considering accuracy and availability, the optB86b nonlocal functional and the Tkatchenko-Scheffler functional are used to study the binding energies of nucleobases on graphene. The predicted values are 18-24 kcal/mol, though many-body effects on screening and energy need to be further considered.

Site occupancy trend of Co in Ni{sub 2}MnIn: Ab initio approach

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Pal, Soumyadipta, E-mail: soumyadipta.pal@gmail.com; Mahadevan, Priya; Biswas, C.

2015-06-24

The trend of site occupation of Co at Ni sites of Ni{sub 2}MnIn system is studied in austenitic phase having L2{sub 1} structure by ab initio density functional theory (DFT) calculation. The Co atoms prefer to be at Ni sites rather than Mn site and are ferromagetically coupled with Ni and Mn. The ground state has tetragonal structure for Ni{sub 1.5}Co{sub 0.5}MnIn and Ni{sub 1.25}Co{sub 0.75}MnIn. The Co tends to form cluster.

Conformational study of glyoxal bis(amidinohydrazone) by ab initio methods

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mannfors, B.; Koskinen, J. T.; Pietilä, L.-O.

1997-08-01

We report the first ab initio molecular orbital study on the ground state of the endiamine tautomer of glyoxal bis(amidinohydrazone) (or glyoxal bis(guanylhydrazone), GBG) free base. The calculations were performed at the following levels of theory: Hartree-Fock, second-order Møller-Plesset perturbation theory and density functional theory (B-LYP and B3-LYP) as implemented in the Gaussian 94 software. The standard basis set 6-31G(d) was found to be sufficient. The default fine grid of Gaussian 94 was used in the density functional calculations. Molecular properties, such as optimized structures, total energies and the electrostatic potential derived (CHELPG) atomic charges, were studied as functions of C-C and N-N conformations. The lowest energy conformation was found to be all- trans, in agreement with the experimental solid-state structure. The second conformer with respect to rotation around the central C-C bond was found to be the cis conformer with an MP2//HF energy of 4.67 kcal mol -1. For rotation around the N-N bond the energy increased monotonically from the trans conformation to the cis conformation, the cis energy being very high, 22.01 kcal mol -1 (MP2//HF). The atomic charges were shown to be conformation dependent, and the bond charge increments and especially the conformational changes of the bond charge increments were found to be easily transferable between structurally related systems.

Thermal decomposition of 1,3,3-trinitroazetidine (TNAZ): A density functional theory and ab initio study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Veals, Jeffrey D.; Thompson, Donald L.

2014-04-01

Density functional theory and ab initio methods are employed to investigate decomposition pathways of 1,3,3-trinitroazetidine initiated by unimolecular loss of NO2 or HONO. Geometry optimizations are performed using M06/cc-pVTZ and coupled-cluster (CC) theory with single, double, and perturbative triple excitations, CCSD(T), is used to calculate accurate single-point energies for those geometries. The CCSD(T)/cc-pVTZ energies for NO2 elimination by N-N and C-N bond fission are, including zero-point energy (ZPE) corrections, 43.21 kcal/mol and 50.46 kcal/mol, respectively. The decomposition initiated by trans-HONO elimination can occur by a concerted H-atom and nitramine NO2 group elimination or by a concerted H-atom and nitroalkyl NO2 group elimination via barriers (at the CCSD(T)/cc-pVTZ level with ZPE corrections) of 47.00 kcal/mol and 48.27 kcal/mol, respectively. Thus, at the CCSD(T)/cc-pVTZ level, the ordering of these four decomposition steps from energetically most favored to least favored is: NO2 elimination by N-N bond fission, HONO elimination involving the nitramine NO2 group, HONO elimination involving a nitroalkyl NO2 group, and finally NO2 elimination by C-N bond fission.

Nuclear structure and dynamics with density functional theory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stetcu, Ionel

2015-10-01

Even in the absence of ab initio methods capable of tackling heavy nuclei without restrictions, one can obtain an ab initio description of ground-state properties by means of the density functional theory (DFT), and its extension to superfluid systems in its local variant, the superfluid local density approximation (SLDA). Information about the properties of excited states can be obtained in the same framework by using an extension to the time-dependent (TD) phenomena. Unlike other approaches in which the nuclear structure information is used as a separate input into reaction models, the TD approach treats on the same footing the nuclear structure and dynamics, and is well suited to provide more reliable description for a large number of processes involving heavy nuclei, from the nuclear response to electroweak probes, to nuclear reactions, such as neutron-induced reactions, or nuclear fusion and fission. Such processes, sometimes part of integrated nuclear systems, have important applications in astrophysics, energy production, global security, etc. In this talk, I will present the simulation of a simple reaction, that is the Coulomb excitation of a 238U nucleus, and discuss the application of the TD-DFT formalism to the description of induced fission. I gratefully acknowledge partial support of the U.S. Department of Energy through an Early Career Award of the LANL/LDRD Program.

Density functional theory study of structural, electronic, and thermal properties of Pt, Pd, Rh, Ir, Os and PtPd X (X = Ir, Os, and Rh) alloys

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shabbir, Ahmed; Muhammad, Zafar; M, Shakil; M, A. Choudhary

2016-03-01

The structural, electronic, mechanical, and thermal properties of Pt, Pd, Rh, Ir, Os metals and their alloys PtPdX (X = Ir, Os and Rh) are studied systematically using ab initio density functional theory. The groundstate properties such as lattice constant and bulk modulus are calculated to find the equilibrium atomic position for stable alloys. The electronic band structure and density of states are calculated to study the electronic behavior of metals on making their alloys. The electronic properties substantiate the metallic behavior for all studied materials. The firstprinciples density functional perturbation theory as implemented in quasi-harmonic approximation is used for the calculations of thermal properties. We have calculated the thermal properties such as the Debye temperature, vibrational energy, entropy and constant-volume specific heat. The calculated properties are compared with the previously reported experimental and theoretical data for metals and are found to be in good agreement. Calculated results for alloys could not be compared because there is no data available in the literature with such alloy composition.

Structures, phase stabilities, and electrical potentials of Li-Si battery anode materials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tipton, William W.; Bealing, Clive R.; Mathew, Kiran; Hennig, Richard G.

2013-05-01

The Li-Si materials system holds promise for use as an anode in Li-ion battery applications. For this system, we determine the charge capacity, voltage profiles, and energy storage density solely by ab initio methods without any experimental input. We determine the energetics of the stable and metastable Li-Si phases likely to form during the charging and discharging of a battery. Ab initio molecular dynamics simulations are used to model the structure of amorphous Li-Si as a function of composition, and a genetic algorithm coupled to density-functional theory searches the Li-Si binary phase diagram for small-cell, metastable crystal structures. Calculations of the phonon densities of states using density-functional perturbation theory for selected structures determine the importance of vibrational, including zero-point, contributions to the free energies. The energetics and local structural motifs of these metastable Li-Si phases closely resemble those of the amorphous phases, making these small unit cell crystal phases good approximants of the amorphous phase for use in further studies. The charge capacity is estimated, and the electrical potential profiles and the energy density of Li-Si anodes are predicted. We find, in good agreement with experimental measurements, that the formation of amorphous Li-Si only slightly increases the anode potential. Additionally, the genetic algorithm identifies a previously unreported member of the Li-Si binary phase diagram with composition Li5Si2 which is stable at 0 K with respect to previously known phases. We discuss its relationship to the partially occupied Li7Si3 phase.

Thermodynamically constrained correction to ab initio equations of state

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

French, Martin; Mattsson, Thomas R.

2014-07-07

We show how equations of state generated by density functional theory methods can be augmented to match experimental data without distorting the correct behavior in the high- and low-density limits. The technique is thermodynamically consistent and relies on knowledge of the density and bulk modulus at a reference state and an estimation of the critical density of the liquid phase. We apply the method to four materials representing different classes of solids: carbon, molybdenum, lithium, and lithium fluoride. It is demonstrated that the corrected equations of state for both the liquid and solid phases show a significantly reduced dependence ofmore » the exchange-correlation functional used.« less

Ab-initio calculations of electronic, transport, and structural properties of boron phosphide

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ejembi, J. I.; Nwigboji, I. H.; Franklin, L.

2014-09-14

We present results from ab-initio, self-consistent density functional theory calculations of electronic and related properties of zinc blende boron phosphide (zb-BP). We employed a local density approximation potential and implemented the linear combination of atomic orbitals formalism. This technique follows the Bagayoko, Zhao, and Williams method, as enhanced by the work of Ekuma and Franklin. The results include electronic energy bands, densities of states, and effective masses. The calculated band gap of 2.02 eV, for the room temperature lattice constant of a=4.5383 Å, is in excellent agreement with the experimental value of 2.02±0.05 eV. Our result for the bulk modulus,more » 155.7 GPa, agrees with experiment (152–155 GPa). Our predictions for the equilibrium lattice constant and the corresponding band gap, for very low temperatures, are 4.5269 Å and 2.01 eV, respectively.« less

FTIR, FT-Raman spectra and ab initio, DFT vibrational analysis of 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazine.

PubMed

Sundaraganesan, N; Ayyappan, S; Umamaheswari, H; Joshua, B Dominic

2007-01-01

The FTIR and FT-Raman spectra of 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazine (2,4-DNPH) has been recorded in the region 4000-400 and 3500-50cm-1, respectively. The optimized geometry, frequency and intensity of the vibrational bands of 2,4-DNPH were obtained by the ab initio and density functional theory (DFT) levels of theory with complete relaxation in the potential energy surface using 6-31G(d,p) and 6-311G(d,p) basis sets. The harmonic vibrational frequencies were calculated and the scaled values have been compared with experimental FTIR and FT-Raman spectra. The observed and the calculated frequencies are found to be in good agreement. The experimental spectra also coincide satisfactorily with those of theoretically constructed bar type spectrograms.

FTIR, FT-Raman spectra and ab initio, DFT vibrational analysis of 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazine

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sundaraganesan, N.; Ayyappan, S.; Umamaheswari, H.; Dominic Joshua, B.

2007-01-01

The FTIR and FT-Raman spectra of 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazine (2,4-DNPH) has been recorded in the region 4000-400 and 3500-50 cm -1, respectively. The optimized geometry, frequency and intensity of the vibrational bands of 2,4-DNPH were obtained by the ab initio and density functional theory (DFT) levels of theory with complete relaxation in the potential energy surface using 6-31G(d,p) and 6-311G(d,p) basis sets. The harmonic vibrational frequencies were calculated and the scaled values have been compared with experimental FTIR and FT-Raman spectra. The observed and the calculated frequencies are found to be in good agreement. The experimental spectra also coincide satisfactorily with those of theoretically constructed bar type spectrograms.

Ab-initio calculations of the Ruddlesden Popper phases CaMnO3, CaO(CaMnO3) and CaO(CaMnO3)2

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cardoso, C.; Borges, R. P.; Gasche, T.; Godinho, M.

2008-01-01

The present work reports ab-initio density functional theory calculations for the Ruddlesden-Popper phase CaO(CaMnO3)n compounds. In order to study the evolution of the properties with the number of perovskite layers, a detailed analysis of the densities of states calculated for each compound and for several magnetic configurations was performed. The effect of distortions of the crystal structure on the magnetic ground state is also analysed and the exchange constants and transition temperatures are calculated for the three compounds using a mean field model. The calculated magnetic ground state structures and magnetic moments are in good agreement with experimental results and previous calculations.

Density functional study of molecular interactions in secondary structures of proteins.

PubMed

Takano, Yu; Kusaka, Ayumi; Nakamura, Haruki

2016-01-01

Proteins play diverse and vital roles in biology, which are dominated by their three-dimensional structures. The three-dimensional structure of a protein determines its functions and chemical properties. Protein secondary structures, including α-helices and β-sheets, are key components of the protein architecture. Molecular interactions, in particular hydrogen bonds, play significant roles in the formation of protein secondary structures. Precise and quantitative estimations of these interactions are required to understand the principles underlying the formation of three-dimensional protein structures. In the present study, we have investigated the molecular interactions in α-helices and β-sheets, using ab initio wave function-based methods, the Hartree-Fock method (HF) and the second-order Møller-Plesset perturbation theory (MP2), density functional theory, and molecular mechanics. The characteristic interactions essential for forming the secondary structures are discussed quantitatively.

Band structure and phonon properties of lithium fluoride at high pressure

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Panchal, J. M., E-mail: amitjignesh@yahoo.co.in; Department of Physics, University School of Sciences, Gujarat University, Ahmedabad 380009, Gujarat; Joshi, Mitesh

2016-05-23

High pressure structural and electronic properties of Lithium Fluoride (LiF) have been studied by employing an ab-initio pseudopotential method and a linear response scheme within the density functional theory (DFT) in conjunction with quasi harmonic Debye model. The band structure and electronic density of states conforms that the LiF is stable and is having insulator behavior at ambient as well as at high pressure up to 1 Mbar. Conclusions based on Band structure, phonon dispersion and phonon density of states are outlined.

Combining density functional and incremental post-Hartree-Fock approaches for van der Waals dominated adsorbate-surface interactions: Ag{sub 2}/graphene

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lara-Castells, María Pilar de, E-mail: Pilar.deLara.Castells@csic.es; Mitrushchenkov, Alexander O.; Stoll, Hermann

2015-09-14

A combined density functional (DFT) and incremental post-Hartree-Fock (post-HF) approach, proven earlier to calculate He-surface potential energy surfaces [de Lara-Castells et al., J. Chem. Phys. 141, 151102 (2014)], is applied to describe the van der Waals dominated Ag{sub 2}/graphene interaction. It extends the dispersionless density functional theory developed by Pernal et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 103, 263201 (2009)] by including periodic boundary conditions while the dispersion is parametrized via the method of increments [H. Stoll, J. Chem. Phys. 97, 8449 (1992)]. Starting with the elementary cluster unit of the target surface (benzene), continuing through the realistic cluster model (coronene), andmore » ending with the periodic model of the extended system, modern ab initio methodologies for intermolecular interactions as well as state-of-the-art van der Waals-corrected density functional-based approaches are put together both to assess the accuracy of the composite scheme and to better characterize the Ag{sub 2}/graphene interaction. The present work illustrates how the combination of DFT and post-HF perspectives may be efficient to design simple and reliable ab initio-based schemes in extended systems for surface science applications.« less

Ab initio calculations of deep-level carrier nonradiative recombination rates in bulk semiconductors.

PubMed

Shi, Lin; Wang, Lin-Wang

2012-12-14

Nonradiative carrier recombination is of both applied and fundamental interest. Here a novel algorithm is introduced to calculate such a deep level nonradiative recombination rate using the ab initio density functional theory. This algorithm can calculate the electron-phonon coupling constants all at once. An approximation is presented to calculate the phonon modes for one impurity in a large supercell. The neutral Zn impurity site together with a N vacancy is considered as the carrier-capturing deep impurity level in bulk GaN. Its capture coefficient is calculated as 5.57 × 10(-10)cm(3)/s at 300 K. We found that there is no apparent onset of such a nonradiative process as a function of temperature.

Real-Space Multiple-Scattering Theory and Its Applications at Exascale

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Eisenbach, Markus; Wang, Yang

In recent decades, the ab initio methods based on density functional theory (DFT) (Hohenberg and Kohn 1964, Kohn and Sham 1965) have become a widely used tool in computational materials science, which allows theoretical prediction of physical properties of materials from the first principles and theoretical interpretation of new physical phenomena found in experiments. In the framework of DFT, the original problem that requires solving a quantum mechanical equation for a many-electron system is reduced to a one-electron problem that involves an electron moving in an effective field, while the effective field potential is made up of an electrostatic potential,more » also known as Hartree potential, arising from the electronic and ion charge distribution in space and an exchange–correlation potential, which is a function of the electron density and encapsulates the exchange and correlation effects of the many-electron system. Even though the exact functional form of the exchange-correlation potential is formally unknown, a local density approximation (LDA) or a generalized gradient approximation (GGA) is usually applied so that the calculation of the exchange–correlation potential, as well as the exchange–correlation energy, becomes tractable while a required accuracy is retained. Based on DFT, ab initio electronic structure calculations for a material generally involve a self-consistent process that iterates between two computational tasks: (1) solving an one-electron Schrödinger equation, also known as Kohn–Sham equation, to obtain the electron density and, if needed, the magnetic moment density, and (2) solving the Poisson equation to obtain the electrostatic potential corresponding to the electron density and constructing the effective potential by adding the exchange–correlation potential to the electrostatic potential. This self-consistent process proceeds until a convergence criteria is reached.« less

Psi4 1.1: An Open-Source Electronic Structure Program Emphasizing Automation, Advanced Libraries, and Interoperability.

PubMed

Parrish, Robert M; Burns, Lori A; Smith, Daniel G A; Simmonett, Andrew C; DePrince, A Eugene; Hohenstein, Edward G; Bozkaya, Uğur; Sokolov, Alexander Yu; Di Remigio, Roberto; Richard, Ryan M; Gonthier, Jérôme F; James, Andrew M; McAlexander, Harley R; Kumar, Ashutosh; Saitow, Masaaki; Wang, Xiao; Pritchard, Benjamin P; Verma, Prakash; Schaefer, Henry F; Patkowski, Konrad; King, Rollin A; Valeev, Edward F; Evangelista, Francesco A; Turney, Justin M; Crawford, T Daniel; Sherrill, C David

2017-07-11

Psi4 is an ab initio electronic structure program providing methods such as Hartree-Fock, density functional theory, configuration interaction, and coupled-cluster theory. The 1.1 release represents a major update meant to automate complex tasks, such as geometry optimization using complete-basis-set extrapolation or focal-point methods. Conversion of the top-level code to a Python module means that Psi4 can now be used in complex workflows alongside other Python tools. Several new features have been added with the aid of libraries providing easy access to techniques such as density fitting, Cholesky decomposition, and Laplace denominators. The build system has been completely rewritten to simplify interoperability with independent, reusable software components for quantum chemistry. Finally, a wide range of new theoretical methods and analyses have been added to the code base, including functional-group and open-shell symmetry adapted perturbation theory, density-fitted coupled cluster with frozen natural orbitals, orbital-optimized perturbation and coupled-cluster methods (e.g., OO-MP2 and OO-LCCD), density-fitted multiconfigurational self-consistent field, density cumulant functional theory, algebraic-diagrammatic construction excited states, improvements to the geometry optimizer, and the "X2C" approach to relativistic corrections, among many other improvements.

Molecular structure, vibrational spectra, NBO analysis and molecular packing prediction of 3-nitroacetanilide by ab initio HF and density functional theory.

PubMed

Li, Xiao-Hong; Li, Tong-Wei; Ju, Wei-Wei; Yong, Yong-Liang; Zhang, Xian-Zhou

2014-01-24

Quantum chemical calculations of geometries and vibrational wavenumbers of 3-nitroacetanilide (C8H8N2O3) in the ground state were carried out by using ab initio HF and density functional theory (DFT/B3LYP) methods with 6-31+G(*) basis set. The -311++G(**) basis set is also used for B3LYP level. The scaled harmonic vibrational frequencies have been compared with experimental FT-IR spectra. Theoretical vibrational spectra of the title compound were interpreted by means of potential energies distributions (PEDs) using MOLVIB program. The theoretical spectrograms for IR spectra of the title compound have been constructed. The shortening of C-H bond length and the elongation of N-H bond length suggest the existence of weak C-H⋯O and N-H⋯O hydrogen bonds, which is confirmed by the natural bond orbital analysis. In addition, the crystal structure obtained by molecular mechanics belongs to the P2(1) space group, with lattice parameters Z=4, a=14.9989 Å, b=4.0367 Å, c=12.9913 Å, ρ=0.998 g cm(-3). Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Molecular structure, vibrational spectra, NBO analysis and molecular packing prediction of 3-nitroacetanilide by ab initio HF and density functional theory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Xiao-Hong; Li, Tong-Wei; Ju, Wei-Wei; Yong, Yong-Liang; Zhang, Xian-Zhou

2014-01-01

Quantum chemical calculations of geometries and vibrational wavenumbers of 3-nitroacetanilide (C8H8N2O3) in the ground state were carried out by using ab initio HF and density functional theory (DFT/B3LYP) methods with 6-31+G* basis set. The -311++G** basis set is also used for B3LYP level. The scaled harmonic vibrational frequencies have been compared with experimental FT-IR spectra. Theoretical vibrational spectra of the title compound were interpreted by means of potential energies distributions (PEDs) using MOLVIB program. The theoretical spectrograms for IR spectra of the title compound have been constructed. The shortening of Csbnd H bond length and the elongation of Nsbnd H bond length suggest the existence of weak Csbnd H⋯O and Nsbnd H⋯O hydrogen bonds, which is confirmed by the natural bond orbital analysis. In addition, the crystal structure obtained by molecular mechanics belongs to the P21 space group, with lattice parameters Z = 4, a = 14.9989 Å, b = 4.0367 Å, c = 12.9913 Å, ρ = 0.998 g cm-3.

Cesium under pressure: First-principles calculation of the bcc-to-fcc phase transition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Carlesi, S.; Franchini, A.; Bortolani, V.; Martinelli, S.

1999-05-01

In this paper we present the ab initio calculation of the structural properties of cesium under pressure. The calculation of the total energy is done in the local-density approximation of density-functional theory, using a nonlocal pseudopotential including the nonlinear core corrections proposed by Louie et al. The calculation of the pressure-volume diagram for both bcc and fcc structures allows us to prove that the transition from bcc to fcc structure is a first-order transition.

Density functional Gaussian-type-orbital approach to theoretical study of nitric oxide dimers

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Jursic, B.S.; Zdravkovski, Z.

Structure and total energies of the cis NO dimer, the trans NO dimer, and the NO monomer were calculated by ab initio methods (UHF, UMP2, and MP3) and density functional theory methods (LSDA and BLYP) with different basis sets [from 3-21G* to 6-311++(3df,3pd)]. The system is especially hard to model because two NO molecules are weakly associated in a dimer that has very long N-N bond. The results obtained by different methods are compared and the necessity of correlational methods for studying these systems is discussed.

The molecular structure and conformation of tetrabromoformaldazine: ab initio and DFT calculations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jeong, Myongho; Kwon, Younghi

2000-06-01

Ab initio and density functional theory methods are applied to investigate the molecular structure and conformational nature of tetrabromoformaldazine. The calculations including the effects of the electron correlation at the B3LYP and MP2 levels with the basis set 6-311+G(d) can reproduce the experimental geometrical parameters at the skew conformation. The N-N bond torsional angle φ calculated at the MP2/6-311+G(d) level is found to be closest to the observed angle. The scanning of the potential energy surface suggests that the anti-conformation is at a saddle point corresponding to the transition state.

Ab initio study of energy transfer rates and impact sensitivities of crystalline explosives.

PubMed

Bernstein, Jonathan

2018-02-28

Impact sensitivities of various crystalline explosives were predicted by means of plane wave-density functional theory calculations. Crystal structures and complete vibrational spectra of TATB, PETN, FOX7, TEX, 14DNI, and β-HMX molecular crystals were calculated. A correlation between the phonon-vibron coupling (which is proportionally related to the energy transfer rate between the phonon manifold and the intramolecular vibrational modes) and impact sensitivities of secondary explosives was found. We propose a method, based on ab initio calculations, for the evaluation of impact sensitivities, which consequently can assist in screening candidates for chemical synthesis of high energetic materials.

Cobalt-doped ZnO nanocrystals: quantum confinement and surface effects from ab initio methods.

PubMed

Schoenhalz, Aline L; Dalpian, Gustavo M

2013-10-14

Cobalt-doped ZnO nanocrystals were studied through ab initio methods based on the Density Functional Theory. Both quantum confinement and surface effects were explicitly taken into account. When only quantum confinement effects are considered, Co atoms interact through a superexchange mechanism, stabilizing an antiferromagnetic ground state. Usually, this is the case for high quality nanoparticles with perfect surface saturation. When the surfaces were considered, a strong hybridization between the Co atoms and surfaces was observed, strongly changing their electronic and magnetic properties. Our results indicated that the surfaces might qualitatively change the properties of impurities in semiconductor nanocrystals.

High-throughput ab-initio dilute solute diffusion database.

PubMed

Wu, Henry; Mayeshiba, Tam; Morgan, Dane

2016-07-19

We demonstrate automated generation of diffusion databases from high-throughput density functional theory (DFT) calculations. A total of more than 230 dilute solute diffusion systems in Mg, Al, Cu, Ni, Pd, and Pt host lattices have been determined using multi-frequency diffusion models. We apply a correction method for solute diffusion in alloys using experimental and simulated values of host self-diffusivity. We find good agreement with experimental solute diffusion data, obtaining a weighted activation barrier RMS error of 0.176 eV when excluding magnetic solutes in non-magnetic alloys. The compiled database is the largest collection of consistently calculated ab-initio solute diffusion data in the world.

Ab initio study of energy transfer rates and impact sensitivities of crystalline explosives

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bernstein, Jonathan

2018-02-01

Impact sensitivities of various crystalline explosives were predicted by means of plane wave-density functional theory calculations. Crystal structures and complete vibrational spectra of TATB, PETN, FOX7, TEX, 14DNI, and β-HMX molecular crystals were calculated. A correlation between the phonon-vibron coupling (which is proportionally related to the energy transfer rate between the phonon manifold and the intramolecular vibrational modes) and impact sensitivities of secondary explosives was found. We propose a method, based on ab initio calculations, for the evaluation of impact sensitivities, which consequently can assist in screening candidates for chemical synthesis of high energetic materials.

Electronic Coupling Calculations for Bridge-Mediated Charge Transfer Using Constrained Density Functional Theory (CDFT) and Effective Hamiltonian Approaches at the Density Functional Theory (DFT) and Fragment-Orbital Density Functional Tight Binding (FODFTB) Level

DOE PAGES

Gillet, Natacha; Berstis, Laura; Wu, Xiaojing; ...

2016-09-09

In this paper, four methods to calculate charge transfer integrals in the context of bridge-mediated electron transfer are tested. These methods are based on density functional theory (DFT). We consider two perturbative Green's function effective Hamiltonian methods (first, at the DFT level of theory, using localized molecular orbitals; second, applying a tight-binding DFT approach, using fragment orbitals) and two constrained DFT implementations with either plane-wave or local basis sets. To assess the performance of the methods for through-bond (TB)-dominated or through-space (TS)-dominated transfer, different sets of molecules are considered. For through-bond electron transfer (ET), several molecules that were originally synthesizedmore » by Paddon-Row and co-workers for the deduction of electronic coupling values from photoemission and electron transmission spectroscopies, are analyzed. The tested methodologies prove to be successful in reproducing experimental data, the exponential distance decay constant and the superbridge effects arising from interference among ET pathways. For through-space ET, dedicated p-stacked systems with heterocyclopentadiene molecules were created and analyzed on the basis of electronic coupling dependence on donor-acceptor distance, structure of the bridge, and ET barrier height. The inexpensive fragment-orbital density functional tight binding (FODFTB) method gives similar results to constrained density functional theory (CDFT) and both reproduce the expected exponential decay of the coupling with donor-acceptor distances and the number of bridging units. Finally, these four approaches appear to give reliable results for both TB and TS ET and present a good alternative to expensive ab initio methodologies for large systems involving long-range charge transfers.« less

Electronic Coupling Calculations for Bridge-Mediated Charge Transfer Using Constrained Density Functional Theory (CDFT) and Effective Hamiltonian Approaches at the Density Functional Theory (DFT) and Fragment-Orbital Density Functional Tight Binding (FODFTB) Level

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gillet, Natacha; Berstis, Laura; Wu, Xiaojing

In this paper, four methods to calculate charge transfer integrals in the context of bridge-mediated electron transfer are tested. These methods are based on density functional theory (DFT). We consider two perturbative Green's function effective Hamiltonian methods (first, at the DFT level of theory, using localized molecular orbitals; second, applying a tight-binding DFT approach, using fragment orbitals) and two constrained DFT implementations with either plane-wave or local basis sets. To assess the performance of the methods for through-bond (TB)-dominated or through-space (TS)-dominated transfer, different sets of molecules are considered. For through-bond electron transfer (ET), several molecules that were originally synthesizedmore » by Paddon-Row and co-workers for the deduction of electronic coupling values from photoemission and electron transmission spectroscopies, are analyzed. The tested methodologies prove to be successful in reproducing experimental data, the exponential distance decay constant and the superbridge effects arising from interference among ET pathways. For through-space ET, dedicated p-stacked systems with heterocyclopentadiene molecules were created and analyzed on the basis of electronic coupling dependence on donor-acceptor distance, structure of the bridge, and ET barrier height. The inexpensive fragment-orbital density functional tight binding (FODFTB) method gives similar results to constrained density functional theory (CDFT) and both reproduce the expected exponential decay of the coupling with donor-acceptor distances and the number of bridging units. Finally, these four approaches appear to give reliable results for both TB and TS ET and present a good alternative to expensive ab initio methodologies for large systems involving long-range charge transfers.« less

Electronic Coupling Calculations for Bridge-Mediated Charge Transfer Using Constrained Density Functional Theory (CDFT) and Effective Hamiltonian Approaches at the Density Functional Theory (DFT) and Fragment-Orbital Density Functional Tight Binding (FODFTB) Level.

PubMed

Gillet, Natacha; Berstis, Laura; Wu, Xiaojing; Gajdos, Fruzsina; Heck, Alexander; de la Lande, Aurélien; Blumberger, Jochen; Elstner, Marcus

2016-10-11

In this article, four methods to calculate charge transfer integrals in the context of bridge-mediated electron transfer are tested. These methods are based on density functional theory (DFT). We consider two perturbative Green's function effective Hamiltonian methods (first, at the DFT level of theory, using localized molecular orbitals; second, applying a tight-binding DFT approach, using fragment orbitals) and two constrained DFT implementations with either plane-wave or local basis sets. To assess the performance of the methods for through-bond (TB)-dominated or through-space (TS)-dominated transfer, different sets of molecules are considered. For through-bond electron transfer (ET), several molecules that were originally synthesized by Paddon-Row and co-workers for the deduction of electronic coupling values from photoemission and electron transmission spectroscopies, are analyzed. The tested methodologies prove to be successful in reproducing experimental data, the exponential distance decay constant and the superbridge effects arising from interference among ET pathways. For through-space ET, dedicated π-stacked systems with heterocyclopentadiene molecules were created and analyzed on the basis of electronic coupling dependence on donor-acceptor distance, structure of the bridge, and ET barrier height. The inexpensive fragment-orbital density functional tight binding (FODFTB) method gives similar results to constrained density functional theory (CDFT) and both reproduce the expected exponential decay of the coupling with donor-acceptor distances and the number of bridging units. These four approaches appear to give reliable results for both TB and TS ET and present a good alternative to expensive ab initio methodologies for large systems involving long-range charge transfers.

Car and Parrinello meet Green and Kubo: simulating atomic heat transport from equilibrium ab initio molecular dynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baroni, Stefano

Modern simulation methods based on electronic-structure theory have long been deemed unfit to compute heat transport coefficients within the Green-Kubo formalism. This is so because the quantum-mechanical energy density from which the heat flux is derived is inherently ill defined, thus allegedly hampering the use of the Green-Kubo formula. While this objection would actually apply to classical systems as well, I will demonstrate that the thermal conductivity is indeed independent of the specific microscopic expression for the energy density and current from which it is derived. This fact results from a kind of gauge invariance stemming from energy conservation and extensivity, which I will illustrate numerically for a classical Lennard-Jones fluid. I will then introduce an expression for the adiabatic energy flux, derived within density-functional theory, that allows simulating atomic heat transport using equilibrium ab initio molecular dynamics. The resulting methodology is demonstrated by comparing results from ab-initio and classical molecular-dynamics simulations of a model liquid-Argon system, for which accurate inter-atomic potentials are derived by the force-matching method, and applied to compute the thermal conductivity of heavy water at ambient conditions. The problem of evaluating transport coefficients along with their accuracy from relatively short trajectories is finally addressed and discussed with a few representative examples. Partially funded by the European Union through the MaX Centre of Excellence (Grant No. 676598).

Carbon diffusion in molten uranium: an ab initio molecular dynamics study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Garrett, Kerry E.; Abrecht, David G.; Kessler, Sean H.; Henson, Neil J.; Devanathan, Ram; Schwantes, Jon M.; Reilly, Dallas D.

2018-04-01

In this work we used ab initio molecular dynamics within the framework of density functional theory and the projector-augmented wave method to study carbon diffusion in liquid uranium at temperatures above 1600 K. The electronic interactions of carbon and uranium were described using the local density approximation (LDA). The self-diffusion of uranium based on this approach is compared with literature computational and experimental results for liquid uranium. The temperature dependence of carbon and uranium diffusion in the melt was evaluated by fitting the resulting diffusion coefficients to an Arrhenius relationship. We found that the LDA calculated activation energy for carbon was nearly twice that of uranium: 0.55 ± 0.03 eV for carbon compared to 0.32 ± 0.04 eV for uranium. Structural analysis of the liquid uranium-carbon system is also discussed.

Flexible Force Field Parameterization through Fitting on the Ab Initio-Derived Elastic Tensor

PubMed Central

2017-01-01

Constructing functional forms and their corresponding force field parameters for the metal–linker interface of metal–organic frameworks is challenging. We propose fitting these parameters on the elastic tensor, computed from ab initio density functional theory calculations. The advantage of this top-down approach is that it becomes evident if functional forms are missing when components of the elastic tensor are off. As a proof-of-concept, a new flexible force field for MIL-47(V) is derived. Negative thermal expansion is observed and framework flexibility has a negligible effect on adsorption and transport properties for small guest molecules. We believe that this force field parametrization approach can serve as a useful tool for developing accurate flexible force field models that capture the correct mechanical behavior of the full periodic structure. PMID:28661672

Ab initio computation of the transition temperature of the charge density wave transition in TiS e2

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Duong, Dinh Loc; Burghard, Marko; Schön, J. Christian

2015-12-01

We present a density functional perturbation theory approach to estimate the transition temperature of the charge density wave transition of TiS e2 . The softening of the phonon mode at the L point where in TiS e2 a giant Kohn anomaly occurs, and the energy difference between the normal and distorted phase are analyzed. Both features are studied as functions of the electronic temperature, which corresponds to the Fermi-Dirac distribution smearing value in the calculation. The transition temperature is found to be 500 and 600 K by phonon and energy analysis, respectively, in reasonable agreement with the experimental value of 200 K.

An ab-initio investigation on SrLa intermetallic compound

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kumar, S. Ramesh; Jaiganesh, G.; Jayalakshmi, V.

2018-05-01

The electronic, elastic and thermodynamic property of CsCl-type SrLa are investigated through density functional theory. The energy-volume relation for this compound has been obtained. The band structure, density of states and charge density in (110) plane are also examined. The elastic constants (C11, C12 and C44) of SrLa is computed, then, using these elastic constants, the bulk moduli, shear moduli, Young's moduli and Poisson's ratio are also derived. The calculated results showed that CsCl-type SrLa is ductile at ambient conditions. The thermodynamic quantities such as free energy, entropy and heat capacity as a function of temperature are estimated and the results obtained are discussed.

Spin-memory loss due to spin-orbit coupling at ferromagnet/heavy-metal interfaces: Ab initio spin-density matrix approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dolui, Kapildeb; Nikolić, Branislav K.

2017-12-01

Spin-memory loss (SML) of electrons traversing ferromagnetic-metal/heavy-metal (FM/HM), FM/normal-metal (FM/NM), and HM/NM interfaces is a fundamental phenomenon that must be invoked to explain consistently large numbers of spintronic experiments. However, its strength extracted by fitting experimental data to phenomenological semiclassical theory, which replaces each interface by a fictitious bulk diffusive layer, is poorly understood from a microscopic quantum framework and/or materials properties. Here we describe an ensemble of flowing spin quantum states using spin-density matrix, so that SML is measured like any decoherence process by the decay of its off-diagonal elements or, equivalently, by the reduction of the magnitude of polarization vector. By combining this framework with density functional theory, we examine how all three components of the polarization vector change at Co/Ta, Co/Pt, Co/Cu, Pt/Cu, and Pt/Au interfaces embedded within Cu/FM/HM/Cu vertical heterostructures. In addition, we use ab initio Green's functions to compute spectral functions and spin textures over FM, HM, and NM monolayers around these interfaces which quantify interfacial spin-orbit coupling and explain the microscopic origin of SML in long-standing puzzles, such as why it is nonzero at the Co/Cu interface; why it is very large at the Pt/Cu interface; and why it occurs even in the absence of disorder, intermixing and magnons at the interface.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Trevisanutto, Paolo E.; Vignale, Giovanni, E-mail: vignaleg@missouri.edu

Ab initio electronic structure calculations of two-dimensional layered structures are typically performed using codes that were developed for three-dimensional structures, which are periodic in all three directions. The introduction of a periodicity in the third direction (perpendicular to the layer) is completely artificial and may lead in some cases to spurious results and to difficulties in treating the action of external fields. In this paper we develop a new approach, which is “native” to quasi-2D materials, making use of basis function that are periodic in the plane, but atomic-like in the perpendicular direction. We show how some of the basicmore » tools of ab initio electronic structure theory — density functional theory, GW approximation and Bethe-Salpeter equation — are implemented in the new basis. We argue that the new approach will be preferable to the conventional one in treating the peculiarities of layered materials, including the long range of the unscreened Coulomb interaction in insulators, and the effects of strain, corrugations, and external fields.« less

Anharmonic, dimensionality and size effects in phonon transport

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thomas, Iorwerth O.; Srivastava, G. P.

2017-12-01

We have developed and employed a numerically efficient semi- ab initio theory, based on density-functional and relaxation-time schemes, to examine anharmonic, dimensionality and size effects in phonon transport in three- and two-dimensional solids of different crystal symmetries. Our method uses third- and fourth-order terms in crystal Hamiltonian expressed in terms of a temperature-dependent Grüneisen’s constant. All input to numerical calculations are generated from phonon calculations based on the density-functional perturbation theory. It is found that four-phonon processes make important and measurable contribution to lattice thermal resistivity above the Debye temperature. From our numerical results for bulk Si, bulk Ge, bulk MoS2 and monolayer MoS2 we find that the sample length dependence of phonon conductivity is significantly stronger in low-dimensional solids.

Charge transport in nanostructured materials: Implementation and verification of constrained density functional theory

DOE PAGES

Goldey, Matthew B.; Brawand, Nicholas P.; Voros, Marton; ...

2017-04-20

The in silico design of novel complex materials for energy conversion requires accurate, ab initio simulation of charge transport. In this work, we present an implementation of constrained density functional theory (CDFT) for the calculation of parameters for charge transport in the hopping regime. We verify our implementation against literature results for molecular systems, and we discuss the dependence of results on numerical parameters and the choice of localization potentials. In addition, we compare CDFT results with those of other commonly used methods for simulating charge transport between nanoscale building blocks. As a result, we show that some of thesemore » methods give unphysical results for thermally disordered configurations, while CDFT proves to be a viable and robust approach.« less

Vibrational spectroscopic investigation of p-, m- and o-nitrobenzonitrile by using Hartree-Fock and density functional theory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sert, Y.; Ucun, F.

2013-08-01

In the present work, the theoretical vibrational spectra of p-, m- and o-nitrobenzonitrile molecules have been analyzed. The harmonic vibrational frequencies and geometric parameters (bond lengths and bond angles) of these molecules have been calculated using ab initio Hartree-Fock and density functional theory methods with 6-311++G(d,p) basis set by Gaussian 03 W, for the first time. Assignments of the vibrational frequencies have been performed by potential energy distribution by using VEDA 4 program. The optimized geometric parameters and harmonic vibrational frequencies have been compared with the corresponding experimental data and seen to be in a good agreement with each other. Also, the highest occupied molecular orbital and lowest unoccupied molecular orbital energies have been obtained.

Ab initio structures and polarizabilities of sodium clusters

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kronik, Leeor; Vasiliev, Igor; Jain, Manish; Chelikowsky, James R.

2001-09-01

We present quantitative ab initio calculations for Na cluster structures and polarizabilities, for all cluster sizes up to 20 atoms. Our calculations are performed by combining an ab initio core-corrected pseudopotential and a gradient-corrected density functional within a real space approach. We find the cluster bonding to be very floppy and catalog a host of low-energy quasi-degenerate isomers for all second-decade clusters. The existence of these isomers results in a band of polarizability values for each cluster size even at zero temperature. This eliminates any finer structure in the polarizability curve. We further show that the experimental polarizability values are consistently underestimated by calculations at zero temperature. By computing the effects of structure expansion and distortion due to a finite temperature we arrive at a quantitative agreement between theory and experiment.

Ab initio calculations of the concentration dependent band gap reduction in dilute nitrides

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rosenow, Phil; Bannow, Lars C.; Fischer, Eric W.; Stolz, Wolfgang; Volz, Kerstin; Koch, Stephan W.; Tonner, Ralf

2018-02-01

While being of persistent interest for the integration of lattice-matched laser devices with silicon circuits, the electronic structure of dilute nitride III/V-semiconductors has presented a challenge to ab initio computational approaches. The origin of the computational problems is the strong distortion exerted by the N atoms on most host materials. Here, these issues are resolved by combining density functional theory calculations based on the meta-GGA functional presented by Tran and Blaha (TB09) with a supercell approach for the dilute nitride Ga(NAs). Exploring the requirements posed to supercells, it is shown that the distortion field of a single N atom must be allowed to decrease so far that it does not overlap with its periodic images. This also prevents spurious electronic interactions between translational symmetric atoms, allowing us to compute band gaps in very good agreement with experimentally derived reference values. In addition to existing approaches, these results offer a promising ab initio avenue to the electronic structure of dilute nitride semiconductor compounds.

Magnetism in all-carbon nanostructures with negative Gaussian curvature.

PubMed

Park, Noejung; Yoon, Mina; Berber, Savas; Ihm, Jisoon; Osawa, Eiji; Tománek, David

2003-12-05

We apply the ab initio spin density functional theory to study magnetism in all-carbon nanostructures. We find that particular systems, which are related to schwarzite and contain no undercoordinated carbon atoms, carry a net magnetic moment in the ground state. We postulate that, in this and other nonalternant aromatic systems with negative Gaussian curvature, unpaired spins can be introduced by sterically protected carbon radicals.

DFT benchmark study for the oxidative addition of CH 4 to Pd. Performance of various density functionals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

de Jong, G. Theodoor; Geerke, Daan P.; Diefenbach, Axel; Matthias Bickelhaupt, F.

2005-06-01

We have evaluated the performance of 24 popular density functionals for describing the potential energy surface (PES) of the archetypal oxidative addition reaction of the methane C-H bond to the palladium atom by comparing the results with our recent ab initio [CCSD(T)] benchmark study of this reaction. The density functionals examined cover the local density approximation (LDA), the generalized gradient approximation (GGA), meta-GGAs as well as hybrid density functional theory. Relativistic effects are accounted for through the zeroth-order regular approximation (ZORA). The basis-set dependence of the density-functional-theory (DFT) results is assessed for the Becke-Lee-Yang-Parr (BLYP) functional using a hierarchical series of Slater-type orbital (STO) basis sets ranging from unpolarized double-ζ (DZ) to quadruply polarized quadruple-ζ quality (QZ4P). Stationary points on the reaction surface have been optimized using various GGA functionals, all of which yield geometries that differ only marginally. Counterpoise-corrected relative energies of stationary points are converged to within a few tenths of a kcal/mol if one uses the doubly polarized triple-ζ (TZ2P) basis set and the basis-set superposition error (BSSE) drops to 0.0 kcal/mol for our largest basis set (QZ4P). Best overall agreement with the ab initio benchmark PES is achieved by functionals of the GGA, meta-GGA, and hybrid-DFT type, with mean absolute errors of 1.3-1.4 kcal/mol and errors in activation energies ranging from +0.8 to -1.4 kcal/mol. Interestingly, the well-known BLYP functional compares very reasonably with an only slightly larger mean absolute error of 2.5 kcal/mol and an underestimation by -1.9 kcal/mol of the overall barrier (i.e., the difference in energy between the TS and the separate reactants). For comparison, with B3LYP we arrive at a mean absolute error of 3.8 kcal/mol and an overestimation of the overall barrier by 4.5 kcal/mol.

Ab initio Studies of Magnetism in the Iron Chalcogenides FeTe and FeSe

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hirayama, Motoaki; Misawa, Takahiro; Miyake, Takashi; Imada, Masatoshi

2015-09-01

The iron chalcogenides FeTe and FeSe belong to the family of iron-based superconductors. We study the magnetism in these compounds in the normal state using the ab initio downfolding scheme developed for strongly correlated electron systems. In deriving ab initio low-energy effective models, we employ the constrained GW method to eliminate the double counting of electron correlations originating from the exchange correlations already taken into account in the density functional theory. By solving the derived ab initio effective models, we reveal that the elimination of the double counting is important in reproducing the bicollinear antiferromagnetic order in FeTe, as is observed in experiments. We also show that the elimination of the double counting induces a unique degeneracy of several magnetic orders in FeSe, which may explain the absence of the magnetic ordering. We discuss the relationship between the degeneracy and the recently found puzzling phenomena in FeSe as well as the magnetic ordering found under pressure.

Optical absorption spectra and g factor of MgO: Mn2+explored by ab initio and semi empirical methods

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Andreici Eftimie, E.-L.; Avram, C. N.; Brik, M. G.; Avram, N. M.

2018-02-01

In this paper we present a methodology for calculations of the optical absorption spectra, ligand field parameters and g factor for the Mn2+ (3d5) ions doped in MgO host crystal. The proposed technique combines two methods: the ab initio multireference (MR) and the semi empirical ligand field (LF) in the framework of the exchange charge model (ECM) respectively. Both methods of calculations are applied to the [MnO6]10-cluster embedded in an extended point charge field of host matrix ligands based on Gellé-Lepetit procedure. The first step of such investigations was the full optimization of the cubic structure of perfect MgO crystal, followed by the structural optimization of the doped of MgO:Mn2+ system, using periodic density functional theory (DFT). The ab initio MR wave functions approaches, such as complete active space self-consistent field (CASSCF), N-electron valence second order perturbation theory (NEVPT2) and spectroscopy oriented configuration interaction (SORCI), are used for the calculations. The scalar relativistic effects have also been taken into account through the second order Douglas-Kroll-Hess (DKH2) procedure. Ab initio ligand field theory (AILFT) allows to extract all LF parameters and spin-orbit coupling constant from such calculations. In addition, the ECM of ligand field theory (LFT) has been used for modelling theoptical absorption spectra. The perturbation theory (PT) was employed for the g factor calculation in the semi empirical LFT. The results of each of the aforementioned types of calculations are discussed and the comparisons between the results obtained and the experimental results show a reasonable agreement, which justifies this new methodology based on the simultaneous use of both methods. This study establishes fundamental principles for the further modelling of larger embedded cluster models of doped metal oxides.

Ab initio molecular simulations with numeric atom-centered orbitals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Blum, Volker; Gehrke, Ralf; Hanke, Felix; Havu, Paula; Havu, Ville; Ren, Xinguo; Reuter, Karsten; Scheffler, Matthias

2009-11-01

We describe a complete set of algorithms for ab initio molecular simulations based on numerically tabulated atom-centered orbitals (NAOs) to capture a wide range of molecular and materials properties from quantum-mechanical first principles. The full algorithmic framework described here is embodied in the Fritz Haber Institute "ab initio molecular simulations" (FHI-aims) computer program package. Its comprehensive description should be relevant to any other first-principles implementation based on NAOs. The focus here is on density-functional theory (DFT) in the local and semilocal (generalized gradient) approximations, but an extension to hybrid functionals, Hartree-Fock theory, and MP2/GW electron self-energies for total energies and excited states is possible within the same underlying algorithms. An all-electron/full-potential treatment that is both computationally efficient and accurate is achieved for periodic and cluster geometries on equal footing, including relaxation and ab initio molecular dynamics. We demonstrate the construction of transferable, hierarchical basis sets, allowing the calculation to range from qualitative tight-binding like accuracy to meV-level total energy convergence with the basis set. Since all basis functions are strictly localized, the otherwise computationally dominant grid-based operations scale as O(N) with system size N. Together with a scalar-relativistic treatment, the basis sets provide access to all elements from light to heavy. Both low-communication parallelization of all real-space grid based algorithms and a ScaLapack-based, customized handling of the linear algebra for all matrix operations are possible, guaranteeing efficient scaling (CPU time and memory) up to massively parallel computer systems with thousands of CPUs.

Structure and Magnetic Properties in Ruthenium-Based Full-Heusler Alloys: AB INITIO Calculations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bahlouli, S.; Aarizou, Z.; Elchikh, M.

2013-12-01

In this paper, we present ab initio calculations within density functional theory (DFT) to investigate structure, electronic and magnetic properties of Ru2CrZ (Z = Si, Ge and Sn) full-Heusler alloys. We have used the developed full-potential linearized muffin tin orbitals (FP-LMTO) based on the local spin density approximation (LSDA) with the PLane Wave expansion (PLW). In particular, we found that these Ruthenium-based Heusler alloys have the antiferromagnetic (AFM) type II as ground state. Then, we studied and discussed the magnetic properties belonging to our different magnetic structures: AFM type II, AFM type I and ferromagnetic (FM) phase. We also found that Ru2CrSi and Ru2CrGe exhibit a semiconducting behavior whereas Ru2CrSn has a semimetallic-like behavior as it is experimentally found. We made an estimation of Néel temperatures (TN) in the framework of the mean-field theory and used the energy differences approach to deduce the relevant short-range nearest-neighbor (J1) and next-nearest-neighbor (J2) interactions. The calculated TN are somewhat overestimated to the available experimental ones.

A recipe for free-energy functionals of polarizable molecular fluids

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sundararaman, Ravishankar; Letchworth-Weaver, Kendra; Arias, T. A.

2014-04-01

Classical density-functional theory is the most direct approach to equilibrium structures and free energies of inhomogeneous liquids, but requires the construction of an approximate free-energy functional for each liquid of interest. We present a general recipe for constructing functionals for small-molecular liquids based only on bulk experimental properties and ab initio calculations of a single solvent molecule. This recipe combines the exact free energy of the non-interacting system with fundamental measure theory for the repulsive contribution and a weighted density functional for the short-ranged attractive interactions. We add to these ingredients a weighted polarization functional for the long-range correlations in both the rotational and molecular-polarizability contributions to the dielectric response. We also perform molecular dynamics calculations for the free energy of cavity formation and the high-field dielectric response, and show that our free-energy functional adequately describes these properties (which are key for accurate solvation calculations) for all three solvents in our study: water, chloroform, and carbon tetrachloride.

First Principles Study of Chemically Functionalized Graphene

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jha, Sanjiv; Vasiliev, Igor

2015-03-01

The electronic, structural and vibrational properties of carbon nanomaterials can be affected by chemical functionalization. We applied ab initio computational methods based on density functional theory to study the covalent functionalization of graphene with benzyne, carboxyl groups and tetracyanoethylene oxide (TCNEO). Our calculations were carried out using the SIESTA and Quantum-ESPRESSO electronic structure codes combined with the local density and generalized gradient approximations for the exchange correlation functional and norm-conserving Troullier-Martins pseudopotentials. The simulated Raman and infrared spectra of graphene functionalized with carboxyl groups and TCNEO were consistent with the available experimental results. The computed vibrational spectra of graphene functionalized with carboxyl groups showed that the presence of point defects near the functionalization site affects the Raman and infrared spectroscopic signatures of functionalized graphene. Supported by NSF CHE-1112388.

Optical properties of B12P2 crystals: Ab initio calculation and EELS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Reshetniak, V. V.; Mavrin, B. N.; Medvedev, V. V.; Perezhogin, I. A.; Kulnitskiy, B. A.

2018-05-01

We report an experimental and theoretical investigation of the electronic structure and optical properties of B12P2 crystals in the energy range up to 60 eV. Experimental studies are performed by the method of electron energy loss spectroscopy, and theoretical studies are carried out using density functional theory and the GW approximation. The calculated dependence of the energy loss function is in agreement with the experiment. Based on the results of the calculations, we determine the optical properties of B12P2 crystals and investigate their anisotropy. The dispersion and density of electronic states are calculated and analyzed.

Joint density-functional theory for energetics and spectroscopy in complex aqueous and nonaqueous solvents

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gunceler, Deniz

Solvents are of great importance in many technological applications, but are difficult to study using standard, off-the-shelf ab initio electronic structure methods. This is because a single configuration of molecular positions in the solvent (a "snapshot" of the fluid) is not necessarily representative of the thermodynamic average. To obtain any thermodynamic averages (e.g. free energies), the phase space of the solvent must be sampled, typically using molecular dynamics. This greatly increases the computational cost involved in studying solvated systems. Joint density-functional theory has made its mark by being a computationally efficient yet rigorous theory by which to study solvation. It replaces the need for thermodynamic sampling with an effective continuum description of the solvent environment that is in-principle exact, computationally efficient and intuitive (easier to interpret). It has been very successful in aqueous systems, with potential applications in (among others) energy materials discovery, catalysis and surface science. In this dissertation, we develop accurate and fast joint density functional theories for complex, non-aqueous solvent enviroments, including organic solvents and room temperature ionic liquids, as well as new methods for calculating electron excitation spectra in such systems. These theories are then applied to a range of physical problems, from dendrite formation in lithium-metal batteries to the optical spectra of solvated ions.

Structural, electronic, mechanical, and dynamical properties of graphene oxides: A first principles study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dabhi, Shweta D.; Gupta, Sanjay D.; Jha, Prafulla K.

2014-05-01

We report the results of a theoretical study on the structural, electronic, mechanical, and vibrational properties of some graphene oxide models (GDO, a-GMO, z-GMO, ep-GMO and mix-GMO) at ambient pressure. The calculations are based on the ab-initio plane-wave pseudo potential density functional theory, within the generalized gradient approximations for the exchange and correlation functional. The calculated values of lattice parameters, bulk modulus, and its first order pressure derivative are in good agreement with other reports. A linear response approach to the density functional theory is used to derive the phonon frequencies. We discuss the contribution of the phonons in the dynamical stability of graphene oxides and detailed analysis of zone centre phonon modes in all the above mentioned models. Our study demonstrates a wide range of energy gap available in the considered models of graphene oxide and hence the possibility of their use in nanodevices.

High-throughput ab-initio dilute solute diffusion database

PubMed Central

Wu, Henry; Mayeshiba, Tam; Morgan, Dane

2016-01-01

We demonstrate automated generation of diffusion databases from high-throughput density functional theory (DFT) calculations. A total of more than 230 dilute solute diffusion systems in Mg, Al, Cu, Ni, Pd, and Pt host lattices have been determined using multi-frequency diffusion models. We apply a correction method for solute diffusion in alloys using experimental and simulated values of host self-diffusivity. We find good agreement with experimental solute diffusion data, obtaining a weighted activation barrier RMS error of 0.176 eV when excluding magnetic solutes in non-magnetic alloys. The compiled database is the largest collection of consistently calculated ab-initio solute diffusion data in the world. PMID:27434308

The molecular structures and conformation of o-selenobenzyl fluoride derivatives, ArSeX (Ar=C 6H 4CH 2F; X=CN, Cl, Me): ab initio and DFT calculations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jeong, Myongho; Kwon, Younghi

2000-10-01

Ab initio and density functional theory methods are applied to investigate the molecular structures, intramolecular orbital interactions, and 19F and 77Se NMR chemical shifts of o-selenobenzyl fluoride derivatives, ArSeX ( Ar= C6H4CH2F; X= CN, Cl, Me) , at both RHF and B3LYP levels with the basis sets 6-311G ∗∗ and 6-311+G ∗∗. There are two stable rotational conformers for ArSeX. The energy differences between both conformers for each compound are small (within 2 kcal/mol) at various levels.

Electronic structure and magnetism of titanium substituted Cd3P2: An ab-initio study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jaiganesh, G.; Jaya, S. Mathi

2018-05-01

Using the ab-initio computations that are based on the density functional theory, we have investigated the magnetism and electronic properties of one and two Ti atom substituted Cd3P2 compound. The magnetic stability of the substituted compounds was obtained by analyzing the minimum total energies in nonmagnetic, ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic phases. Our results indicated the formation of magnetic order in one and two Ti atom substituted Cd3P2 as well as metallic characteristics in these systems. A significant value of the magnetic moment of Ti atom is observed from our calculations. We further find that the neighboring Cd and P atoms too acquire a small magnetic moment.

Comparative studies of the spectroscopy of CuCl2: DFT versus standard ab initio approaches

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ramírez-Solís, A.; Poteau, R.; Vela, A.; Daudey, J. P.

2005-04-01

The XΠg2-Σg +2, XΠg2-Δg2, XΠg2-Σu +2, XΠg2-Πu2 transitions on CuCl2 have been studied using several exchange-correlation functionals from the various types of density functional theory (DFT) approaches like local density approximation (LDA), generalized gradient approximation (GGA), hybrid and meta-GGA. The results are compared with the experience and with those coming from the most sophisticated nondynamic and dynamic electronic correlation treatments using the same relativistic effective core potentials and especially developed basis sets to study the electronic structure of the five lowest states and the corresponding vertical and adiabatic transition energies. The calculated transition energies for three of the hybrid functionals (B3LYP, B97-2, and PBE0) are in very good agreement with the benchmark ab initio results and experimental figures. All of the other functionals largely overestimate the XΠg2-Σg +2 and XΠg2-Δg2 transition energies, many of them even placing the Δg2 ligand field state above the charge transfer Πu2 and Σu +2 states. The relative weight of the Hartree-Fock exchange in the definition of the functional used appears to play a key role in the accurate description of the ΛSΣ density defined by the orientation of the 3d hole (σ, π, or δ) on Cu in the field of both chlorine atoms, but no simple connection of this weight with the quality of the spectra has been found. Mulliken charges and spin densities are carefully analyzed; a possible link between the extent of spin density on the metal for the XΠg2 state and the performance of the various functionals was observed, suggesting that those that lead to the largest values (close to 0.65) are the ones that best reproduce these four transitions. Most functionals lead to a remarkably low ionicity for the three ligand field states even for the best performing functionals, compared to the complete active space (SCF) (21, 14) ab initio values. These findings show that not only large variational ab initio calculations can produce reliable spectroscopic results for extremely complex systems where delicate electronic correlation effects have to be carefully dealt with. However, those functionals that were recently shown to perform best for a series of molecular properties [J. Chem. Phys. 121 3405 (2004)] are not the ones that produce the best transition energies for this complex case.

A theoretical study of the reaction of Ti+ with ethane

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moc, Jerzy; Fedorov, Dmitri G.; Gordon, Mark S.

2000-06-01

The doublet and quartet potential energy surfaces for the Ti++C2H6→TiC2H4++H2 and Ti++C2H6→TiCH2++CH4 reactions are studied using density functional theory (DFT) with the B3LYP functional and ab initio coupled cluster CCSD(T) methods with high quality basis sets. Structures have been optimized at the DFT level and the minima connected to each transition state (TS) by following the intrinsic reaction coordinate (IRC). Relative energies are calculated both at the DFT and coupled-cluster levels of theory. The relevant parts of the potential energy surface, especially key transition states, are also studied using multireference wave functions with the final energetics obtained with multireference second-order perturbation theory.

Comparison between Gaussian-type orbitals and plane wave ab initio density functional theory modeling of layer silicates: Talc [Mg{sub 3}Si{sub 4}O{sub 10}(OH){sub 2}] as model system

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ulian, Gianfranco; Valdrè, Giovanni, E-mail: giovanni.valdre@unibo.it; Tosoni, Sergio

2013-11-28

The quantum chemical characterization of solid state systems is conducted with many different approaches, among which the adoption of periodic boundary conditions to deal with three-dimensional infinite condensed systems. This method, coupled to the Density Functional Theory (DFT), has been proved successful in simulating a huge variety of solids. Only in relatively recent years this ab initio quantum-mechanic approach has been used for the investigation of layer silicate structures and minerals. In the present work, a systematic comparison of different DFT functionals (GGA-PBEsol and hybrid B3LYP) and basis sets (plane waves and all-electron Gaussian-type orbitals) on the geometry, energy, andmore » phonon properties of a model layer silicate, talc [Mg{sub 3}Si{sub 4}O{sub 10}(OH){sub 2}], is presented. Long range dispersion is taken into account by DFT+D method. Results are in agreement with experimental data reported in literature, with minimal deviation given by the GTO/B3LYP-D* method regarding both axial lattice parameters and interaction energy and by PW/PBE-D for the unit-cell volume and angular values. All the considered methods adequately describe the experimental talc infrared spectrum.« less

Ab initio Hartree-Fock and density functional theory investigations on the conformational stability, molecular structure and vibrational spectra of 5-chloro-3-(2-(4-methylpiperazin-1-yl)-2-oxoethyl)benzo[d]thiazol-2(3H)-one drug molecule.

PubMed

Taşal, Erol; Kumalar, Mustafa

2012-09-01

In this work, the experimental and theoretical spectra of 5-chloro-3-(2-(4-methylpiperazin-1-yl)-2-oxoethyl)benzo[d]thiazol-2(3H)-one molecule (abbreviated as 5CMOT) are studied. The molecular geometry and vibrational frequencies are calculated in the ground state of molecule using ab initio Hartree-Fock (HF) and Density Function Theory (DFT) methods with 6-311++G(d,p), 6-31G++(d,p), 6-31G(d,p), 6-31G(d) and 6-31G basis sets. Three staggered stable conformers were observed on the torsional potential energy surfaces. The complete assignments were performed on the basis of the total energy distribution (TED) of the vibrational modes calculated. The comparison of the theoretical and experimental geometries of the title compound indicated that the X-ray parameters fairly well agree with the theoretically obtained values for the most stable conformer. The theoretical results showed an excellent agreement with the experimental values. The calculated HOMO and LUMO energies show that the charge transfer occurs within the molecule. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Amorphous Ge quantum dots embedded in crystalline Si: ab initio results.

PubMed

Laubscher, M; Küfner, S; Kroll, P; Bechstedt, F

2015-10-14

We study amorphous Ge quantum dots embedded in a crystalline Si matrix through structure modeling and simulation using ab initio density functional theory including spin-orbit interaction and quasiparticle effects. Three models are generated by replacing a spherical region within diamond Si by Ge atoms and creating a disordered bond network with appropriate density inside the Ge quantum dot. After total-energy optimisations of the atomic geometry we compute the electronic and optical properties. We find three major effects: (i) the resulting nanostructures adopt a type-I heterostructure character; (ii) the lowest optical transitions occur only within the Ge quantum dots, and do not involve or cross the Ge-Si interface. (iii) for larger amorphous Ge quantum dots, with diameters of about 2.0 and 2.7 nm, absorption peaks appear in the mid-infrared spectral region. These are promising candidates for intense luminescence at photon energies below the gap energy of bulk Ge.

Atomic and electronic structure of the CdTe(111)B–(2√3 × 4) orthogonal surface

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bekenev, V. L., E-mail: bekenev@ipms.kiev.ua; Zubkova, S. M.

2017-01-15

The atomic and electronic structure of four variants of Te-terminated CdTe(111)B–(2√3 × 4) orthogonal polar surface (ideal, relaxed, reconstructed, and reconstructed with subsequent relaxation) are calculated ab initio for the first time. The surface is modeled by a film composed of 12 atomic layers with a vacuum gap of ~16 Å in the layered superlattice approximation. To close Cd dangling bonds on the opposite side of the film, 24 fictitious hydrogen atoms with a charge of 1.5 electrons each are added. Ab initio calculations are performed using the Quantum Espresso program based on density functional theory. It is demonstrated thatmore » relaxation leads to splitting of the four upper layers. The band energy structures and total and layer-by-layer densities of electronic states for the four surface variants are calculated and analyzed.« less

Investigation of electronic structure and chemical bonding of intermetallic Pd2HfIn: An ab-initio study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bano, Amreen; Gaur, N. K.

2018-05-01

Ab-initio calculations are carried out to study the electronic and chemical bonding properties of Intermetallic full Heusler compound Pd2HfIn which crystallizes in F-43m structure. All calculations are performed by using density functional theory (DFT) based code Quantum Espresso. Generalized gradient approximations (GGA) of Perdew- Burke- Ernzerhof (PBE) have been adopted for exchange-correlation potential. Calculated electronic band structure reveals the metallic character of the compound. From partial density of states (PDoS), we found the presence of relatively high intensity electronic states of 4d-Pd atom at Fermi level. We have found a pseudo-gap just abouve the Fermi level and N(E) at Fermi level is observed to be 0.8 states/eV, these finding indicates the existence of superconducting character in Pd2HfIn.

Carbon diffusion in molten uranium: an ab initio molecular dynamics study

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Garrett, Kerry E.; Abrecht, David G.; Kessler, Sean H.

In this work we used ab initio molecular dynamics (AIMD) within the framework of density functional theory (DFT) and the projector-augmented wave (PAW) method to study carbon diffusion in liquid uranium at temperatures above 1600 K. The electronic interactions of carbon and uranium were described using the local density approximation (LDA). The self-diffusion of uranium based on this approach is compared with literature computational and experimental results for liquid uranium. The temperature dependence of carbon and uranium diffusion in the melt was evaluated by fitting the resulting diffusion coefficients to an Arrhenius relationship. We found that the LDA calculated activationmore » energy for carbon was nearly twice that of uranium: 0.55±0.03 eV for carbon compared to 0.32±0.04 eV for uranium. Structural analysis of the liquid uranium-carbon system is also discussed.« less

Cyclic density functional theory: A route to the first principles simulation of bending in nanostructures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Banerjee, Amartya S.; Suryanarayana, Phanish

2016-11-01

We formulate and implement Cyclic Density Functional Theory (Cyclic DFT) - a self-consistent first principles simulation method for nanostructures with cyclic symmetries. Using arguments based on Group Representation Theory, we rigorously demonstrate that the Kohn-Sham eigenvalue problem for such systems can be reduced to a fundamental domain (or cyclic unit cell) augmented with cyclic-Bloch boundary conditions. Analogously, the equations of electrostatics appearing in Kohn-Sham theory can be reduced to the fundamental domain augmented with cyclic boundary conditions. By making use of this symmetry cell reduction, we show that the electronic ground-state energy and the Hellmann-Feynman forces on the atoms can be calculated using quantities defined over the fundamental domain. We develop a symmetry-adapted finite-difference discretization scheme to obtain a fully functional numerical realization of the proposed approach. We verify that our formulation and implementation of Cyclic DFT is both accurate and efficient through selected examples. The connection of cyclic symmetries with uniform bending deformations provides an elegant route to the ab-initio study of bending in nanostructures using Cyclic DFT. As a demonstration of this capability, we simulate the uniform bending of a silicene nanoribbon and obtain its energy-curvature relationship from first principles. A self-consistent ab-initio simulation of this nature is unprecedented and well outside the scope of any other systematic first principles method in existence. Our simulations reveal that the bending stiffness of the silicene nanoribbon is intermediate between that of graphene and molybdenum disulphide - a trend which can be ascribed to the variation in effective thickness of these materials. We describe several future avenues and applications of Cyclic DFT, including its extension to the study of non-uniform bending deformations and its possible use in the study of the nanoscale flexoelectric effect.

Local representation of the electronic dielectric response function

DOE PAGES

Lu, Deyu; Ge, Xiaochuan

2015-12-11

We present a local representation of the electronic dielectric response function, based on a spatial partition of the dielectric response into contributions from each occupied Wannier orbital using a generalized density functional perturbation theory. This procedure is fully ab initio, and therefore allows us to rigorously define local metrics, such as “bond polarizability,” on Wannier centers. We show that the locality of the bare response function is determined by the locality of three quantities: Wannier functions of the occupied manifold, the density matrix, and the Hamiltonian matrix. Furthermore, in systems with a gap, the bare dielectric response is exponentially localized,more » which supports the physical picture of the dielectric response function as a collection of interacting local responses that can be captured by a tight-binding model.« less

Brillouin zone grid refinement for highly resolved ab initio THz optical properties of graphene

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Warmbier, Robert; Quandt, Alexander

2018-07-01

Optical spectra of materials can in principle be calculated within numerical frameworks based on Density Functional Theory. The huge numerical effort involved in these methods severely constraints the accuracy achievable in practice. In the case of the THz spectrum of graphene the primary limitation lays in the density of the reciprocal space sampling. In this letter we have developed a non-uniform sampling using grid refinement to achieve a high local sampling density with only moderate numerical effort. The resulting THz electron energy loss spectrum shows a plasmon signal below 50 meV with a ω(q) ∝√{ q } dispersion relation.

A Density Functional Study of Atomic Hydrogen and Oxygen Chemisorptions on the (0001) Surface of Double Hexagonal Close Packed Americium

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dholabhai, Pratik; Atta-Fynn, Raymond; Ray, Asok

2008-03-01

Ab initio total energy calculations within the framework of density functional theory have been performed for atomic hydrogen and oxygen chemisorptions on the (0001) surface of double hexagonal packed americium using a full-potential all-electron linearized augmented plane wave plus local orbitals (FLAPW+lo) method. The three-fold hollow hcp site was found to be the most stable site for H adsorption, while the two-fold bridge adsorption site was found to be the most stable site for O adsorption. Chemisorption energies and adsorption geometries for different adsorption sites will be discussed. The change in work functions, magnetic moments, partial charges inside muffin-tins, difference charge density distributions and density of states for the bare Am slab and the Am slab after adsorption of the adatom will be discussed. The implications of chemisorption on Am 5f electron localization-delocalization will also be discussed.

Controlling Magnetic and Ferroelectric Order Through Geometry: Synthesis, Ab Initio Theory, Characterization of New Multi-Ferric Fluoride Materials

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Halasyamani, Shiv; Fennie, Craig

2016-11-03

We have focused on the synthesis, characterization, and ab initio theory on multi-functional mixed-metal fluorides. With funding from the DOE, we have successfully synthesized and characterized a variety of mixed metal fluoride materials.

E2 and SN2 Reactions of X(-) + CH3CH2X (X = F, Cl); an ab Initio and DFT Benchmark Study.

PubMed

Bento, A Patrícia; Solà, Miquel; Bickelhaupt, F Matthias

2008-06-01

We have computed consistent benchmark potential energy surfaces (PESs) for the anti-E2, syn-E2, and SN2 pathways of X(-) + CH3CH2X with X = F and Cl. This benchmark has been used to evaluate the performance of 31 popular density functionals, covering local-density approximation, generalized gradient approximation (GGA), meta-GGA, and hybrid density-functional theory (DFT). The ab initio benchmark has been obtained by exploring the PESs using a hierarchical series of ab initio methods [up to CCSD(T)] in combination with a hierarchical series of Gaussian-type basis sets (up to aug-cc-pVQZ). Our best CCSD(T) estimates show that the overall barriers for the various pathways increase in the order anti-E2 (X = F) < SN2 (X = F) < SN2 (X = Cl) ∼ syn-E2 (X = F) < anti-E2 (X = Cl) < syn-E2 (X = Cl). Thus, anti-E2 dominates for F(-) + CH3CH2F, and SN2 dominates for Cl(-) + CH3CH2Cl, while syn-E2 is in all cases the least favorable pathway. Best overall agreement with our ab initio benchmark is obtained by representatives from each of the three categories of functionals, GGA, meta-GGA, and hybrid DFT, with mean absolute errors in, for example, central barriers of 4.3 (OPBE), 2.2 (M06-L), and 2.0 kcal/mol (M06), respectively. Importantly, the hybrid functional BHandH and the meta-GGA M06-L yield incorrect trends and qualitative features of the PESs (in particular, an erroneous preference for SN2 over the anti-E2 in the case of F(-) + CH3CH2F) even though they are among the best functionals as measured by their small mean absolute errors of 3.3 and 2.2 kcal/mol in reaction barriers. OLYP and B3LYP have somewhat higher mean absolute errors in central barriers (5.6 and 4.8 kcal/mol, respectively), but the error distribution is somewhat more uniform, and as a consequence, the correct trends are reproduced.

Quantum dynamics of hydrogen atoms on graphene. I. System-bath modeling.

PubMed

Bonfanti, Matteo; Jackson, Bret; Hughes, Keith H; Burghardt, Irene; Martinazzo, Rocco

2015-09-28

An accurate system-bath model to investigate the quantum dynamics of hydrogen atoms chemisorbed on graphene is presented. The system comprises a hydrogen atom and the carbon atom from graphene that forms the covalent bond, and it is described by a previously developed 4D potential energy surface based on density functional theory ab initio data. The bath describes the rest of the carbon lattice and is obtained from an empirical force field through inversion of a classical equilibrium correlation function describing the hydrogen motion. By construction, model building easily accommodates improvements coming from the use of higher level electronic structure theory for the system. Further, it is well suited to a determination of the system-environment coupling by means of ab initio molecular dynamics. This paper details the system-bath modeling and shows its application to the quantum dynamics of vibrational relaxation of a chemisorbed hydrogen atom, which is here investigated at T = 0 K with the help of the multi-configuration time-dependent Hartree method. Paper II deals with the sticking dynamics.

Optimization of a hybrid exchange-correlation functional for silicon carbides

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Oda, Takuji; Zhang, Yanwen; Weber, William J

2013-01-01

A hybrid exchange-correlation functional is optimized in order to accurately describe the nature of silicon carbides (SiC) in the framework of ab-initio calculations based on density functional theory (DFT), especially with an aim toward future applications in defect studies. It is shown that the Heyd-Scuseria-Ernzerhof (HSE) hybrid functional with the screening parameter of 0.15 -1 outperforms conventional exchange-correlation functionals and other popular hybrid functionals regarding description of band structures in SiC. High transferability is proven through assessment over various SiC polytypes, silicon and diamond. Excellent performance is also confirmed for other fundamental material properties including elastic constants and phonon frequency.

First principles prediction of amorphous phases using evolutionary algorithms

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Nahas, Suhas, E-mail: shsnhs@iitk.ac.in; Gaur, Anshu, E-mail: agaur@iitk.ac.in; Bhowmick, Somnath, E-mail: bsomnath@iitk.ac.in

2016-07-07

We discuss the efficacy of evolutionary method for the purpose of structural analysis of amorphous solids. At present, ab initio molecular dynamics (MD) based melt-quench technique is used and this deterministic approach has proven to be successful to study amorphous materials. We show that a stochastic approach motivated by Darwinian evolution can also be used to simulate amorphous structures. Applying this method, in conjunction with density functional theory based electronic, ionic and cell relaxation, we re-investigate two well known amorphous semiconductors, namely silicon and indium gallium zinc oxide. We find that characteristic structural parameters like average bond length and bondmore » angle are within ∼2% of those reported by ab initio MD calculations and experimental studies.« less

Combined experimental and ab initio study of the electronic structure of narrow-diameter single-wall carbon nanotubes with predominant (6,4),(6,5) chirality

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

de Blauwe, K.; Mowbray, D. J.; Miyata, Y.; Ayala, P.; Shiozawa, H.; Rubio, A.; Hoffmann, P.; Kataura, H.; Pichler, T.

2010-09-01

Narrow diameter tubes and especially (6,5) tubes with a diameter of 0.75 nm are currently one of the most studied carbon nanotubes because their unique optical and especially luminescence response makes them exceptionally suited for biomedical applications. Here we report on a detailed analysis of the electronic structure of nanotubes with (6,5) and (6,4) chiralities using a combined experimental and theoretical approach. From high-energy spectroscopy involving x-ray absorption and photoemission spectroscopy the detailed valence- and conduction-band response of these narrow diameter tubes is studied. The observed electronic structure is in sound agreement with state of the art ab initio calculations using density-functional theory.

Simulations of nanocrystals under pressure: combining electronic enthalpy and linear-scaling density-functional theory.

PubMed

Corsini, Niccolò R C; Greco, Andrea; Hine, Nicholas D M; Molteni, Carla; Haynes, Peter D

2013-08-28

We present an implementation in a linear-scaling density-functional theory code of an electronic enthalpy method, which has been found to be natural and efficient for the ab initio calculation of finite systems under hydrostatic pressure. Based on a definition of the system volume as that enclosed within an electronic density isosurface [M. Cococcioni, F. Mauri, G. Ceder, and N. Marzari, Phys. Rev. Lett. 94, 145501 (2005)], it supports both geometry optimizations and molecular dynamics simulations. We introduce an approach for calibrating the parameters defining the volume in the context of geometry optimizations and discuss their significance. Results in good agreement with simulations using explicit solvents are obtained, validating our approach. Size-dependent pressure-induced structural transformations and variations in the energy gap of hydrogenated silicon nanocrystals are investigated, including one comparable in size to recent experiments. A detailed analysis of the polyamorphic transformations reveals three types of amorphous structures and their persistence on depressurization is assessed.

Simulations of nanocrystals under pressure: Combining electronic enthalpy and linear-scaling density-functional theory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Corsini, Niccolò R. C.; Greco, Andrea; Hine, Nicholas D. M.; Molteni, Carla; Haynes, Peter D.

2013-08-01

We present an implementation in a linear-scaling density-functional theory code of an electronic enthalpy method, which has been found to be natural and efficient for the ab initio calculation of finite systems under hydrostatic pressure. Based on a definition of the system volume as that enclosed within an electronic density isosurface [M. Cococcioni, F. Mauri, G. Ceder, and N. Marzari, Phys. Rev. Lett. 94, 145501 (2005)], 10.1103/PhysRevLett.94.145501, it supports both geometry optimizations and molecular dynamics simulations. We introduce an approach for calibrating the parameters defining the volume in the context of geometry optimizations and discuss their significance. Results in good agreement with simulations using explicit solvents are obtained, validating our approach. Size-dependent pressure-induced structural transformations and variations in the energy gap of hydrogenated silicon nanocrystals are investigated, including one comparable in size to recent experiments. A detailed analysis of the polyamorphic transformations reveals three types of amorphous structures and their persistence on depressurization is assessed.

Ab initio studies of 1,3,5,7-tetranitro-1,3,5,7-tetrazocine/1,3-dimethyl-2-imidazolidinone cocrystal under high pressure using dispersion corrected density functional theory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gu, Bang-Ming; Lin, He; Zhu, Shun-Guan

2014-04-01

A detailed study of structural, electronic, and thermodynamic properties of 1,3,5,7-tetranitro-1,3,5,7-tetrazocine (HMX)/1,3-dimethyl-2-imidazolidinone (DMI) cocrystal under the hydrostatic pressure of 0-100 GPa was performed by using dispersion-corrected density functional theory (DFT-D) method. The calculated crystal structure is in reasonable agreement with the experimental data at the ambient pressure. Based on the analysis of lattice constants, bond lengths, bond angles, and dihedral angles under compression, it is found that HMX molecules in HMX/DMI cocrystal are seriously distorted. In addition, as the pressure increases, the band gap decreases gradually, which suggests that HMX/DMI cocrystal is becoming more metallic. Some important intermolecular interactions between HMX and DMI are also observed in the density of states spectrum. Finally, its thermodynamic properties were characterized, and the results show that HMX/DMI cocrystal is more easily formed in the low pressure.

Ab initio theory of noble gas atoms in bcc transition metals.

PubMed

Jiang, Chao; Zhang, Yongfeng; Gao, Yipeng; Gan, Jian

2018-06-18

Systematic ab initio calculations based on density functional theory have been performed to gain fundamental understanding of the interactions between noble gas atoms (He, Ne, Ar and Kr) and bcc transition metals in groups 5B (V, Nb and Ta), 6B (Cr, Mo and W) and 8B (Fe). Our charge density analysis indicates that the strong polarization of nearest-neighbor metal atoms by noble gas interstitials is the electronic origin of their high formation energies. Such polarization becomes more significant with an increasing gas atom size and interstitial charge density in the host bcc metal, which explains the similar trend followed by the unrelaxed formation energies of noble gas interstitials. Upon allowing for local relaxation, nearby metal atoms move farther away from gas interstitials in order to decrease polarization, albeit at the expense of increasing the elastic strain energy. Such atomic relaxation is found to play an important role in governing both the energetics and site preference of noble gas atoms in bcc metals. Our most notable finding is that the fully relaxed formation energies of noble gas interstitials are strongly correlated with the elastic shear modulus of the bcc metal, and the physical origin of this unexpected correlation has been elucidated by our theoretical analysis based on the effective-medium theory. The kinetic behavior of noble gas atoms and their interaction with pre-existing vacancies in bcc transition metals have also been discussed in this work.

Efficient Organometallic Spin Filter between Single-Wall Carbon Nanotube or Graphene Electrodes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Koleini, Mohammad; Paulsson, Magnus; Brandbyge, Mads

2007-05-01

We present a theoretical study of spin transport in a class of molecular systems consisting of an organometallic benzene-vanadium cluster placed in between graphene or single-wall carbon-nanotube-model contacts. Ab initio modeling is performed by combining spin density functional theory and nonequilibrium Green’s function techniques. We consider weak and strong cluster-contact bonds. Depending on the bonding we find from 73% (strong bonds) up to 99% (weak bonds) spin polarization of the electron transmission, and enhanced polarization with increased cluster length.

High-pressure melting of molybdenum.

PubMed

Belonoshko, A B; Simak, S I; Kochetov, A E; Johansson, B; Burakovsky, L; Preston, D L

2004-05-14

The melting curve of the body-centered cubic (bcc) phase of Mo has been determined for a wide pressure range using both direct ab initio molecular dynamics simulations of melting as well as a phenomenological theory of melting. These two methods show very good agreement. The simulations are based on density functional theory within the generalized gradient approximation. Our calculated equation of state of bcc Mo is in excellent agreement with experimental data. However, our melting curve is substantially higher than the one determined in diamond anvil cell experiments up to a pressure of 100 GPa. An explanation is suggested for this discrepancy.

Ab-initio calculation for cation vacancy formation energy in anti-fluorite structure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Saleel, V. P. Saleel Ahammad; Chitra, D.; Veluraja, K.; Eithiraj, R. D.

2018-04-01

Lithium oxide (Li2O) has been suggested as a suitable breeder blanket material for fusion reactors. Li+ vacancies are created by neutron irradiation, forming bulk defect complex whose extra character is experimentally unclear. We present a theoretical study of Li2O using density functional theory (DFT) with a plane-wave basis set. The generalized gradient approximation (GGA) and local-density approximation (LDA) were used for exchange and correlation. Here we address the total energy for defect free, cation defect, cation vacancy and vacancy formation energy in Li2O crystal in anti-fluorite structure.

Effects of nitrogenous substituent groups on the benzene dication

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Forgy, C. C.; Schlimgen, A. W.; Mazziotti, D. A.

2018-05-01

The benzene dication possesses a pentagonal-pyramidal structure with a hexacoordinated carbon. In contrast, halogenated benzene dications retain a similar structure to their parent molecules. In this work, we report on theoretical studies of the structures of the dications of benzene with nitrogenous substituents. We find that the nitrobenzene dication favours a near ideal pentagonal-pyramidal structure, while the aniline dication favours a flat, hexagonal structure. Reduced-density-matrices methods give predictions in agreement with available ab initio calculations and experiment. These results are also compared with those from the Hartree-Fock method and density functional theory.

Room-temperature d0 ferromagnetism in carbon-doped Y2O3 for spintronic applications: A density functional theory study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chakraborty, Brahmananda; Nandi, Prithwish K.; Kawazoe, Yoshiyuki; Ramaniah, Lavanya M.

2018-05-01

Through density functional theory simulations with the generalized gradient approximation, confirmed by the more sophisticated hybrid functional, we predict the triggering of d0 ferromagnetism in C doped Y2O3 at a hole density of 3.36 ×1021c m-3 (one order less than the critical hole density of ZnO) having magnetic moment of 2.0 μB per defect with ferromagnetic coupling large enough to promote room-temperature ferromagnetism. The persistence of ferromagnetism at room temperature is established through computation of the Curie temperature by the mean field approximation and ab initio molecular dynamics simulations. The induced magnetic moment is mainly contributed by the 2 p orbital of the impurity C and the 2 p orbital of O and we quantitatively and extensively demonstrate through the analysis of density of states and ferromagnetic coupling that the Stoner criterion is satisfied to activate room-temperature ferromagnetism. As the system is stable at room temperature, C doped Y2O3 has feasible defect formation energy and ferromagnetism survives for the choice of hybrid exchange functional, and at room temperature we strongly believe that C doped Y2O3 can be tailored as a room-temperature diluted magnetic semiconductor for spintronic applications.

Effects of plasmon pole models on the G0W0 electronic structure of various oxides

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Miglio, A.; Waroquiers, D.; Antonius, G.; Giantomassi, M.; Stankovski, M.; Côté, M.; Gonze, X.; Rignanese, G.-M.

2012-09-01

The electronic properties of three different oxides (ZnO, SnO2 and SiO2) are investigated within many-body perturbation theory in the G 0 W 0 approximation. The frequency dependence of the dielectric function is either approximated using two different well-established plasmon-pole models (one of which enforces the fulfillment of the f-sum rule) or treated explicitly by means of the contour-deformation approach. Comparing these results, it is found that the plasmon-pole model enforcing the f-sum rule gives less accurate results for all three oxides. The calculated electronic properties are also compared with the available experimental data and previous ab initio results, focusing on the d state binding energies. The G 0 W 0 approach leads to significantly improved band gaps with respect to calculations based on the density functional theory in the local density approximation.

Time-dependent broken-symmetry density functional theory simulation of the optical response of entangled paramagnetic defects: Color centers in lithium fluoride

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Janesko, Benjamin G.

2018-02-01

Parameter-free atomistic simulations of entangled solid-state paramagnetic defects may aid in the rational design of devices for quantum information science. This work applies time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) embedded-cluster simulations to a prototype entangled-defect system, namely two adjacent singlet-coupled F color centers in lithium fluoride. TDDFT calculations accurately reproduce the experimental visible absorption of both isolated and coupled F centers. The most accurate results are obtained by combining spin symmetry breaking to simulate strong correlation, a large fraction of exact (Hartree-Fock-like) exchange to minimize the defect electrons' self-interaction error, and a standard semilocal approximation for dynamical correlations between the defect electrons and the surrounding ionic lattice. These results motivate application of two-reference correlated ab initio approximations to the M-center, and application of TDDFT in parameter-free simulations of more complex entangled paramagnetic defect architectures.

A Wigner Monte Carlo approach to density functional theory

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sellier, J.M., E-mail: jeanmichel.sellier@gmail.com; Dimov, I.

2014-08-01

In order to simulate quantum N-body systems, stationary and time-dependent density functional theories rely on the capacity of calculating the single-electron wave-functions of a system from which one obtains the total electron density (Kohn–Sham systems). In this paper, we introduce the use of the Wigner Monte Carlo method in ab-initio calculations. This approach allows time-dependent simulations of chemical systems in the presence of reflective and absorbing boundary conditions. It also enables an intuitive comprehension of chemical systems in terms of the Wigner formalism based on the concept of phase-space. Finally, being based on a Monte Carlo method, it scales verymore » well on parallel machines paving the way towards the time-dependent simulation of very complex molecules. A validation is performed by studying the electron distribution of three different systems, a Lithium atom, a Boron atom and a hydrogenic molecule. For the sake of simplicity, we start from initial conditions not too far from equilibrium and show that the systems reach a stationary regime, as expected (despite no restriction is imposed in the choice of the initial conditions). We also show a good agreement with the standard density functional theory for the hydrogenic molecule. These results demonstrate that the combination of the Wigner Monte Carlo method and Kohn–Sham systems provides a reliable computational tool which could, eventually, be applied to more sophisticated problems.« less

Highly Accurate Calculations of the Phase Diagram of Cold Lithium

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shulenburger, Luke; Baczewski, Andrew

The phase diagram of lithium is particularly complicated, exhibiting many different solid phases under the modest application of pressure. Experimental efforts to identify these phases using diamond anvil cells have been complemented by ab initio theory, primarily using density functional theory (DFT). Due to the multiplicity of crystal structures whose enthalpy is nearly degenerate and the uncertainty introduced by density functional approximations, we apply the highly accurate many-body diffusion Monte Carlo (DMC) method to the study of the solid phases at low temperature. These calculations span many different phases, including several with low symmetry, demonstrating the viability of DMC as a method for calculating phase diagrams for complex solids. Our results can be used as a benchmark to test the accuracy of various density functionals. This can strengthen confidence in DFT based predictions of more complex phenomena such as the anomalous melting behavior predicted for lithium at high pressures. Sandia National Laboratories is a multi-program laboratory managed and operated by Sandia Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Lockheed Martin Corporation, for the U.S. DOE's National Nuclear Security Administration under contract DE-AC04-94AL85000.

Analytic second derivative of the energy for density functional theory based on the three-body fragment molecular orbital method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nakata, Hiroya; Fedorov, Dmitri G.; Zahariev, Federico; Schmidt, Michael W.; Kitaura, Kazuo; Gordon, Mark S.; Nakamura, Shinichiro

2015-03-01

Analytic second derivatives of the energy with respect to nuclear coordinates have been developed for spin restricted density functional theory (DFT) based on the fragment molecular orbital method (FMO). The derivations were carried out for the three-body expansion (FMO3), and the two-body expressions can be obtained by neglecting the three-body corrections. Also, the restricted Hartree-Fock (RHF) Hessian for FMO3 can be obtained by neglecting the density-functional related terms. In both the FMO-RHF and FMO-DFT Hessians, certain terms with small magnitudes are neglected for computational efficiency. The accuracy of the FMO-DFT Hessian in terms of the Gibbs free energy is evaluated for a set of polypeptides and water clusters and found to be within 1 kcal/mol of the corresponding full (non-fragmented) ab initio calculation. The FMO-DFT method is also applied to transition states in SN2 reactions and for the computation of the IR and Raman spectra of a small Trp-cage protein (PDB: 1L2Y). Some computational timing analysis is also presented.

Transport model of controlled molecular rectifier showing unusual negative differential resistance effect.

PubMed

Granhen, Ewerton Ramos; Reis, Marcos Allan Leite; Souza, Fabrício M; Del Nero, Jordan

2010-12-01

We investigate theoretically the charge accumulated Q in a three-terminal molecular device in the presence of an external electric field. Our approach is based on ab initio Hartree-Fock and density functional theory methodology contained in Gaussian package. Our main finding is a negative differential resistance (NDR) in the charge Q as a function of an external electric field. To explain this NDR effect we apply a phenomenological capacitive model based on a quite general system composed of many localized levels (that can be LUMOs of a molecule) coupled to source and drain. The capacitance accounts for charging effects that can result in Coulomb blockade (CB) in the transport. We show that this CB effect gives rise to a NDR for a suitable set of phenomenological parameters, like tunneling rates and charging energies. The NDR profile obtained in both ab initio and phenomenological methodologies are in close agreement.

Lattice dynamics of Cs2NaYbF6 and Cs2NaYF6 elpasolites: Ab initio calculation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chernyshev, V. A.; Petrov, V. P.; Nikiforov, A. E.; Zakir'yanov, D. O.

2015-06-01

The ab initio calculations of the crystal structure and the phonon spectrum of Cs2NaYbF6 and Cs2NaYF6 crystals with the elpasolite structure have been performed. The frequencies and types of fundamental vibrations have been determined. The calculations have been performed in the framework of the density functional theory using the molecular orbital method with hybrid functionals in the CRYSTAL09 program developed for the simulation of periodic structures. The outer 5 s and 5 p shells of the rare-earth ion have been described in Gaussian-type basis sets. The influence of inner shells, including 4 f electron shells, on the outer shells has been described using the pseudopotential. It has been shown that this approach allows the description of the phonon spectrum with the inclusion of the splitting of the longitudinal and transverse optical modes.

Towards A Predictive First Principles Understanding Of Molecular Adsorption On Graphene

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-10-05

used and developed state-of-the-art quantum mechanical methods to make accurate predictions about the interaction strength and adsorption structure...density functional theory, ab initio methods 16.  SECURITY CLASSIFICATION OF: 17.  LIMITATION OF ABSTRACT SAR 18.  NUMBER OF PAGES   11   19a.  NAME OF...important physical properties for a whole class of systems with weak non-covalent interactions, for example those involving the binding between water

Ab initio density functional theory study on the atomic and electronic structure of GaP/Si(001) heterointerfaces

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Romanyuk, O.; Supplie, O.; Susi, T.; May, M. M.; Hannappel, T.

2016-10-01

The atomic and electronic band structures of GaP/Si(001) heterointerfaces were investigated by ab initio density functional theory calculations. Relative total energies of abrupt interfaces and mixed interfaces with Si substitutional sites within a few GaP layers were derived. It was found that Si diffusion into GaP layers above the first interface layer is energetically unfavorable. An interface with Si/Ga substitution sites in the first layer above the Si substrate is energetically the most stable one in thermodynamic equilibrium. The electronic band structure of the epitaxial GaP/Si(001) heterostructure terminated by the (2 ×2 ) surface reconstruction consists of surface and interface electronic states in the common band gap of two semiconductors. The dispersion of the states is anisotropic and differs for the abrupt Si-Ga, Si-P, and mixed interfaces. Ga 2 p , P 2 p , and Si 2 p core-level binding-energy shifts were computed for the abrupt and the lowest-energy heterointerface structures. Negative and positive core-level shifts due to heterovalent bonds at the interface are predicted for the abrupt Si-Ga and Si-P interfaces, respectively. The distinct features in the heterointerface electronic structure and in the core-level shifts open new perspectives in the experimental characterization of buried polar-on-nonpolar semiconductor heterointerfaces.

Revisiting Wiedemann-Franz law through Boltzmann transport equations and ab-initio density functional theory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nag, Abhinav; Kumari, Anuja; Kumar, Jagdish

2018-05-01

We have investigated structural, electronic and transport properties of the alkali metals using ab-initio density functional theory. The electron energy dispersions are found parabolic free electron like which is expected for alkali metals. The lattice constants for all the studied metals are also in good agreement within 98% with experiments. We have further computed their transport properties using semi-classical Boltzmann transport equations with special focus on electrical and thermal conductivity. Our objective was to obtain Wiedemann-Franz law and hence Lorenz number. The motivation to do these calculations is to see that how the incorporation of different interactions such as electron-lattice, electron-electron interaction affect the Wiedeman-Franz law. By solving Boltzmann transport equations, we have obtained electrical conductivity (σ/τ) and thermal conductivity (κ0 /τ) at different temperatures and then calculated Lorenz number using L = κ0 /(σT). The obtained value of Lorenz number has been found to match with value derived for free electron Fermi gas 2.44× 10-8 WΩK-2. Our results prove that the Wiedemann-Franz law as derived for free electron gas does not change much for alkali metals, even when one incorporates interaction of electrons with atomic nuclei and other electrons. However, at lower temperatures, the Lorenz number, was found to be deviating from its theoretical value.

Accurate energetics of small molecules containing third-row atoms Ga-Kr: A comparison of advanced ab initio and density functional theory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yockel, Scott; Mintz, Benjamin; Wilson, Angela K.

2004-07-01

Advanced ab initio [coupled cluster theory through quasiperturbative triple excitations (CCSD(T))] and density functional (B3LYP) computational chemistry approaches were used in combination with the standard and augmented correlation consistent polarized valence basis sets [cc-pVnZ and aug-cc-pVnZ, where n=D(2), T(3), Q(4), and 5] to investigate the energetic and structural properties of small molecules containing third-row (Ga-Kr) atoms. These molecules were taken from the Gaussian-2 (G2) extended test set for third-row atoms. Several different schemes were used to extrapolate the calculated energies to the complete basis set (CBS) limit for CCSD(T) and the Kohn-Sham (KS) limit for B3LYP. Zero point energy and spin orbital corrections were included in the results. Overall, CCSD(T) atomization energies, ionization energies, proton affinities, and electron affinities are in good agreement with experiment, within 1.1 kcal/mol when the CBS limit has been determined using a series of two basis sets of at least triple zeta quality. For B3LYP, the overall mean absolute deviation from experiment for the three properties and the series of molecules is more significant at the KS limit, within 2.3 and 2.6 kcal/mol for the cc-pVnZ and aug-cc-pVnZ basis set series, respectively.

Ab-initio Electronic, Transport and Related Properties of Zinc Blende Boron Arsenide (zb-BAs)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nwigboji, Ifeanyi H.; Malozovsky, Yuriy; Bagayoko, Diola

We present results from ab-initio, self-consistent density functional theory (DFT) calculations of electronic, transport, and bulk properties of zinc blende boron arsenide (zb-BAs). We utilized a local density approximation (LDA) potential and the linear combination of atomic orbital (LCAO) formalism. Our computational technique follows the Bagayoko, Zhao, and Williams method, as enhanced by Ekuma and Franklin. Our results include electronic energy bands, densities of states, and effective masses. We explain the agreement between these findings, including the indirect band gap, and available, corresponding, experimental ones. This work confirms the capability of DFT to describe accurately properties of materials, provided the computations adhere to the conditions of validity of DFT [AIP Advances, 4, 127104 (2014)]. Acknowledgments: This work was funded in part by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Louisiana Board of Regents, through LASiGMA [Award Nos. EPS- 1003897, NSF (2010-15)-RII-SUBR] and NSF HRD-1002541, the US Department of Energy - National, Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) (Award No. DE- NA0002630), LaSPACE, and LONI-SUBR.

Lattice dynamic properties of Rh2XAl (X=Fe and Y) alloys

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Al, Selgin; Arikan, Nihat; Demir, Süleyman; Iyigör, Ahmet

2018-02-01

The electronic band structure, elastic and vibrational spectra of Rh2FeAl and Rh2YAl alloys were computed in detail by employing an ab-initio pseudopotential method and a linear-response technique based on the density-functional theory (DFT) scheme within a generalized gradient approximation (GGA). Computed lattice constants, bulk modulus and elastic constants were compared. Rh2YAl exhibited higher ability to resist volume change than Rh2FeAl. The elastic constants, shear modulus, Young modulus, Poisson's ratio, B/G ratio electronic band structure, total and partial density of states, and total magnetic moment of alloys were also presented. Rh2FeAl showed spin up and spin down states whereas Rh2YAl showed none due to being non-magnetic. The calculated total densities of states for both materials suggest that both alloys are metallic in nature. Full phonon spectra of Rh2FeAl and Rh2YA1 alloys in the L21 phase were collected using the ab-initio linear response method. The obtained phonon frequencies were in the positive region indicating that both alloys are dynamically stable.

Computer modeling of adsorption and decomposition pathways of boundary-layer lubricants on clean aluminum(111) surface, and adhesive metal transfer at the aluminum/steel interface: The ab-initio study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhong, Jun

Density functional theory (DFT) is employed to study lubricant adsorption and decomposition pathways, and adhesive metal transfer on clean aluminum surfaces. In this dissertation, density functional theory (DFT-GGA) is used to investigate the optimal adsorption geometries and binding energies of vinyl-phosphonic and ethanoic acids on an A1(111) surface. Tri-bridged, bi-bridged and uni-dentate coordinations for adsorbates are examined to determine the optimal binding sites on the surface. An analysis of the charge density of states (DOS) of oxygen involved in reacting with aluminum ions reveals changes in the atomic bonding configuration. For these acid molecules, the favorable decomposition pathways lead to fragments of vinyl- and alkylchains bonding to the Al(111) surface with phosphorous and carbon ions. Final optimal decomposition geometries and binding energies for various decomposition stages are also discussed. In addition, ab-initio molecular dynamics (AIMD) is carried out to explore collisions of aliphatic lubricants like butanol-alcohol and butanoic-acid with the Al(111) surface. Simulation results indicate that functional oxygen groups on these molecules could react with the "islands of nascent aluminum" and oxidize the surface. Favorable decomposition pieces on the surface, which were corroborated with experiment and DFT calculations, are found to contribute to the effectiveness of a particular molecule for boundary thinfilm lubrication to reduce the wear of aluminum. Finally, ab-initio molecular dynamics is also applied to investigations of the interaction between aluminum and hematite surfaces with and without a vinyl-phosphonic acid (VPA) lubricant. Without the lubricant, hematite is found to react with Al strongly (thermit reaction). This removes relatively large fragments from the surface of the aluminum substrate when this substrate is rubbed with a harder steel-roller under an external shock contact-load exceeding the ability of the substrate to support the aluminum-oxide film. Adhesive wear is found to significantly raise the temperature of system. Addition of VPA lubricant is found to retard the reaction of hematite with aluminum by forming an effective barrier between the two surfaces.

Structural, electronic, mechanical, and dynamical properties of graphene oxides: A first principles study

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Dabhi, Shweta D.; Gupta, Sanjay D.; Jha, Prafulla K., E-mail: prafullaj@yahoo.com

We report the results of a theoretical study on the structural, electronic, mechanical, and vibrational properties of some graphene oxide models (GDO, a-GMO, z-GMO, ep-GMO and mix-GMO) at ambient pressure. The calculations are based on the ab-initio plane-wave pseudo potential density functional theory, within the generalized gradient approximations for the exchange and correlation functional. The calculated values of lattice parameters, bulk modulus, and its first order pressure derivative are in good agreement with other reports. A linear response approach to the density functional theory is used to derive the phonon frequencies. We discuss the contribution of the phonons in themore » dynamical stability of graphene oxides and detailed analysis of zone centre phonon modes in all the above mentioned models. Our study demonstrates a wide range of energy gap available in the considered models of graphene oxide and hence the possibility of their use in nanodevices.« less

Charge Transport Properties of Durene Crystals from First-Principles.

PubMed

Motta, Carlo; Sanvito, Stefano

2014-10-14

We establish a rigorous computational scheme for constructing an effective Hamiltonian to be used for the determination of the charge carrier mobility of pure organic crystals at finite temperature, which accounts for van der Waals interactions, and it includes vibrational contributions from the entire phonon spectrum of the crystal. Such an approach is based on the ab initio framework provided by density functional theory and the construction of a tight-binding effective model via Wannier transformation. The final Hamiltonian includes coupling of the electrons to the crystals phonons, which are also calculated from density functional theory. We apply this methodology to the case of durene, a small π-conjugated molecule, which forms a high-mobility herringbone-stacked crystal. We show that accounting correctly for dispersive forces is fundamental for obtaining a high-quality phonon spectrum, in agreement with experiments. Then, the mobility as a function of temperature is calculated along different crystallographic directions and the phonons most responsible for the scattering are identified.

Assessment of TD-DFT and LF-DFT for study of d − d transitions in first row transition metal hexaaqua complexes

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Vlahović, Filip; Perić, Marko; Zlatar, Matija, E-mail: matijaz@chem.bg.ac.rs

2015-06-07

Herein, we present the systematic, comparative computational study of the d − d transitions in a series of first row transition metal hexaaqua complexes, [M(H{sub 2}O){sub 6}]{sup n+} (M{sup 2+/3+} = V {sup 2+/3+}, Cr{sup 2+/3+}, Mn{sup 2+/3+}, Fe{sup 2+/3+}, Co{sup 2+/3+}, Ni{sup 2+}) by the means of Time-dependent Density Functional Theory (TD-DFT) and Ligand Field Density Functional Theory (LF-DFT). Influence of various exchange-correlation (XC) approximations have been studied, and results have been compared to the experimental transition energies, as well as, to the previous high-level ab initio calculations. TD-DFT gives satisfactory results in the cases of d{sup 2}, d{supmore » 4}, and low-spin d{sup 6} complexes, but fails in the cases when transitions depend only on the ligand field splitting, and for states with strong character of double excitation. LF-DFT, as a non-empirical approach to the ligand field theory, takes into account in a balanced way both dynamic and non-dynamic correlation effects and hence accurately describes the multiplets of transition metal complexes, even in difficult cases such as sextet-quartet splitting in d{sup 5} complexes. Use of the XC functionals designed for the accurate description of the spin-state splitting, e.g., OPBE, OPBE0, or SSB-D, is found to be crucial for proper prediction of the spin-forbidden excitations by LF-DFT. It is shown that LF-DFT is a valuable alternative to both TD-DFT and ab initio methods.« less

Ab Initio Density Fitting: Accuracy Assessment of Auxiliary Basis Sets from Cholesky Decompositions.

PubMed

Boström, Jonas; Aquilante, Francesco; Pedersen, Thomas Bondo; Lindh, Roland

2009-06-09

The accuracy of auxiliary basis sets derived by Cholesky decompositions of the electron repulsion integrals is assessed in a series of benchmarks on total ground state energies and dipole moments of a large test set of molecules. The test set includes molecules composed of atoms from the first three rows of the periodic table as well as transition metals. The accuracy of the auxiliary basis sets are tested for the 6-31G**, correlation consistent, and atomic natural orbital basis sets at the Hartree-Fock, density functional theory, and second-order Møller-Plesset levels of theory. By decreasing the decomposition threshold, a hierarchy of auxiliary basis sets is obtained with accuracies ranging from that of standard auxiliary basis sets to that of conventional integral treatments.

First-principles simulations of heat transport

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Puligheddu, Marcello; Gygi, Francois; Galli, Giulia

2017-11-01

Advances in understanding heat transport in solids were recently reported by both experiment and theory. However an efficient and predictive quantum simulation framework to investigate thermal properties of solids, with the same complexity as classical simulations, has not yet been developed. Here we present a method to compute the thermal conductivity of solids by performing ab initio molecular dynamics at close to equilibrium conditions, which only requires calculations of first-principles trajectories and atomic forces, thus avoiding direct computation of heat currents and energy densities. In addition the method requires much shorter sequential simulation times than ordinary molecular dynamics techniques, making it applicable within density functional theory. We discuss results for a representative oxide, MgO, at different temperatures and for ordered and nanostructured morphologies, showing the performance of the method in different conditions.

Implicit solvation model for density-functional study of nanocrystal surfaces and reaction pathways

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mathew, Kiran; Sundararaman, Ravishankar; Letchworth-Weaver, Kendra; Arias, T. A.; Hennig, Richard G.

2014-02-01

Solid-liquid interfaces are at the heart of many modern-day technologies and provide a challenge to many materials simulation methods. A realistic first-principles computational study of such systems entails the inclusion of solvent effects. In this work, we implement an implicit solvation model that has a firm theoretical foundation into the widely used density-functional code Vienna ab initio Software Package. The implicit solvation model follows the framework of joint density functional theory. We describe the framework, our algorithm and implementation, and benchmarks for small molecular systems. We apply the solvation model to study the surface energies of different facets of semiconducting and metallic nanocrystals and the SN2 reaction pathway. We find that solvation reduces the surface energies of the nanocrystals, especially for the semiconducting ones and increases the energy barrier of the SN2 reaction.

Ab-initio Calculation of the XANES of Lithium Phosphates and LiFePO4

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yiu, Y. M.; Yang, Songlan; Wang, Dongniu; Sun, Xueliang; Sham, T. K.

2013-04-01

Lithium iron phosphate has been regarded as a promising cathode material for the next generation lithium ion batteries due to its high specific capacity, superior thermal and cyclic stability [1]. In this study, the XANES (X-ray Absorption Near Edge Structure) spectra of lithium iron phosphate and lithium phosphates of various compositions at the Li K, P L3,2, Fe M3,2 and O K-edges have been simulated self-consistently using ab-initio calculations based on multiple scattering theory (the FEFF9 code) and DFT (Density Functional Theory, the Wien2k code). The lithium phosphates under investigation include LiFePO4, γ-Li3PO4, Li4P2O7 and LiPO3. The calculated spectra are compared to the experimental XANES recorded in total electron yield (TEY) and fluorescence yield (FLY). This work was carried out to assess the XANES of possible phases presented in LiFePO4 based Li ion battery applications [2].

Ab-initio calculation and experimental observation of room temperature ferromagnetism in 50 keV nitrogen implanted rutile TiO2

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Luitel, Homnath; Chakrabarti, Mahuya; Sarkar, A.; Dechoudhury, S.; Bhowmick, D.; Naik, V.; Sanyal, D.

2018-02-01

Room temperature magnetic properties of 50 keV N4+ ion beam implanted rutile TiO2 have been theoretically and experimentally studied. Ab-initio calculation under the frame work of density functional theory has been carried out to study the magnetic properties of the different possible nitrogen related defects in TiO2. Spin polarized density of states calculation suggests that both Ninst and NO can induce ferromagnetic ordering in rutile TiO2. In both cases the 2p orbital electrons of nitrogen atom give rise to the magnetic moment in TiO2. The possibility of the formation of N2 molecule in TiO2 system is also studied but in this case no significant magnetic moment has been observed. The magnetic measurements, using SQUID magnetometer, results a ferromagnetic ordering even at room temperature for the 50 keV N4+ ion beam implanted rutile TiO2.

Ab initio simulations of iron-nickel alloys at Earth's core conditions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Côté, Alexander S.; Vočadlo, Lidunka; Brodholt, John P.

2012-09-01

We report ab initio density functional theory calculations on iron-nickel (FeNi) alloys at conditions representative of the Earth's inner core. We test different concentrations of Ni, up to ∼39 wt% using ab initio lattice dynamics, and investigate the thermodynamic and vibrational stability of the three candidate crystal structures (bcc, hcp and fcc). First of all, at inner core pressures, we find that pure Fe transforms from the hcp to the fcc phase at around 6000 K. Secondly, in agreement with low pressure experiments on Fe-Ni alloys, we find the fcc structure is stabilised by the incorporation of Ni under core pressures and temperatures. Our results show that the fcc structure may, therefore, be stable under core conditions depending on the temperature in the inner core and the Ni content. Lastly, we find that within the quasi-harmonic approximation, there is no stability field for FeNi alloys in the bcc structure under core conditions.

Multiple emissions of benzil at room temperature and 77 K and their assignments from ab initio quantum chemical calculations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bhattacharya, Bhaswati; Jana, Barnali; Bose, Debosreeta; Chattopadhyay, Nitin

2011-01-01

Multiple emissions have been observed from benzil under different conditions in solutions at room temperature as well as in low temperature glass matrices at 77 K. Low temperature emission has been monitored in rigid matrices frozen under different conditions of illumination. Steady state and time-resolved results together with the ab initio quantum chemical calculations provide, for the first time, the assignments of the different fluorescence bands to the different geometries and/or electronic states of the fluorophore molecule. It is revealed that the skew form of benzil emits from the first (S1) as well as the second excited singlet (S2) states depending on the excitation wavelength, while the relaxed transplanar conformer fluoresces only from the S1 state. The yet unexplored emission band peaking at around 360 nm has been assigned to originate from the S2 state. Ab initio calculations using the density functional theory at B3LYP/6-31G** level corroborate well with the experimental observations.

Multiple emissions of benzil at room temperature and 77 K and their assignments from ab initio quantum chemical calculations.

PubMed

Bhattacharya, Bhaswati; Jana, Barnali; Bose, Debosreeta; Chattopadhyay, Nitin

2011-01-28

Multiple emissions have been observed from benzil under different conditions in solutions at room temperature as well as in low temperature glass matrices at 77 K. Low temperature emission has been monitored in rigid matrices frozen under different conditions of illumination. Steady state and time-resolved results together with the ab initio quantum chemical calculations provide, for the first time, the assignments of the different fluorescence bands to the different geometries and∕or electronic states of the fluorophore molecule. It is revealed that the skew form of benzil emits from the first (S(1)) as well as the second excited singlet (S(2)) states depending on the excitation wavelength, while the relaxed transplanar conformer fluoresces only from the S(1) state. The yet unexplored emission band peaking at around 360 nm has been assigned to originate from the S(2) state. Ab initio calculations using the density functional theory at B3LYP∕6-31G∗∗ level corroborate well with the experimental observations.

Ab initio study of the structural properties of acetonitrile-water mixtures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Jinfan; Sit, Patrick H.-L.

2015-08-01

Structural properties of acetonitrile and acetonitrile-water mixtures are studied using Density Functional Theory (DFT) and ab initio molecular dynamics simulations. Stable molecular clusters consisted of several water and acetonitrile molecules are identified to provide microscopic understanding of the interaction among water and acetonitrile molecules. Ab initio molecular dynamics simulations are performed to study the liquid structure at the finite temperature. Three mixing compositions in which the mole fraction of acetonitrile equals 0.109, 0.5 and 0.891 are studied. These compositions correspond to three distinct structural regimes. At the 0.109 and 0.891 mole fraction of acetonitrile, the majority species are mostly connected among themselves and the minority species are either isolated or forming small clusters without disrupting the network of the majority species. At the 0.5 mole fraction of acetonitrile, large water and acetonitrile clusters persist throughout the simulation, exhibiting the microheterogeneous behavior in acetonitrile-water mixtures in the mid-range mixing ratio.

DFT-BASED AB INITIO STUDY OF THE ELECTRONIC AND OPTICAL PROPERTIES OF CESIUM BASED FLUORO-PEROVSKITE CsMF3 (M = Ca AND Sr)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Harmel, M.; Khachai, H.; Ameri, M.; Khenata, R.; Baki, N.; Haddou, A.; Abbar, B.; UǦUR, Ş.; Omran, S. Bin; Soyalp, F.

2012-12-01

Density functional theory (DFT) is performed to study the structural, electronic and optical properties of cubic fluoroperovskite AMF3 (A = Cs; M = Ca and Sr) compounds. The calculations are based on the total-energy calculations within the full-potential linearized augmented plane wave (FP-LAPW) method. The exchange-correlation potential is treated by local density approximation (LDA) and generalized gradient approximation (GGA). The structural properties, including lattice constants, bulk modulus and their pressure derivatives are in very good agreement with the available experimental and theoretical data. The calculations of the electronic band structure, density of states and charge density reveal that compounds are both ionic insulators. The optical properties (namely: the real and the imaginary parts of the dielectric function ɛ(ω), the refractive index n(ω) and the extinction coefficient k(ω)) were calculated for radiation up to 40.0 eV.

GW electronic Correlations in Quantum Transport : Renormalization and finite lifetime effects on real systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Darancet, Pierre; Ferretti, Andrea; Mayou, Didier; Olevano, Valerio

2007-03-01

We present an ab initio approach to electronic transport in nanoscale systems which includes electronic correlations through the GW approximation. With respect to Landauer approaches based on density-functional theory (DFT), we introduce a physical quasiparticle electronic-structure into a non-equilibrium Green's function theory framework. We use an equilibrium non-selfconsistent G^0W^0 self-energy considering both full non-hermiticity and dynamical effects. The method is applied to a real system, a gold mono-atomic chain. With respect to DFT results, the conductance profile is modified and reduced by to the introduction of diffusion and loss-of-coherence effects. The linear response conductance characteristic appear to be in agreement with experimental results.

Evidence for a first-order liquid-liquid transition in high-pressure hydrogen from ab initio simulations.

PubMed

Morales, Miguel A; Pierleoni, Carlo; Schwegler, Eric; Ceperley, D M

2010-07-20

Using quantum simulation techniques based on either density functional theory or quantum Monte Carlo, we find clear evidence of a first-order transition in liquid hydrogen, between a low conductivity molecular state and a high conductivity atomic state. Using the temperature dependence of the discontinuity in the electronic conductivity, we estimate the critical point of the transition at temperatures near 2,000 K and pressures near 120 GPa. Furthermore, we have determined the melting curve of molecular hydrogen up to pressures of 200 GPa, finding a reentrant melting line. The melting line crosses the metalization line at 700 K and 220 GPa using density functional energetics and at 550 K and 290 GPa using quantum Monte Carlo energetics.

Plasmon modes of bilayer molybdenum disulfide: a density functional study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Torbatian, Z.; Asgari, R.

2017-11-01

We explore the collective electronic excitations of bilayer molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) using density functional theory together with random phase approximation. The many-body dielectric function and electron energy-loss spectra are calculated using an ab initio based model involving material-realistic physical properties. The electron energy-loss function of the bilayer MoS2 system is found to be sensitive to either electron or hole doping and this is due to the fact that the Kohn-Sham band dispersions are not symmetric for energies above and below the zero Fermi level. Three plasmon modes are predicted, a damped high-energy mode, one optical mode (in-phase mode) for which the plasmon dispersion exhibits \\sqrt q in the long wavelength limit originating from low-energy electron scattering and finally a highly damped acoustic mode (out-of-phase mode).

Ab initio study of the composite phase diagram of Ni-Mn-Ga shape memory alloys

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sokolovskaya, Yu. A.; Sokolovskiy, V. V.; Zagrebin, M. A.; Buchelnikov, V. D.; Zayak, A. T.

2017-07-01

The magnetic and structural properties of a series of nonstoichiometric Ni-Mn-Ga Heusler alloys are theoretically investigated in terms of the density functional theory. Nonstoichiometry is formed in the coherent potential approximation. Concentration dependences of the equilibrium lattice parameter, the bulk modulus, and the total magnetic moment are obtained and projected onto the ternary phase diagram of the alloys. The stable crystalline structures and the magnetic configurations of the austenitic phase are determined.

Mapping atomic contact between pentacene and a Au surface using scanning tunneling spectroscopy.

PubMed

Song, Young Jae; Lee, Kyuho; Kim, Seong Heon; Choi, Byoung-Young; Yu, Jaejun; Kuk, Young

2010-03-10

We mapped spatially varying intramolecular electronic structures on a pentacene-gold interface using scanning tunneling spectroscopy. Along with ab initio calculations based on density functional theory, we found that the directional nature of the d orbitals of Au atoms plays an important role in the interaction at the pentacene-gold contact. The gold-induced interface states are broadened and shifted by various pentacene-gold distances determined by the various registries of a pentacene molecule on a gold substrate.

Optical properties of an indium doped CdSe nanocrystal: A density functional approach

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Salini, K.; Mathew, Vincent, E-mail: vincent@cukerala.ac.in; Mathew, Thomas

2016-05-06

We have studied the electronic and optical properties of a CdSe nanocrystal doped with n-type impurity atom. First principle calculations of the CdSe nanocrystal based on the density functional theory (DFT), as implemented in the Vienna Ab Initio Simulation Package (VASP) was used in the calculations. We have introduced a single Indium impurity atom into CdSe nanocrystal with 1.3 nm diameter. Nanocrystal surface dangling bonds are passivated with hydrogen atom. The band-structure, density of states and absorption spectra of the doped and undopted nanocrystals were discussed. Inclusion of the n-type impurity atom introduces an additional electron in conduction band, and significantlymore » alters the electronic and optical properties of undoped CdSe nanocrystal. Indium doped CdSe nannocrystal have potential applications in optoelectronic devices.« less

Adsorption and Dissociation of Water on the (0001) Surface of DHCP Americium

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dholabhai, Pratik; Ray, Asok

2009-03-01

Ab initio total energy calculations within the framework of density functional theory have been performed for water molecule adsorption on the (0001) surface of double hexagonal closed packed americium. Subsequent partial dissociation (OH+H) and complete dissociation (H+O+H) of the water molecule have been examined. The completely dissociated configuration exhibits the strongest binding with the surface followed by partially dissociated species, with all molecular H2O configurations showing weak physisorption. The change in work functions and net magnetic moments before and after adsorption will be presented for all the cases studied. The adsorbate-substrate interactions will be elaborated using the difference charge density distributions and the local density of states. The effects of adsorption on Am 5f electron localization-delocalization in the vicinity of the Fermi level will be discussed.

Crystal-field splittings in rare-earth-based hard magnets: An ab initio approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Delange, Pascal; Biermann, Silke; Miyake, Takashi; Pourovskii, Leonid

2017-10-01

We apply the first-principles density functional theory + dynamical mean-field theory framework to evaluate the crystal-field splitting on rare-earth sites in hard magnetic intermetallics. An atomic (Hubbard-I) approximation is employed for local correlations on the rare-earth 4 f shell and self-consistency in the charge density is implemented. We reduce the density functional theory self-interaction contribution to the crystal-field splitting by properly averaging the 4 f charge density before recalculating the one-electron Kohn-Sham potential. Our approach is shown to reproduce the experimental crystal-field splitting in the prototypical rare-earth hard magnet SmCo5. Applying it to R Fe12 and R Fe12X hard magnets (R =Nd , Sm and X =N , Li), we obtain in particular a large positive value of the crystal-field parameter A20〈r2〉 in NdFe12N resulting in a strong out-of-plane anisotropy observed experimentally. The sign of A20〈r2〉 is predicted to be reversed by substituting N with Li, leading to a strong out-of-plane anisotropy in SmFe12Li . We discuss the origin of this strong impact of N and Li interstitials on the crystal-field splitting on rare-earth sites.

An ab initio study of the electronic structure of indium and gallium chalcogenide bilayers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ayadi, T.; Debbichi, L.; Said, M.; Lebègue, S.

2017-09-01

Using first principle calculations, we have studied the structural and electronic properties of two dimensional bilayers of indium and gallium chalcogenides. With density functional theory corrected for van der Waals interactions, the different modes of stacking were investigated in a systematic way, and several of them were found to compete in energy. Then, their band structures were obtained with the GW approximation and found to correspond to indirect bandgap semiconductors with a small dependency on the mode of stacking. Finally, by analysing the electron density, it appeared that GaSe-InS is a promising system for electron-hole separation.

Phthalo-carbonitride: an ab initio prediction of a stable two-dimensional material

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tsetseris, Leonidas

2016-06-01

Using density-functional theory calculations, we identify a stable two-dimensional carbonitride polymorph which resembles the core of phthalocyanine molecules. This so-called phthalo-carbonitride is found to be the lowest-energy polymer made of tetracyanoethylene molecules. It is a two-dimensional metal in its pristine form. Functionalization of the phthalo-cores with copper or iron atoms retains the metallic character of the material, but also adds magnetization to the system. Based on these properties and the established use of phthalocyanine molecules in various applications, the growth of phthalo-carbonitride sheets can add another multi-functional building block to the research and technology of two-dimensional materials.

Hybrid density-functional calculations of phonons in LaCoO3

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gryaznov, Denis; Evarestov, Robert A.; Maier, Joachim

2010-12-01

Phonon frequencies at Γ point in nonmagnetic rhombohedral phase of LaCoO3 were calculated using density-functional theory with hybrid exchange correlation functional PBE0. The calculations involved a comparison of results for two types of basis functions commonly used in ab initio calculations, namely, the plane-wave approach and linear combination of atomic orbitals, as implemented in VASP and CRYSTAL computer codes, respectively. A good qualitative, but also within an error margin of less than 30%, a quantitative agreement was observed not only between the two formalisms but also between theoretical and experimental phonon frequency predictions. Moreover, the correlation between the phonon symmetries in cubic and rhombohedral phases is discussed in detail on the basis of group-theoretical analysis. It is concluded that the hybrid PBE0 functional is able to predict correctly the phonon properties in LaCoO3 .

Nonorthogonal orbital based N-body reduced density matrices and their applications to valence bond theory. I. Hamiltonian matrix elements between internally contracted excited valence bond wave functions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Zhenhua; Chen, Xun; Wu, Wei

2013-04-01

In this series, the n-body reduced density matrix (n-RDM) approach for nonorthogonal orbitals and their applications to ab initio valence bond (VB) methods are presented. As the first paper of this series, Hamiltonian matrix elements between internally contracted VB wave functions are explicitly provided by means of nonorthogonal orbital based RDM approach. To this end, a more generalized Wick's theorem, called enhanced Wick's theorem, is presented both in arithmetical and in graphical forms, by which the deduction of expressions for the matrix elements between internally contracted VB wave functions is dramatically simplified, and the matrix elements are finally expressed in terms of tensor contractions of electronic integrals and n-RDMs of the reference VB self-consistent field wave function. A string-based algorithm is developed for the purpose of evaluating n-RDMs in an efficient way. Using the techniques presented in this paper, one is able to develop new methods and efficient algorithms for nonorthogonal orbital based many-electron theory much easier than by use of the first quantized formulism.

Macroscopic and microscopic components of exchange-correlation interactions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sottile, F.; Karlsson, K.; Reining, L.; Aryasetiawan, F.

2003-11-01

We consider two commonly used approaches for the ab initio calculation of optical-absorption spectra, namely, many-body perturbation theory based on Green’s functions and time-dependent density-functional theory (TDDFT). The former leads to the two-particle Bethe-Salpeter equation that contains a screened electron-hole interaction. We approximate this interaction in various ways, and discuss in particular the results obtained for a local contact potential. This, in fact, allows us to straightforwardly make the link to the TDDFT approach, and to discuss the exchange-correlation kernel fxc that corresponds to the contact exciton. Our main results, illustrated in the examples of bulk silicon, GaAs, argon, and LiF, are the following. (i) The simple contact exciton model, used on top of an ab initio calculated band structure, yields reasonable absorption spectra. (ii) Qualitatively extremely different fxc can be derived approximatively from the same Bethe-Salpeter equation. These kernels can however yield very similar spectra. (iii) A static fxc, both with or without a long-range component, can create transitions in the quasiparticle gap. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that TDDFT has been shown to be able to reproduce bound excitons.

Ab Initio Calculations of Transport in Titanium and Aluminum Mixtures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Walker, Nicholas; Novak, Brian; Tam, Ka Ming; Moldovan, Dorel; Jarrell, Mark

In classical molecular dynamics simulations, the self-diffusion and shear viscosity of titanium about the melting point have fallen within the ranges provided by experimental data. However, the experimental data is difficult to collect and has been rather scattered, making it of limited value for the validation of these calculations. By using ab initio molecular dynamics simulations within the density functional theory framework, the classical molecular dynamics data can be validated. The dynamical data from the ab initio molecular dynamics can also be used to calculate new potentials for use in classical molecular dynamics, allowing for more accurate classical dynamics simulations for the liquid phase. For metallic materials such as titanium and aluminum alloys, these calculations are very valuable due to an increasing demand for the knowledge of their thermophysical properties that drive the development of new materials. For example, alongside knowledge of the surface tension, viscosity is an important input for modeling the additive manufacturing process at the continuum level. We are developing calculations of the viscosity along with the self-diffusion for aluminum, titanium, and titanium-aluminum alloys with ab initio molecular dynamics. Supported by the National Science Foundation through cooperative agreement OIA-1541079 and the Louisiana Board of Regents.

Ab initio density-functional calculations in materials science: from quasicrystals over microporous catalysts to spintronics.

PubMed

Hafner, Jürgen

2010-09-29

During the last 20 years computer simulations based on a quantum-mechanical description of the interactions between electrons and atomic nuclei have developed an increasingly important impact on materials science, not only in promoting a deeper understanding of the fundamental physical phenomena, but also enabling the computer-assisted design of materials for future technologies. The backbone of atomic-scale computational materials science is density-functional theory (DFT) which allows us to cast the intractable complexity of electron-electron interactions into the form of an effective single-particle equation determined by the exchange-correlation functional. Progress in DFT-based calculations of the properties of materials and of simulations of processes in materials depends on: (1) the development of improved exchange-correlation functionals and advanced post-DFT methods and their implementation in highly efficient computer codes, (2) the development of methods allowing us to bridge the gaps in the temperature, pressure, time and length scales between the ab initio calculations and real-world experiments and (3) the extension of the functionality of these codes, permitting us to treat additional properties and new processes. In this paper we discuss the current status of techniques for performing quantum-based simulations on materials and present some illustrative examples of applications to complex quasiperiodic alloys, cluster-support interactions in microporous acid catalysts and magnetic nanostructures.

Combined ab initio and density functional study on polaron to bipolaron transitions in oligophenyls and oligothiophenes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Irle, Stephan; Lischka, Hans

1997-08-01

Ab initio self-consistent-field (SCF), two-configuration SCF (TCSCF), and density functional theory (DFT) calculations on the charge-transfer complexes of doubly Li/Cl-doped oligothiophenes and oligo(p-phenyls) and on respective charged systems without counterions have been carried out in order to study polaron to bipolaron transitions. Oligomer chains up to octamers and the ring structures cyclo-dodecathiophene and cyclo-dodeca(p-phenyl) have been investigated. Special attention is paid to the open-shell biradical character of two isolated polaronic defects. It is found that the TCSCF and the spin-unrestricted DFT methods can be successfully applied. A bipolaron structure is obtained when the doping atoms are located on neighboring rings and when there is one undoped ring separating the two doped ones. If there are two or more undoped rings in between a two-polaron configuration (biradical) is found. The bipolaron system is calculated to be more stable than the two-polaron case when counterions are taken into account. The stabilities are reversed if the bare, doubly-charged systems are considered. A theoretical estimate for the barrier height of the polaron to bipolaron transition is given using model reaction coordinates.

Diffusion Monte Carlo calculations of Xenon and Krypton at High Pressure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shulenburger, Luke; Mattsson, Thomas R.

2011-06-01

Ab initio calculations based on density functional theory (DFT) have proven a valuable tool in understanding the properties of materials at extreme conditions. However, there are entire classes of materials where the current limitations of DFT cast doubt upon the predictive power of the method. These include so called strongly correlated systems and materials where van der Waals forces are important. Diffusion Monte Carlo (DMC) can treat materials with a different class of approximations that have generally proven to be more accurate. The use of DMC together with DFT may therefore improve the predictive capability of the ab initio calculation of materials at extreme conditions. We present two examples of this approach. In the first we use DMC total energies to address the discrepancy between DFT and diamond anvil cell melt curves of Xe. In the second, DMC is used to address the choice of density functional used in calculations of the Kr hugoniot. Sandia National Laboratories is a multiprogram laboratory managed and operated by Sandia Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Lockheed Martin Corporation, for the U.S. Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration under Contract No. DE-AC04-94AL85000. Belonoshko et al. PRB 74, 054114 (2006).

Edge reconstruction in armchair phosphorene nanoribbons revealed by discontinuous Galerkin density functional theory.

PubMed

Hu, Wei; Lin, Lin; Yang, Chao

2015-12-21

With the help of our recently developed massively parallel DGDFT (Discontinuous Galerkin Density Functional Theory) methodology, we perform large-scale Kohn-Sham density functional theory calculations on phosphorene nanoribbons with armchair edges (ACPNRs) containing a few thousands to ten thousand atoms. The use of DGDFT allows us to systematically achieve a conventional plane wave basis set type of accuracy, but with a much smaller number (about 15) of adaptive local basis (ALB) functions per atom for this system. The relatively small number of degrees of freedom required to represent the Kohn-Sham Hamiltonian, together with the use of the pole expansion the selected inversion (PEXSI) technique that circumvents the need to diagonalize the Hamiltonian, results in a highly efficient and scalable computational scheme for analyzing the electronic structures of ACPNRs as well as their dynamics. The total wall clock time for calculating the electronic structures of large-scale ACPNRs containing 1080-10,800 atoms is only 10-25 s per self-consistent field (SCF) iteration, with accuracy fully comparable to that obtained from conventional planewave DFT calculations. For the ACPNR system, we observe that the DGDFT methodology can scale to 5000-50,000 processors. We use DGDFT based ab initio molecular dynamics (AIMD) calculations to study the thermodynamic stability of ACPNRs. Our calculations reveal that a 2 × 1 edge reconstruction appears in ACPNRs at room temperature.

A review on ab initio studies of static, transport, and optical properties of polystyrene under extreme conditions for inertial confinement fusion applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hu, S. X.; Collins, L. A.; Boehly, T. R.; Ding, Y. H.; Radha, P. B.; Goncharov, V. N.; Karasiev, V. V.; Collins, G. W.; Regan, S. P.; Campbell, E. M.

2018-05-01

Polystyrene (CH), commonly known as "plastic," has been one of the widely used ablator materials for capsule designs in inertial confinement fusion (ICF). Knowing its precise properties under high-energy-density conditions is crucial to understanding and designing ICF implosions through radiation-hydrodynamic simulations. For this purpose, systematic ab initio studies on the static, transport, and optical properties of CH, in a wide range of density and temperature conditions (ρ = 0.1 to 100 g/cm3 and T = 103 to 4 × 106 K), have been conducted using quantum molecular dynamics (QMD) simulations based on the density functional theory. We have built several wide-ranging, self-consistent material-properties tables for CH, such as the first-principles equation of state, the QMD-based thermal conductivity (κQMD) and ionization, and the first-principles opacity table. This paper is devoted to providing a review on (1) what results were obtained from these systematic ab initio studies; (2) how these self-consistent results were compared with both traditional plasma-physics models and available experiments; and (3) how these first-principles-based properties of polystyrene affect the predictions of ICF target performance, through both 1-D and 2-D radiation-hydrodynamic simulations. In the warm dense regime, our ab initio results, which can significantly differ from predictions of traditional plasma-physics models, compared favorably with experiments. When incorporated into hydrocodes for ICF simulations, these first-principles material properties of CH have produced significant differences over traditional models in predicting 1-D/2-D target performance of ICF implosions on OMEGA and direct-drive-ignition designs for the National Ignition Facility. Finally, we will discuss the implications of these studies on the current small-margin ICF target designs using a CH ablator.

Size-expanded DNA bases: An ab-initio study of their structural and electronic properties

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Fuentes-Cabrera, Miguel A; Sumpter, Bobby G; Wells, Jack C

2005-01-01

The size-expanded DNA bases, xA, xC, xG, and xT, are benzo-homologue forms of the natural DNA bases; i.e., their structure can be seen as the fusion of a natural base and a benzene ring. Recently, a variety of DNAs, known as xDNAs, have been synthesized in which size-expanded and natural bases are paired. In this paper we use second-order Moeller-Plesset perturbation theory and density functional theory to investigate the structural and electronic properties of xA, xC, xG, and xT and their natural counterparts. We find that whereas natural and size-expanded bases have both nonplanar amino groups the latter have alsomore » nonplanar aromatic rings. When density functional theory is used to investigate the electronic properties of size-expanded and natural bases, it is found that the HOMO-LUMO gap of the size-expanded bases is smaller than that of the natural bases. Also, xG should be easier to oxidize than G.« less

Ab initio studies of 1,3,5,7-tetranitro-1,3,5,7-tetrazocine/1,3-dimethyl-2-imidazolidinone cocrystal under high pressure using dispersion corrected density functional theory

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gu, Bang-Ming; Lin, He; Zhu, Shun-Guan, E-mail: zhusguan@yahoo.com

A detailed study of structural, electronic, and thermodynamic properties of 1,3,5,7-tetranitro-1,3,5,7-tetrazocine (HMX)/1,3-dimethyl-2-imidazolidinone (DMI) cocrystal under the hydrostatic pressure of 0–100 GPa was performed by using dispersion-corrected density functional theory (DFT-D) method. The calculated crystal structure is in reasonable agreement with the experimental data at the ambient pressure. Based on the analysis of lattice constants, bond lengths, bond angles, and dihedral angles under compression, it is found that HMX molecules in HMX/DMI cocrystal are seriously distorted. In addition, as the pressure increases, the band gap decreases gradually, which suggests that HMX/DMI cocrystal is becoming more metallic. Some important intermolecular interactions between HMXmore » and DMI are also observed in the density of states spectrum. Finally, its thermodynamic properties were characterized, and the results show that HMX/DMI cocrystal is more easily formed in the low pressure.« less

Ab initio DFT+U study of He atom incorporation into UO(2) crystals.

PubMed

Gryaznov, Denis; Heifets, Eugene; Kotomin, Eugene

2009-09-07

We present and discuss results of the density functional theory (DFT) for perfect UO(2) crystals with He atoms in octahedral interstitial positions therein. We have calculated basic bulk crystal properties and He incorporation energies into the low temperature anti-ferromagnetic UO(2) phase using several exchange-correlation functionals within the spin-polarized local density (LDA) and generalized gradient (GGA) approximations. In all DFT calculations we included the on-site correlation corrections using the Hubbard model (DFT+U approach). We analysed a potential crystalline symmetry reduction from tetragonal down to orthorhombic structure and confirmed the presence of the Jahn-Teller effect in a perfect UO(2). We discuss also the problem of a conducting electronic state arising when He is placed into a tetragonal antiferromagnetic phase of UO(2) commonly used in defect modelling. Consequently, we found a specific monoclinic lattice distortion which allowed us to restore the semiconducting state and properly estimate He incorporation energies. Unlike the bulk properties, the He incorporation energy strongly depends on several factors, including the supercell size, the use of spin polarization, the exchange-correlation functionals and on-site correlation corrections. We compare our results for the He incorporation with the previous shell model and ab initio DFT calculations.

Carrier mobility and scattering lifetime in electric double-layer gated few-layer graphene

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Piatti, E.; Galasso, S.; Tortello, M.; Nair, J. R.; Gerbaldi, C.; Bruna, M.; Borini, S.; Daghero, D.; Gonnelli, R. S.

2017-02-01

We fabricate electric double-layer field-effect transistor (EDL-FET) devices on mechanically exfoliated few-layer graphene. We exploit the large capacitance of a polymeric electrolyte to study the transport properties of three, four and five-layer samples under a large induced surface charge density both above and below the glass transition temperature of the polymer. We find that the carrier mobility shows a strong asymmetry between the hole and electron doping regime. We then employ ab initio density functional theory (DFT) calculations to determine the average scattering lifetime from the experimental data. We explain its peculiar dependence on the carrier density in terms of the specific properties of the electrolyte we used in our experiments.

Symmetry lowering of pentacene molecular states interacting with a Cu surface

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baldacchini, Chiara; Mariani, Carlo; Betti, Maria Grazia; Vobornik, Ivana; Fujii, Jun; Annese, Emilia; Rossi, Giorgio; Ferretti, Andrea; Calzolari, Arrigo; di Felice, Rosa; Ruini, Alice; Molinari, Elisa

2007-12-01

Pentacene adsorbed on the Cu(119) vicinal surface forms long-range ordered chain structures. Photoemission spectroscopy measurements and ab initio density functional theory simulations provide consistent evidences that pentacene molecular orbitals mix with the copper bands, giving rise to interaction states localized at the interface. Angular-resolved and polarization dependent photoemission spectroscopy shows that most of the pentacene derived intensity is strongly dichroic. The symmetry of the molecular states of the free pentacene molecules is reduced upon adsorption on Cu(119), as a consequence of the molecule-metal interaction. Theoretical results show a redistribution of the charge density in π molecular states close to the Fermi level, consistent with the photoemission intensities (density of states) and polarization dependence (orbital symmetry).

Unified first principles description from warm dense matter to ideal ionized gas plasma: electron-ion collisions induced friction.

PubMed

Dai, Jiayu; Hou, Yong; Yuan, Jianmin

2010-06-18

Electron-ion interactions are central to numerous phenomena in the warm dense matter (WDM) regime and at higher temperature. The electron-ion collisions induced friction at high temperature is introduced in the procedure of ab initio molecular dynamics using the Langevin equation based on density functional theory. In this framework, as a test for Fe and H up to 1000 eV, the equation of state and the transition of electronic structures of the materials with very wide density and temperature can be described, which covers a full range of WDM up to high energy density physics. A unified first principles description from condensed matter to ideal ionized gas plasma is constructed.

Learning from data to design functional materials without inversion symmetry

PubMed Central

Balachandran, Prasanna V.; Young, Joshua; Lookman, Turab; Rondinelli, James M.

2017-01-01

Accelerating the search for functional materials is a challenging problem. Here we develop an informatics-guided ab initio approach to accelerate the design and discovery of noncentrosymmetric materials. The workflow integrates group theory, informatics and density-functional theory to uncover design guidelines for predicting noncentrosymmetric compounds, which we apply to layered Ruddlesden-Popper oxides. Group theory identifies how configurations of oxygen octahedral rotation patterns, ordered cation arrangements and their interplay break inversion symmetry, while informatics tools learn from available data to select candidate compositions that fulfil the group-theoretical postulates. Our key outcome is the identification of 242 compositions after screening ∼3,200 that show potential for noncentrosymmetric structures, a 25-fold increase in the projected number of known noncentrosymmetric Ruddlesden-Popper oxides. We validate our predictions for 19 compounds using phonon calculations, among which 17 have noncentrosymmetric ground states including two potential multiferroics. Our approach enables rational design of materials with targeted crystal symmetries and functionalities. PMID:28211456

First-Principle Calculation of Quasiparticle Excitations and Optical Absorption in NiO

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Je-Luen; Rignanese, Gian-Marco; Louie, Steven G.

2001-03-01

We present a first-principle study of the quasiparticle excitations and optical absorption spectrum in NiO. The ground state electronic structure is calculated with the generalized gradient approximation in density functional theory and ab initio pseudopotential. The quasiparticle energies are then computed employing the GW approximation. In addition to comparing to photoemisson result, comparison between the measured and calculated complex dielectric function helps to identify the onset of excitations in this system. We illustrate some subtleties of pseudopotential calculations: the effect of including 3 s and 3p electrons in Ni pseudopotential; the difference between using velocity and momentum operators in the RPA dielectric function. Finally, we discuss a recent effort to solve the Bethe-Salpeter equation for the optical spectrum in this spin polarized system to address the remaining discrepancy between theory and experiment.

Cubic and orthorhombic structures of aluminum hydride Al H3 predicted by a first-principles study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ke, Xuezhi; Kuwabara, Akihide; Tanaka, Isao

2005-05-01

The most stable structure of aluminum hydride AlH3 is believed to be a hexagonal symmetry. However, using the density functional theory, we have identified two more stable structures for the AlH3 with the cubic and orthorhombic symmetries. Based on the quasiharmonic approximation, the cubic and orthorhombic AlH3 are almost degenerate when the zero-point energies are included. The geometric and electronic structures, the phonon, and the thermodynamic properties for the hexagonal, cubic, and orthorhombic AlH3 have been studied by means of density functional theory and direct ab initio force constant approach. The calculated electronic structures, phonon density of states, and thermodynamic functions [including S(T) and H(T)-H(0) ] for the three hydrides are similar. The results show that these three hydrides have negative enthalpies of formation, but positive free energies of formation. This conclusion is the same as that made by Wolverton for the hexagonal AlH3 [Phys. Rev. B 69, 144109 (2004)]. The thermodynamic properties indicate that the orthorhombic and cubic AlH3 should be more difficult to dissociate than the hexagonal AlH3 .

Analytic second derivative of the energy for density functional theory based on the three-body fragment molecular orbital method

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Nakata, Hiroya, E-mail: nakata.h.ab@m.titech.ac.jp; RIKEN, Research Cluster for Innovation, Nakamura Lab, 2-1 Hirosawa, Wako, Saitama 351-0198; Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Kojimachi Business Center Building, 5-3-1 Kojimachi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 102-0083

2015-03-28

Analytic second derivatives of the energy with respect to nuclear coordinates have been developed for spin restricted density functional theory (DFT) based on the fragment molecular orbital method (FMO). The derivations were carried out for the three-body expansion (FMO3), and the two-body expressions can be obtained by neglecting the three-body corrections. Also, the restricted Hartree-Fock (RHF) Hessian for FMO3 can be obtained by neglecting the density-functional related terms. In both the FMO-RHF and FMO-DFT Hessians, certain terms with small magnitudes are neglected for computational efficiency. The accuracy of the FMO-DFT Hessian in terms of the Gibbs free energy is evaluatedmore » for a set of polypeptides and water clusters and found to be within 1 kcal/mol of the corresponding full (non-fragmented) ab initio calculation. The FMO-DFT method is also applied to transition states in S{sub N}2 reactions and for the computation of the IR and Raman spectra of a small Trp-cage protein (PDB: 1L2Y). Some computational timing analysis is also presented.« less

Dispersion- and Exchange-Corrected Density Functional Theory for Sodium Ion Hydration.

PubMed

Soniat, Marielle; Rogers, David M; Rempe, Susan B

2015-07-14

A challenge in density functional theory is developing functionals that simultaneously describe intermolecular electron correlation and electron delocalization. Recent exchange-correlation functionals address those two issues by adding corrections important at long ranges: an atom-centered pairwise dispersion term to account for correlation and a modified long-range component of the electron exchange term to correct for delocalization. Here we investigate how those corrections influence the accuracy of binding free energy predictions for sodium-water clusters. We find that the dual-corrected ωB97X-D functional gives cluster binding energies closest to high-level ab initio methods (CCSD(T)). Binding energy decomposition shows that the ωB97X-D functional predicts the smallest ion-water (pairwise) interaction energy and larger multibody contributions for a four-water cluster than most other functionals - a trend consistent with CCSD(T) results. Also, ωB97X-D produces the smallest amounts of charge transfer and the least polarizable waters of the density functionals studied, which mimics the lower polarizability of CCSD. When compared with experimental binding free energies, however, the exchange-corrected CAM-B3LYP functional performs best (error <1 kcal/mol), possibly because of its parametrization to experimental formation enthalpies. For clusters containing more than four waters, "split-shell" coordination must be considered to obtain accurate free energies in comparison with experiment.

State-of-the-art ab initio potential energy curve for the krypton atom pair and thermophysical properties of dilute krypton gas

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Jäger, Benjamin, E-mail: benjamin.jaeger@uni-rostock.de; Hellmann, Robert, E-mail: robert.hellmann@uni-rostock.de; Bich, Eckard

2016-03-21

A new reference krypton-krypton interatomic potential energy curve was developed by means of quantum-chemical ab initio calculations for 36 interatomic separations. Highly accurate values for the interaction energies at the complete basis set limit were obtained using the coupled-cluster method with single, double, and perturbative triple excitations as well as t-aug-cc-pV5Z and t-aug-cc-pV6Z basis sets including mid-bond functions, with the 6Z basis set being newly constructed for this study. Higher orders of coupled-cluster terms were considered in a successive scheme up to full quadruple excitations. Core-core and core-valence correlation effects were included. Furthermore, relativistic effects were studied not only atmore » a scalar relativistic level using second-order direct perturbation theory, but also utilizing full four-component and Gaunt-effect computations. An analytical pair potential function was fitted to the interaction energies, which is characterized by a depth of 200.88 K with an estimated standard uncertainty of 0.51 K. Thermophysical properties of low-density krypton were calculated for temperatures up to 5000 K. Second and third virial coefficients were obtained from statistical thermodynamics. Viscosity and thermal conductivity as well as the self-diffusion coefficient were computed using the kinetic theory of gases. The theoretical results are compared with experimental data and with results for other pair potential functions from the literature, especially with those calculated from the recently developed ab initio potential of Waldrop et al. [J. Chem. Phys. 142, 204307 (2015)]. Highly accurate experimental viscosity data indicate that both the present ab initio pair potential and the one of Waldrop et al. can be regarded as reference potentials, even though the quantum-chemical methods and basis sets differ. However, the uncertainties of the present potential and of the derived properties are estimated to be considerably lower.« less

State-of-the-art ab initio potential energy curve for the krypton atom pair and thermophysical properties of dilute krypton gas.

PubMed

Jäger, Benjamin; Hellmann, Robert; Bich, Eckard; Vogel, Eckhard

2016-03-21

A new reference krypton-krypton interatomic potential energy curve was developed by means of quantum-chemical ab initio calculations for 36 interatomic separations. Highly accurate values for the interaction energies at the complete basis set limit were obtained using the coupled-cluster method with single, double, and perturbative triple excitations as well as t-aug-cc-pV5Z and t-aug-cc-pV6Z basis sets including mid-bond functions, with the 6Z basis set being newly constructed for this study. Higher orders of coupled-cluster terms were considered in a successive scheme up to full quadruple excitations. Core-core and core-valence correlation effects were included. Furthermore, relativistic effects were studied not only at a scalar relativistic level using second-order direct perturbation theory, but also utilizing full four-component and Gaunt-effect computations. An analytical pair potential function was fitted to the interaction energies, which is characterized by a depth of 200.88 K with an estimated standard uncertainty of 0.51 K. Thermophysical properties of low-density krypton were calculated for temperatures up to 5000 K. Second and third virial coefficients were obtained from statistical thermodynamics. Viscosity and thermal conductivity as well as the self-diffusion coefficient were computed using the kinetic theory of gases. The theoretical results are compared with experimental data and with results for other pair potential functions from the literature, especially with those calculated from the recently developed ab initio potential of Waldrop et al. [J. Chem. Phys. 142, 204307 (2015)]. Highly accurate experimental viscosity data indicate that both the present ab initio pair potential and the one of Waldrop et al. can be regarded as reference potentials, even though the quantum-chemical methods and basis sets differ. However, the uncertainties of the present potential and of the derived properties are estimated to be considerably lower.

Ab Initio Reaction Kinetics of CH 3 O$$\\dot{C}$$(=O) and $$\\dot{C}$$H 2 OC(=O)H Radicals

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Tan, Ting; Yang, Xueliang; Ju, Yiguang

The dissociation and isomerization kinetics of the methyl ester combustion intermediates methoxycarbonyl radical (CH3Omore » $$\\dot{C}$$(=O)) and (formyloxy)methyl radical ($$\\dot{C}$$H2OC(=O)H) are investigated theoretically using high-level ab initio methods and Rice–Ramsperger–Kassel–Marcus (RRKM)/master equation (ME) theory. Geometries obtained at the hybrid density functional theory (DFT) and coupled cluster singles and doubles with perturbative triples correction (CCSD(T)) levels of theory are found to be similar. We employ high-level ab initio wave function methods to refine the potential energy surface: CCSD(T), multireference singles and doubles configuration interaction (MRSDCI) with the Davidson–Silver (DS) correction, and multireference averaged coupled-pair functional (MRACPF2) theory. MRSDCI+DS and MRACPF2 capture the multiconfigurational character of transition states (TSs) and predict lower barrier heights than CCSD(T). The temperature- and pressure-dependent rate coefficients are computed using RRKM/ME theory in the temperature range 300–2500 K and a pressure range of 0.01 atm to the high-pressure limit, which are then fitted to modified Arrhenius expressions. Dissociation of CH3O$$\\dot{C}$$(=O) to $$\\dot{C}$$H3 and CO2 is predicted to be much faster than dissociating to CH3$$\\dot{O}$$ and CO, consistent with its greater exothermicity. Isomerization between CH3O$$\\dot{C}$$(=O) and $$\\dot{C}$$H2OC(=O)H is predicted to be the slowest among the studied reactions and rarely happens even at high temperature and high pressure, suggesting the decomposition pathways of the two radicals are not strongly coupled. The predicted rate coefficients and branching fractions at finite pressures differ significantly from the corresponding high-pressure-limit results, especially at relatively high temperatures. Finally, because it is one of the most important CH3$$\\dot{O}$$ removal mechanisms under atmospheric conditions, the reaction kinetics of CH3$$\\dot{O}$$ + CO was also studied along the PES of CH3O$$\\dot{C}$$(=O); the resulting kinetics predictions are in remarkable agreement with experiments.« less

Linear electro-optic effect in semiconductors: Ab initio description of the electronic contribution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Prussel, Lucie; Véniard, Valérie

2018-05-01

We propose an ab initio framework to derive the electronic part of the second-order susceptibility tensor for the electro-optic effect in bulk semiconductors. We find a general expression for χ(2 ) evaluated within time-dependent density-functional theory, including explicitly the band-gap corrections at the level of the scissors approximation. Excitonic effects are accounted for, on the basis of a simple scalar approximation. We apply our formalism to the computation of the electro-optic susceptibilities for several semiconductors, such as GaAs, GaN, and SiC. Taking into account the ionic contribution according to the Faust-Henry coefficient, we obtain a good agreement with experimental results. Finally, using different types of strain to break centrosymmetry, we show that high electro-optic coefficients can be obtained in bulk silicon for a large range of frequencies.

Elastic and Photoelastic Properties of M(NO3)2, MO (M = Mg, Ca, Sr, Ba)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhuravlev, Yu. N.; Korabel'nikov, D. V.

2017-05-01

The paper deals with ab initio investigations of elastic and photoelastic properties of oxides and nitrates of alkaline-earth metals. In gradient approximation of the density functional theory (DFT), these properties are studied with the use of the linear combination of the atomic orbital technique. DFT calculations are done with the CRYSTAL 14 software package. The paper introduces the elastic and photoelastic constants, anisotropy parameters for single-crystalline phases and the elastic modules, hardness, Poisson ratio for polycrystalline phases. Such parameters as sonic speed, Debye temperature, thermal conductivity, and Gruneisen parameter are estimated herein. For the fist time, mechanical stability, anisotropy of elastic and photoelastic properties and their dependences are investigated ab initio in this paper. Experimental results on elastic and photoelastic properties of oxides and nitrates are in good agreement with theoretical calculations.

Accuracy of ab initio electron correlation and electron densities in vanadium dioxide

DOE PAGES

Kylänpää, Ilkka; Balachandran, Janakiraman; Ganesh, Panchapakesan; ...

2017-11-27

Here, diffusion quantum Monte Carlo results are used as a reference to analyze properties related to phase stability and magnetism in vanadium dioxide computed with various formulations of density functional theory. We introduce metrics related to energetics, electron densities and spin densities that give us insight on both local and global variations in the antiferromagnetic M1 and R phases. Importantly, these metrics can address contributions arising from the challenging description of the 3d orbital physics in this material. We observe that the best description of energetics between the structural phases does not correspond to the best accuracy in the charge density, which is consistent with observations made recently by Medvedev et~al. in the context of isolated atoms. However, we do find evidence that an accurate spin density connects to correct energetic ordering of different magnetic states in VOmore » $$_2$$, although local, semilocal, and meta-GGA functionals tend to erroneously favor demagnetization of the vanadium sites. The recently developed SCAN functional stands out as remaining nearly balanced in terms of magnetization across the M1-R transition and correctly predicting the ground state crystal structure. In addition to ranking current density functionals, our reference energies and densities serve as important benchmarks for future functional development.« less

Accuracy of ab initio electron correlation and electron densities in vanadium dioxide

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kylänpää, Ilkka; Balachandran, Janakiraman; Ganesh, Panchapakesan

Here, diffusion quantum Monte Carlo results are used as a reference to analyze properties related to phase stability and magnetism in vanadium dioxide computed with various formulations of density functional theory. We introduce metrics related to energetics, electron densities and spin densities that give us insight on both local and global variations in the antiferromagnetic M1 and R phases. Importantly, these metrics can address contributions arising from the challenging description of the 3d orbital physics in this material. We observe that the best description of energetics between the structural phases does not correspond to the best accuracy in the charge density, which is consistent with observations made recently by Medvedev et~al. in the context of isolated atoms. However, we do find evidence that an accurate spin density connects to correct energetic ordering of different magnetic states in VOmore » $$_2$$, although local, semilocal, and meta-GGA functionals tend to erroneously favor demagnetization of the vanadium sites. The recently developed SCAN functional stands out as remaining nearly balanced in terms of magnetization across the M1-R transition and correctly predicting the ground state crystal structure. In addition to ranking current density functionals, our reference energies and densities serve as important benchmarks for future functional development.« less

Ab-initio investigation of Rb substitution in KTP single crystal

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ghoohestani, Marzieh; Arab, Ali; Hashemifar, S. Javad; Sadeghi, Hossein

2018-01-01

The effects of rubidium doping on the structural, electronic, and optical properties of KTiOPO4 (KTP) are investigated in the framework of density functional theory. The equilibrium structural parameters of KTP and RbTiOPO4 (RTP) are calculated within the local density and Perdew-Burke-Ernzerhof (PBE), Wu-Cohen, and PBEsol formulation of generalized gradient approximations. We discuss that PBEsol predicts better equilibrium parameters for the KTP alloy. In addition, the variation of lattice constants and Ti-O-Ti bond angles are evaluated as a function of rubidium concentration. The modern modified Becke-Johnson functional is applied for more accurate band gap determination in the pure and alloyed KTP/RTP compounds. The phenomenological pseudoinversion parameter is calculated for a qualitative understanding of the effect of impurity on a non-linear optical response of KTP. We also analyze the behavior of the dielectric function, dispersive refractive indices, and birefringence of KTP/RTP alloys.

Mesoscale models for stacking faults, deformation twins and martensitic transformations: Linking atomistics to continuum

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kibey, Sandeep A.

We present a hierarchical approach that spans multiple length scales to describe defect formation---in particular, formation of stacking faults (SFs) and deformation twins---in fcc crystals. We link the energy pathways (calculated here via ab initio density functional theory, DFT) associated with formation of stacking faults and twins to corresponding heterogeneous defect nucleation models (described through mesoscale dislocation mechanics). Through the generalized Peieirls-Nabarro model, we first correlate the width of intrinsic SFs in fcc alloy systems to their nucleation pathways called generalized stacking fault energies (GSFE). We then establish a qualitative dependence of twinning tendency in fee metals and alloys---specifically, in pure Cu and dilute Cu-xAl (x= 5.0 and 8.3 at.%)---on their twin-energy pathways called the generalized planar fault energies (GPFE). We also link the twinning behavior of Cu-Al alloys to their electronic structure by determining the effect of solute Al on the valence charge density redistribution at the SF through ab initio DFT. Further, while several efforts have been undertaken to incorporate twinning for predicting stress-strain response of fcc materials, a fundamental law for critical twinning stress has not yet emerged. We resolve this long-standing issue by linking quantitatively the twin-energy pathways (GPFE) obtained via ab initio DFT to heterogeneous, dislocation-based twin nucleation models. We establish an analytical expression that quantitatively predicts the critical twinning stress in fcc metals in agreement with experiments without requiring any empiricism at any length scale. Our theory connects twinning stress to twin-energy pathways and predicts a monotonic relation between stress and unstable twin stacking fault energy revealing the physics of twinning. We further demonstrate that the theory holds for fcc alloys as well. Our theory inherently accounts for directional nature of twinning which available qualitative models do not necessarily account for. Finally, we extend the present work to martensitic transformations and determine the energy pathway for B2→B19 transformation in NiTi. Based on our ab initio DFT calculations, we propose a combined distortion-shuffle pathway for B2→B19 transformation in NiTi. Our results indicate that in NiTi, a barrier of 0.48 mRyd/atom (relative to B2 phase) must be overcome to transform the parent B2 into orthorhombic B19 phase.

Ab-initio Computation of the Electronic, transport, and Bulk Properties of Calcium Oxide.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mbolle, Augustine; Banjara, Dipendra; Malozovsky, Yuriy; Franklin, Lashounda; Bagayoko, Diola

We report results from ab-initio, self-consistent, local Density approximation (LDA) calculations of electronic and related properties of calcium oxide (CaO) in the rock salt structure. We employed the Ceperley and Alder LDA potential and the linear combination of atomic orbitals (LCAO) formalism. Our calculations are non-relativistic. We implemented the LCAO formalism following the Bagayoko, Zhao, and Williams (BZW) method, as enhanced by Ekuma and Franklin (BZW-EF). The BZW-EF method involves a methodical search for the optimal basis set that yields the absolute minima of the occupied energies, as required by density functional theory (DFT). Our calculated, indirect band gap of 6.91eV, from towards the L point, is in excellent agreement with experimental value of 6.93-7.7eV, at room temperature (RT). We have also calculated the total (DOS) and partial (pDOS) densities of states as well as the bulk modulus. Our calculated bulk modulus is in excellent agreement with experiment. Work funded in part by the US Department of Energy (DOE), National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) (Award No.DE-NA0002630), the National Science Foundation (NSF) (Award No, 1503226), LaSPACE, and LONI-SUBR.

A density functional global optimisation study of neutral 8-atom Cu-Ag and Cu-Au clusters

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Heard, Christopher J.; Johnston, Roy L.

2013-02-01

The effect of doping on the energetics and dimensionality of eight atom coinage metal subnanometre particles is fully resolved using a genetic algorithm in tandem with on the fly density functional theory calculations to determine the global minima (GM) for Cu n Ag(8- n) and Cu n Au(8- n) clusters. Comparisons are made to previous ab initio work on mono- and bimetallic clusters, with excellent agreement found. Charge transfer and geometric arguments are considered to rationalise the stability of the particular permutational isomers found. An interesting transition between three dimensional and two dimensional GM structures is observed for copper-gold clusters, which is sharper and appears earlier in the doping series than is known for gold-silver particles.

Growth of carbon structured over Pd, Pt and Ni: A comparative DFT study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Quiroga, Matías Abel

2013-03-01

To elucidate the graphene-like structures mechanisms growth over the M(1 1 1) surface (M = Pd, Pt and Ni) we performed ab initio calculus in the frame of density functional theory with the exchange-correlation functional treated according to the Generalized Gradient Approximation (GGA). In order to avoid the problem that represent the complex interaction between the well formed graphene layer and the metallic surface, we recreate the carbon rings formation initial steps, by adding one by one carbon atoms over M(1 1 1) surface. With this strategy, the chemical bonding is always present until the graphene layer is well formed, in which case the GGA neglects van der Waals dispersive forces. We investigate the electronic properties by studying the band structure and the density of states.

Evidence for a first-order liquid-liquid transition in high-pressure hydrogen from ab initio simulations

PubMed Central

Morales, Miguel A.; Pierleoni, Carlo; Schwegler, Eric; Ceperley, D. M.

2010-01-01

Using quantum simulation techniques based on either density functional theory or quantum Monte Carlo, we find clear evidence of a first-order transition in liquid hydrogen, between a low conductivity molecular state and a high conductivity atomic state. Using the temperature dependence of the discontinuity in the electronic conductivity, we estimate the critical point of the transition at temperatures near 2,000 K and pressures near 120 GPa. Furthermore, we have determined the melting curve of molecular hydrogen up to pressures of 200 GPa, finding a reentrant melting line. The melting line crosses the metalization line at 700 K and 220 GPa using density functional energetics and at 550 K and 290 GPa using quantum Monte Carlo energetics. PMID:20566888

Molecular structure and vibrational spectra of three substituted 4-thioflavones by density functional theory and ab initio Hartree-Fock calculations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Xiao-Hong; Liu, Xiang-Ru; Zhang, Xian-Zhou

2011-01-01

The vibrational frequencies of three substituted 4-thioflavones in the ground state have been calculated using the Hartree-Fock and density functional method (B3LYP) with 6-31G* and 6-31+G** basis sets. The structural analysis shows that there exists H-bonding in the selected compounds and the hydrogen bond lengths increase with the augment of the conjugate parameters of the substituent group on the benzene ring. A complete vibrational assignment aided by the theoretical harmonic wavenumber analysis was proposed. The theoretical spectrograms for FT-IR spectra of the title compounds have been constructed. In addition, it is noted that the selected compounds show significant activity against Shigella flexniri. Several electronic properties and thermodynamic parameters were also calculated.

Interpretation of monoclinic hafnia valence electron energy-loss spectra by time-dependent density functional theory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hung, L.; Guedj, C.; Bernier, N.; Blaise, P.; Olevano, V.; Sottile, F.

2016-04-01

We present the valence electron energy-loss spectrum and the dielectric function of monoclinic hafnia (m -HfO2) obtained from time-dependent density-functional theory (TDDFT) predictions and compared to energy-filtered spectroscopic imaging measurements in a high-resolution transmission-electron microscope. Fermi's golden rule density-functional theory (DFT) calculations can capture the qualitative features of the energy-loss spectrum, but we find that TDDFT, which accounts for local-field effects, provides nearly quantitative agreement with experiment. Using the DFT density of states and TDDFT dielectric functions, we characterize the excitations that result in the m -HfO2 energy-loss spectrum. The sole plasmon occurs between 13 and 16 eV, although the peaks ˜28 and above 40 eV are also due to collective excitations. We furthermore elaborate on the first-principles techniques used, their accuracy, and remaining discrepancies among spectra. More specifically, we assess the influence of Hf semicore electrons (5 p and 4 f ) on the energy-loss spectrum, and find that the inclusion of transitions from the 4 f band damps the energy-loss intensity in the region above 13 eV. We study the impact of many-body effects in a DFT framework using the adiabatic local-density approximation (ALDA) exchange-correlation kernel, as well as from a many-body perspective using "scissors operators" matched to an ab initio G W calculation to account for self-energy corrections. These results demonstrate some cancellation of errors between self-energy and excitonic effects, even for excitations from the Hf 4 f shell. We also simulate the dispersion with increasing momentum transfer for plasmon and collective excitation peaks.

Cooperative effects in the structuring of fluoride water clusters: Ab initio hybrid quantum mechanical/molecular mechanical model incorporating polarizable fluctuating charge solvent

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bryce, Richard A.; Vincent, Mark A.; Malcolm, Nathaniel O. J.; Hillier, Ian H.; Burton, Neil A.

1998-08-01

A new hybrid quantum mechanical/molecular mechanical model of solvation is developed and used to describe the structure and dynamics of small fluoride/water clusters, using an ab initio wave function to model the ion and a fluctuating charge potential to model the waters. Appropriate parameters for the water-water and fluoride-water interactions are derived, with the fluoride anion being described by density functional theory and a large Gaussian basis. The role of solvent polarization in determining the structure and energetics of F(H2O)4- clusters is investigated, predicting a slightly greater stability of the interior compared to the surface structure, in agreement with ab initio studies. An extended Lagrangian treatment of the polarizable water, in which the water atomic charges fluctuate dynamically, is used to study the dynamics of F(H2O)4- cluster. A simulation using a fixed solvent charge distribution indicates principally interior, solvated states for the cluster. However, a preponderance of trisolvated configurations is observed using the polarizable model at 300 K, which involves only three direct fluoride-water hydrogen bonds. Ab initio calculations confirm this trisolvated species as a thermally accessible state at room temperature, in addition to the tetrasolvated interior and surface structures. Extension of this polarizable water model to fluoride clusters with five and six waters gave less satisfactory agreement with experimental energies and with ab initio geometries. However, our results do suggest that a quantitative model of solvent polarization is fundamental for an accurate understanding of the properties of anionic water clusters.

An efficient method for quantum transport simulations in the time domain

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Y.; Yam, C.-Y.; Frauenheim, Th.; Chen, G. H.; Niehaus, T. A.

2011-11-01

An approximate method based on adiabatic time dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) is presented, that allows for the description of the electron dynamics in nanoscale junctions under arbitrary time dependent external potentials. The density matrix of the device region is propagated according to the Liouville-von Neumann equation. The semi-infinite leads give rise to dissipative terms in the equation of motion which are calculated from first principles in the wide band limit. In contrast to earlier ab initio implementations of this formalism, the Hamiltonian is here approximated in the spirit of the density functional based tight-binding (DFTB) method. Results are presented for two prototypical molecular devices and compared to full TDDFT calculations. The temporal profile of the current traces is qualitatively well captured by the DFTB scheme. Steady state currents show considerable variations, both in comparison of approximate and full TDDFT, but also among TDDFT calculations with different basis sets.

Self-consistent electronic structure of disordered Fe/sub 0. 65/Ni/sub 0. 35/

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Johnson, D.D.; Pinski, F.J.; Stocks, G.M.

1985-04-15

We present the results of the first ab initio calculation of the electronic structure of the disordered alloy Fe/sub 0.65/Ni/sub 0.35/. The calculation is based on the multiple-scattering coherent-potential approach (KKR-CPA) and is fully self-consistent and spin polarized. Magnetic effects are included within local-spin-density functional theory using the exchange-correlation function of Vosko--Wilk--Nusair. The most striking feature of the calculation is that electrons of different spins experience different degrees of disorder. The minority spin electrons see a very large disorder, whereas the majority spin electrons see little disorder. Consequently, the minority spin density of states is smooth compared to the verymore » structured majority spin density of states. This difference is due to a subtle balance between exchange splitting and charge neutrality.« less

Self-consistent electronic structure of disordered Fe/sub 0/ /sub 65/Ni/sub 0/ /sub 35/

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Johnson, D.D.; Pinski, F.J.; Stocks, G.M.

1984-01-01

We present the results of the first ab-initio calculation of the electronic structure of a disordered Fe/sub 0/ /sub 65/Ni/sub 0/ /sub 35/ alloy. The calculation is based on the multiple-scattering coherent-potential approach (KKR-CPA) and is fully self-consistent and spin-polarized. Magnetic effects are included within local-spin-density functional theory using the exchange-correlation function of Vosko-Wilk-Nusair. The most striking feature of the calculation is that electrons of different spins experience different degrees of disorder. The minority spin electrons see a very large disorder; whereas, the majority spin electrons see little disorder. Consequently, the minority spin density of states is smooth compared tomore » the very structured majority spin density of states. This difference is due to a subtle balance between exchange-splitting and charge neutrality. 15 references, 2 figures.« less

Increasing the applicability of density functional theory. IV. Consequences of ionization-potential improved exchange-correlation potentials.

PubMed

Verma, Prakash; Bartlett, Rodney J

2014-05-14

This paper's objective is to create a "consistent" mean-field based Kohn-Sham (KS) density functional theory (DFT) meaning the functional should not only provide good total energy properties, but also the corresponding KS eigenvalues should be accurate approximations to the vertical ionization potentials (VIPs) of the molecule, as the latter condition attests to the viability of the exchange-correlation potential (VXC). None of the prominently used DFT approaches show these properties: the optimized effective potential VXC based ab initio dft does. A local, range-separated hybrid potential cam-QTP-00 is introduced as the basis for a "consistent" KS DFT approach. The computed VIPs as the negative of KS eigenvalue have a mean absolute error of 0.8 eV for an extensive set of molecule's electron ionizations, including the core. Barrier heights, equilibrium geometries, and magnetic properties obtained from the potential are in good agreement with experiment. A similar accuracy with less computational efforts can be achieved by using a non-variational global hybrid variant of the QTP-00 approach.

Assessing the density functional theory-based multireference configuration interaction (DFT/MRCI) method for transition metal complexes

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Escudero, Daniel, E-mail: escudero@kofo.mpg.de, E-mail: thiel@kofo.mpg.de; Thiel, Walter, E-mail: escudero@kofo.mpg.de, E-mail: thiel@kofo.mpg.de

2014-05-21

We report an assessment of the performance of density functional theory-based multireference configuration interaction (DFT/MRCI) calculations for a set of 3d- and 4d-transition metal (TM) complexes. The DFT/MRCI results are compared to published reference data from reliable high-level multi-configurational ab initio studies. The assessment covers the relative energies of different ground-state minima of the highly correlated CrF{sub 6} complex, the singlet and triplet electronically excited states of seven typical TM complexes (MnO{sub 4}{sup −}, Cr(CO){sub 6}, [Fe(CN){sub 6}]{sup 4−}, four larger Fe and Ru complexes), and the corresponding electronic spectra (vertical excitation energies and oscillator strengths). It includes comparisons withmore » results from different flavors of time-dependent DFT (TD-DFT) calculations using pure, hybrid, and long-range corrected functionals. The DFT/MRCI method is found to be superior to the tested TD-DFT approaches and is thus recommended for exploring the excited-state properties of TM complexes.« less

PdnCO (n = 1,2): accurate Ab initio bond energies, geometries, and dipole moments and the applicability of density functional theory for fuel cell modeling.

PubMed

Schultz, Nathan E; Gherman, Benjamin F; Cramer, Christopher J; Truhlar, Donald G

2006-11-30

Electrode poisoning by CO is a major concern in fuel cells. As interest in applying computational methods to electrochemistry is increasing, it is important to understand the levels of theory required for reliable treatments of metal-CO interactions. In this paper we justify the use of relativistic effective core potentials for the treatment of PdCO and hence, by inference, for metal-CO interactions where the predominant bonding mechanism is charge transfer. We also sort out key issues involving basis sets and we recommend that bond energies of 17.2, 43.3, and 69.4 kcal/mol be used as the benchmark bond energy for dissociation of Pd2 into Pd atoms, PdCO into Pd and CO, and Pd2CO into Pd2 and CO, respectively. We calculated the dipole moments of PdCO and Pd2CO, and we recommend benchmark values of 2.49 and 2.81 D, respectively. Furthermore, we tested 27 density functionals for this system and found that only hybrid density functionals can qualitatively and quantitatively predict the nature of the sigma-donation/pi-back-donation mechanism that is associated with the Pd-CO and Pd2-CO bonds. The most accurate density functionals for the systems tested in this paper are O3LYP, OLYP, PW6B95, and PBEh.

Theory of L -edge spectroscopy of strongly correlated systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lüder, Johann; Schött, Johan; Brena, Barbara; Haverkort, Maurits W.; Thunström, Patrik; Eriksson, Olle; Sanyal, Biplab; Di Marco, Igor; Kvashnin, Yaroslav O.

2017-12-01

X-ray absorption spectroscopy measured at the L edge of transition metals (TMs) is a powerful element-selective tool providing direct information about the correlation effects in the 3 d states. The theoretical modeling of the 2 p →3 d excitation processes remains to be challenging for contemporary ab initio electronic structure techniques, due to strong core-hole and multiplet effects influencing the spectra. In this work, we present a realization of the method combining the density-functional theory with multiplet ligand field theory, proposed in Haverkort et al. [Phys. Rev. B 85, 165113 (2012), 10.1103/PhysRevB.85.165113]. In this approach, a single-impurity Anderson model (SIAM) is constructed, with almost all parameters obtained from first principles, and then solved to obtain the spectra. In our implementation, we adopt the language of the dynamical mean-field theory and utilize the local density of states and the hybridization function, projected onto TM 3 d states, in order to construct the SIAM. The developed computational scheme is applied to calculate the L -edge spectra for several TM monoxides. A very good agreement between the theory and experiment is found for all studied systems. The effect of core-hole relaxation, hybridization discretization, possible extensions of the method as well as its limitations are discussed.

A Comparison of Density Functional Theory with Ab initio Approaches for Systems Involving First Transition Row Metals

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ricca, Alessandra; Bauschlicher, Charles W.; Langhoff, Stephen R. (Technical Monitor)

1994-01-01

Density functional theory (DFT) is found to give a better description of the geometries and vibrational frequencies of FeL and FeL(sup +) systems than second order Moller Plesset perturbation theory (MP2). Namely, the DFT correctly predicts the shift in the CO vibrational frequency between free CO and the Sigma(sup -) state of FeCO and yields a good result for the Fe-C distance in the quartet states of FeCH4(+) 4 These are properties where the MP2 results are unsatisfactory. Thus DFT appears to be an excellent approach for optimizing the geometries and computing the zero-point energies of systems containing first transition row atoms. Because the DFT approach is biased in favor of the 3d(exp 7) occupation, whereas the more traditional approaches are biased in favor of the 3d(exp 6) occupation, differences are found in the relative ordering of states. It is shown that if the dissociation is computed to the most appropriate atomic asymptote and corrected to the ground state asymptote using the experimental separations, the DFT results are in good agreement with high levels of theory. The energetics at the DFT level are much superior to the MP2 and in most cases in good agreement with high levels of theory.

Molecules for organic electronics studied one by one.

PubMed

Meyer, Jörg; Wadewitz, Anja; Lokamani; Toher, Cormac; Gresser, Roland; Leo, Karl; Riede, Moritz; Moresco, Francesca; Cuniberti, Gianaurelio

2011-08-28

The electronic and geometrical structure of single difluoro-bora-1,3,5,7-tetraphenyl-aza-dipyrromethene (aza-BODIPY) molecules adsorbed on the Au(111) surface is investigated by low temperature scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy in conjunction with ab initio density functional theory simulations of the density of states and of the interaction with the substrate. Our DFT calculations indicate that the aza-bodipy molecule forms a chemical bond with the Au(111) substrate, with distortion of the molecular geometry and significant charge transfer between the molecule and the substrate. Nevertheless, most likely due to the low corrugation of the Au(111) surface, diffusion of the molecule is observed for applied bias in excess of 1 V.

High-pressure and high-temperature physical properties of LiF studied by density functional theory calculations and molecular dynamics simulations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sun, Xiao-Wei; Liu, Zi-Jiang; Quan, Wei-Long; Song, Ting; Khenata, Rabah; Bin-Omran, Saad

2018-05-01

Using the revised Perdew-Burke-Ernzerhof generalized gradient approximation based on first-principles plane-wave pseudopotential density functional theory, the high-pressure structural phase transition of LiF is explored. From the analysis of Gibbs free energies, we find that no phase transition occurs for LiF in the presented pressure range from 0 to 1000 GPa, and this result is consistent with the theoretical prediction obtained via ab initio calculations [N.A. Smirnov, Phys. Rev. B 83 (2011) 014109]. Using the classical molecular dynamics technique with effective pair potentials which consist of the Coulomb, dispersion, and repulsion interaction, the melting phase diagram of LiF is determined. The obtained normalized volumes under pressure are in good agreement with our density functional theory results and the available experimental data. Meanwhile, with the help of the quasi-harmonic Debye model in which the phononic effects are considered, the thermodynamic properties of interest, including the volume thermal expansion coefficient, isothermal bulk modulus and its first and second pressure derivatives, heat capacity at constant volume, entropy, Debye temperature, and Grüneisen parameter of LiF are predicted systematically. All the properties of LiF with the stable NaCl-type structure in the temperature range of 0-4900 K and the pressure up to 1000 GPa are summarized.

Conformational properties and electronic structure of tetrahydrotetrazines studied by photoelectron spectroscopy and quantum chemical calculations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Muchall, Heidi M.; Rademacher, Paul

1997-11-01

The photoelectron (PE) spectra of tetrahydro-1,2,3,4-tetrazines 1 and 2 and tetrahydro-1,2,4,5-tetrazines 3-5 have been recorded and their conformations have been investigated by ab initio SCF calculations. While v-tetrazine 2 is planar, tetrazines 1 and 3-5 each possess two low-energy conformations, according to ab initio HF and Becke3LYP methods. Attempts to assign ionization potentials to molecular orbitals obtained by semiempirical PM3 calculations indicate that this method is not suited for the compounds studied. Best results were obtained when the ab initio hybrid method Becke3LYP of the density functional theory was employed. Two conformers of 1 and 3-5 are present in the gas phase and their PE spectra are superimposed one upon the other. For v-tetrazine 1, ionizations arising from half-chair and unsymmetrical boat conformers have similar energies and cannot be separated in the PE spectrum. For s-tetrazine 3, on the other hand, the spectrum clearly shows different ionizations of both half-chairs, 3ee and 3ae.

Time-domain ab initio modeling of photoinduced dynamics at nanoscale interfaces.

PubMed

Wang, Linjun; Long, Run; Prezhdo, Oleg V

2015-04-01

Nonequilibrium processes involving electronic and vibrational degrees of freedom in nanoscale materials are under active experimental investigation. Corresponding theoretical studies are much scarcer. The review starts with the basics of time-dependent density functional theory, recent developments in nonadiabatic molecular dynamics, and the fusion of the two techniques. Ab initio simulations of this kind allow us to directly mimic a great variety of time-resolved experiments performed with pump-probe laser spectroscopies. The focus is on the ultrafast photoinduced charge and exciton dynamics at interfaces formed by two complementary materials. We consider purely inorganic materials, inorganic-organic hybrids, and all organic interfaces, involving bulk semiconductors, metallic and semiconducting nanoclusters, graphene, carbon nanotubes, fullerenes, polymers, molecular crystals, molecules, and solvent. The detailed atomistic insights available from time-domain ab initio studies provide a unique description and a comprehensive understanding of the competition between electron transfer, thermal relaxation, energy transfer, and charge recombination processes. These advances now make it possible to directly guide the development of organic and hybrid solar cells, as well as photocatalytic, electronic, spintronic, and other devices relying on complex interfacial dynamics.

Vibrational spectroscopic study of fluticasone propionate

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ali, H. R. H.; Edwards, H. G. M.; Kendrick, J.; Scowen, I. J.

2009-03-01

Fluticasone propionate is a synthetic glucocorticoid with potent anti-inflammatory activity that has been used effectively in the treatment of chronic asthma. The present work reports a vibrational spectroscopic study of fluticasone propionate and gives proposed molecular assignments on the basis of ab initio calculations using BLYP density functional theory with a 6-31G* basis set and vibrational frequencies predicted within the quasi-harmonic approximation. Several spectral features and band intensities are explained. This study generated a library of information that can be employed to aid the process monitoring of fluticasone propionate.

Effect of tautomerism on Au-6-mercaptopurine nanocluster stability

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rashidpour, Neda; Kashid, Vikas; Shah, Vaishali

2013-02-01

We have investigated the stability of conjugated nanoparticles of Au-6-Mercaptopurine (6-MP) using ab initio density functional theory. We have studied the conjugation of the 6 tautomers of 6-MP via the different atomic sites with the gold nanoparticles. Our results show that the least stable tautomer has the strongest adsorption with the Au nanoparticles whereas the most stable tautomer has the weakest adsorption. We will discuss our results to explain the experimentally observed increased plasma half life time of the conjugated drug in vitro.

Engineering Group-IV Monochalcogenides by Doping and Alloying

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sirikumara, Hansika; Fitzpatrick, Trevor; Jayasekera, Thushari

Group-IV monochalcogenides, MX (M=Sn,Ge and X=S,Se) have shown to be promising materials for thermoelectric and photovoltaic applications. These properties can be further engineered by substitutional doping and alloying. Using the results from ab initio Density Functional Theory calculations, we identified a series of new class of monochalcogenide alloys in the form Ge(1-x)SnxS, Ge(1-x)SnxSe, GeSxSe(1- x), SnSxSe(1-x). Stability of their two-dimensional counterparts will also be discussed in this presentation.

Theoretical modeling of low-energy electronic absorption bands in reduced cobaloximes

DOE PAGES

Bhattacharjee, Anirban; Chavarot-Kerlidou, Murielle; Dempsey, Jillian L.; ...

2014-08-11

Here, we report that the reduced Co(I) states of cobaloximes are powerful nucleophiles that play an important role in the hydrogen-evolving catalytic activity of these species. In this work we have analyzed the low energy electronic absorption bands of two cobaloxime systems experimentally and using a variety of density functional theory and molecular orbital ab initio quantum chemical approaches. Overall we find a reasonable qualitative understanding of the electronic excitation spectra of these compounds but show that obtaining quantitative results remains a challenging task.

First principles simulation of amorphous InSb

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Los, Jan H.; Kühne, Thomas D.; Gabardi, Silvia; Bernasconi, Marco

2013-05-01

Ab initio molecular dynamics simulations based on density functional theory have been performed to generate a model of amorphous InSb by quenching from the melt. The resulting network is mostly tetrahedral with a minor fraction (10%) of atoms in a fivefold coordination. The structural properties are in good agreement with available x-ray diffraction and extended x-ray-absorption fine structure data and confirm the proposed presence of a sizable fraction of homopolar In-In and Sb-Sb bonds whose concentration in our model amounts to about 20% of the total number of bonds.

First-Principles Approach to Model Electrochemical Reactions: Understanding the Fundamental Mechanisms behind Mg Corrosion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Surendralal, Sudarsan; Todorova, Mira; Finnis, Michael W.; Neugebauer, Jörg

2018-06-01

Combining concepts of semiconductor physics and corrosion science, we develop a novel approach that allows us to perform ab initio calculations under controlled potentiostat conditions for electrochemical systems. The proposed approach can be straightforwardly applied in standard density functional theory codes. To demonstrate the performance and the opportunities opened by this approach, we study the chemical reactions that take place during initial corrosion at the water-Mg interface under anodic polarization. Based on this insight, we derive an atomistic model that explains the origin of the anodic hydrogen evolution.

First-principles phase stability at high temperatures and pressure in Nb 90Zr 10 alloy

DOE PAGES

Landa, A.; Soderlind, P.

2016-08-18

The phase stability of Nb 90Zr 10 alloy at high temperatures and compression is explored by means of first-principles electronic-structure calculations. Utilizing the self-consistent ab initio lattice dynamics (SCAILD) approach in conjunction with density-functional theory, we show that pressure-induced mechanical instability of the body-centered cubic phase, which results in formation of a rhombohedral phase at around 50 GPa, will prevail significant heating. As a result, the body-centered cubic structure will recover before melting at ~1800 K.

On the structural and electronic properties of Ir-silicide nanowires on Si(001) surface

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Fatima,; Hossain, Sehtab; Mohottige, Rasika

Iridium (Ir) modified Silicon (Si) (001) surface is studied with Scanning Tunneling Microscopy/Spectroscopy (STM/STS) and Density Functional Theory (DFT). A model for Ir-silicide nanowires based on STM images and ab-initio calculations is proposed. According to our model, the Ir adatom is on the top of the substrate dimer row and directly binds to the dimer atoms. I-V curves measured at 77 K shows that the nanowires are metallic. DFT calculations confirm strong metallic nature of the nanowires.

Electronic transport properties of nano-scale Si films: an ab initio study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Maassen, Jesse; Ke, Youqi; Zahid, Ferdows; Guo, Hong

2010-03-01

Using a recently developed first principles transport package, we study the electronic transport properties of Si films contacted to heavily doped n-type Si leads. The quantum transport analysis is carried out using density functional theory (DFT) combined with nonequilibrium Green's functions (NEGF). This particular combination of NEGF-DFT allows the investigation of Si films with thicknesses in the range of a few nanometers and lengths up to tens of nanometers. We calculate the conductance, the momentum resolved transmission, the potential profile and the screening length as a function of length, thickness, orientation and surface structure. Moreover, we compare the properties of Si films with and without a top surface passivation by hydrogen.

Nonlocal response with local optics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kong, Jiantao; Shvonski, Alexander J.; Kempa, Krzysztof

2018-04-01

For plasmonic systems too small for classical, local simulations to be valid, but too large for ab initio calculations to be computationally feasible, we developed a practical approach—a nonlocal-to-local mapping that enables the use of a modified local system to obtain the response due to nonlocal effects to lowest order, at the cost of higher structural complexity. In this approach, the nonlocal surface region of a metallic structure is mapped onto a local dielectric film, mathematically preserving the nonlocality of the entire system. The most significant feature of this approach is its full compatibility with conventional, highly efficient finite difference time domain (FDTD) simulation codes. Our optimized choice of mapping is based on the Feibelman's d -function formalism, and it produces an effective dielectric function of the local film that obeys all required sum rules, as well as the Kramers-Kronig causality relations. We demonstrate the power of our approach combined with an FDTD scheme, in a series of comparisons with experiments and ab initio density functional theory calculations from the literature, for structures with dimensions from the subnanoscopic to microscopic range.

Vibrational spectral investigation, NBO, first hyperpolarizability and UV-Vis spectral analysis of 3,5-dichlorobenzonitrile and m-bromobenzonitrile by ab initio and density functional theory methods.

PubMed

Senthil kumar, J; Jeyavijayan, S; Arivazhagan, M

2015-02-05

The FT-IR and FT-Raman spectra of 3,5-dichlorobenzonitrile and m-bromobenzonitrile have been recorded in the region 4000-400 cm(-1) and 3500-50 cm(-1), respectively. The optimized geometry, wave numbers and intensity of vibrational bonds of title molecules are obtained by ab initio and DFT level of theory with complete relaxation in the potential energy surface using 6-311++G(d, p) basis set. A complete vibrational assignments aided by the theoretical harmonic frequency, analysis have been proposed. The harmonic vibrational frequencies calculated have been compared with experimental FT-IR and FT-Raman spectra. The observed and calculated frequencies are found to be in good agreement. Stability of the molecule arising from hyperconjugative interactions, charge delocalization have been analyzed using natural bond orbital (NBO) analysis. The UV-Vis spectral analysis of the molecules has also been done which confirms the charge transfer of the molecules. Furthermore, the first hyperpolarizability and total dipole moment of the molecules have been calculated. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Electronic and magnetic properties of magnetoelectric compound Ca2CoSi2O7: An ab initio study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chakraborty, Jayita

2018-05-01

The detailed first principle density functional theory calculations are carried out to investigate the electronic and magnetic properties of magnetoelectric compound Ca2CoSi2O7. The magnetic properties of this system are analyzed by calculating various hopping integrals as well as exchange interactions and deriving the relevant spin Hamiltonian. The dominant exchange path is visualized with Wannier functions plotting. Only intra planer nearest neighbor exchange interaction is strong in this system. The magnetocrystalline anisotropy is calculated for this system, and the results of the calculation reveal that the spin quantization axis lies in the ab plane.

Strong influence of coadsorbate interaction on CO desorption dynamics on Ru(0001) probed by ultrafast x-ray spectroscopy and ab initio simulations

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Xin, H.; LaRue, J.; Oberg, H.

2015-04-16

We show that coadsorbed oxygen atoms have a dramatic influence on the CO desorption dynamics from Ru(0001). In contrast to the precursor-mediated desorption mechanism on Ru(0001), the presence of surface oxygen modifies the electronic structure of Ru atoms such that CO desorption occurs predominantly via the direct pathway. This phenomenon is directly observed in an ultrafast pump-probe experiment using a soft x-ray free-electron laser to monitor the dynamic evolution of the valence electronic structure of the surface species. This is supported with the potential of mean force along the CO desorption path obtained from density-functional theory calculations. Charge density distributionmore » and frozen-orbital analysis suggest that the oxygen-induced reduction of the Pauli repulsion, and consequent increase of the dative interaction between the CO 5σ and the charged Ru atom, is the electronic origin of the distinct desorption dynamics. Ab initio molecular dynamics simulations of CO desorption from Ru(0001) and oxygen-coadsorbed Ru(0001) provide further insights into the surface bond-breaking process.« less

Ab initio modeling of steady-state and time-dependent charge transport in hole-only α-NPD devices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Feilong; Massé, Andrea; Friederich, Pascal; Symalla, Franz; Nitsche, Robert; Wenzel, Wolfgang; Coehoorn, Reinder; Bobbert, Peter A.

2016-12-01

We present an ab initio modeling study of steady-state and time-dependent charge transport in hole-only devices of the amorphous molecular semiconductor α-NPD [N ,N'-Di(1 -naphthyl)-N ,N'-diphenyl-(1 ,1'-biphenyl)-4 ,4'-diamine] . The study is based on the microscopic information obtained from atomistic simulations of the morphology and density functional theory calculations of the molecular hole energies, reorganization energies, and transfer integrals. Using stochastic approaches, the microscopic information obtained in simulation boxes at a length scale of ˜10 nm is expanded and employed in one-dimensional (1D) and three-dimensional (3D) master-equation modeling of the charge transport at the device scale of ˜100 nm. Without any fit parameter, predicted current density-voltage and impedance spectroscopy data obtained with the 3D modeling are in very good agreement with measured data on devices with different α-NPD layer thicknesses in a wide range of temperatures, bias voltages, and frequencies. Similarly good results are obtained with the computationally much more efficient 1D modeling after optimizing a hopping prefactor.

G3//BMK and Its Application to Calculation of Bond Dissociation Enthalpies.

PubMed

Zheng, Wen-Rui; Fu, Yao; Guo, Qing-Xiang

2008-08-01

On the basis of systematic examinations it was found that the BMK functional significantly outperformed the other popular density functional theory methods including B3LYP, B3P86, KMLYP, MPW1P86, O3LYP, and X3LYP for the calculation of bond dissociation enthalpies (BDEs). However, it was also found that even the BMK functional might dramatically fail in predicting the BDEs of some chemical bonds. To solve this problem, a new composite ab initio method named G3//BMK was developed by combining the strengths of both the G3 theory and BMK. G3//BMK was found to outperform the G3 and G3//B3LYP methods. It could accurately predict the BDEs of diverse types of chemical bonds in various organic molecules within a precision of ca. 1.2 kcal/mol.

Microscopic Description of the Ferroism in Lead-Free AlFeO3.

PubMed

Santos, Guilherme M; Catellani, Igor B; Santos, Ivair A; Guo, Ruyan; Bhalla, Amar S; Padilha, José Eduardo; Cótica, Luiz F

2018-04-23

The microscopic origin of the ferroic and multiferroic properties of AlFeO 3 have been carefully investigated. The maximum entropy method was applied to X-ray diffraction data and ab initio density functional theory calculations in order to obtain the electron density distributions and electric polarization. The study of chemical bonds shows that the bonds between Fe(3d) and O(2p) ions are anisotropic, leading to the configuration of shorter/longer and stronger/weaker bonds. This leads to electric polarization. Density of states calculations showed a magnetic polarization as a result of a weak ferromagnetic ordering. These results unambiguously show that AlFeO 3 is a multiferroic material and exhibits a magnetoelectric coupling at room temperature, as has already been shown by experiments.

An unscaled quantum mechanical harmonic force field for p-benzoquinone

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nonella, Marco; Tavan, Paul

1995-10-01

Structure and harmonic vibrational frequencies of p-benzoquinone have been calculated using quantum chemical ab initio and density functional methods. Our calculations show that a satisfactory description of fundamentals and normal mode compositions is achieved upon consideration of correlation effects by means of Møller-Plesset perturbation expansion (MP2) or by density functional theory (DFT). Furthermore, for correct prediction of CO bondlength and force constant, basis sets augmented by polarization functions are required. Applying such basis sets, MP2 and DFT calculations both give results which are generally in reasonable agreement with experimental data. The quantitatively better agreement, however, is achieved with the computationally less demanding DFT method. This method particularly allows very precise prediction of the experimentally important absorptions in the frequency region between 1500 and 1800 cm -1 and of the isotopic shifts of these vibrations due to 13C or 18O substitution.

Calculation of the dielectric properties of semiconductors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Engel, G. E.; Farid, Behnam

1992-12-01

We report on numerical calculations of the dynamical dielectric function in silicon, using a continued-fraction expansion of the polarizability and a recently proposed representation of the inverse dielectric function in terms of plasmonlike excitations. A number of important technical refinements to further improve the computational efficiency of the method are introduced, making the ab initio calculation of the full energy dependence of the dielectric function comparable in cost to calculation of its static value. Physical results include the observation of previously unresolved features in the random-phase approximated dielectric function and its inverse within the framework of density-functional theory in the local-density approximation, which may be accessible to experiment. We discuss the dispersion of plasmon energies in silicon along the Λ and Δ directions and find improved agreement with experiment compared to earlier calculations. We also present quantitative evidence indicating the degree of violation of the Johnson f-sum rule for the dielectric function due to the nonlocality of the one-electron potential used in the underlying band-structure calculations.

Discovering charge density functionals and structure-property relationships with PROPhet: A general framework for coupling machine learning and first-principles methods

DOE PAGES

Kolb, Brian; Lentz, Levi C.; Kolpak, Alexie M.

2017-04-26

Modern ab initio methods have rapidly increased our understanding of solid state materials properties, chemical reactions, and the quantum interactions between atoms. However, poor scaling often renders direct ab initio calculations intractable for large or complex systems. There are two obvious avenues through which to remedy this problem: (i) develop new, less expensive methods to calculate system properties, or (ii) make existing methods faster. This paper describes an open source framework designed to pursue both of these avenues. PROPhet (short for PROPerty Prophet) utilizes machine learning techniques to find complex, non-linear mappings between sets of material or system properties. Themore » result is a single code capable of learning analytical potentials, non-linear density functionals, and other structure-property or property-property relationships. These capabilities enable highly accurate mesoscopic simulations, facilitate computation of expensive properties, and enable the development of predictive models for systematic materials design and optimization. Here, this work explores the coupling of machine learning to ab initio methods through means both familiar (e.g., the creation of various potentials and energy functionals) and less familiar (e.g., the creation of density functionals for arbitrary properties), serving both to demonstrate PROPhet’s ability to create exciting post-processing analysis tools and to open the door to improving ab initio methods themselves with these powerful machine learning techniques.« less

Discovering charge density functionals and structure-property relationships with PROPhet: A general framework for coupling machine learning and first-principles methods

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kolb, Brian; Lentz, Levi C.; Kolpak, Alexie M.

Modern ab initio methods have rapidly increased our understanding of solid state materials properties, chemical reactions, and the quantum interactions between atoms. However, poor scaling often renders direct ab initio calculations intractable for large or complex systems. There are two obvious avenues through which to remedy this problem: (i) develop new, less expensive methods to calculate system properties, or (ii) make existing methods faster. This paper describes an open source framework designed to pursue both of these avenues. PROPhet (short for PROPerty Prophet) utilizes machine learning techniques to find complex, non-linear mappings between sets of material or system properties. Themore » result is a single code capable of learning analytical potentials, non-linear density functionals, and other structure-property or property-property relationships. These capabilities enable highly accurate mesoscopic simulations, facilitate computation of expensive properties, and enable the development of predictive models for systematic materials design and optimization. Here, this work explores the coupling of machine learning to ab initio methods through means both familiar (e.g., the creation of various potentials and energy functionals) and less familiar (e.g., the creation of density functionals for arbitrary properties), serving both to demonstrate PROPhet’s ability to create exciting post-processing analysis tools and to open the door to improving ab initio methods themselves with these powerful machine learning techniques.« less

On the vibrational spectra and structural parameters of methyl, silyl, and germyl azide from theoretical predictions and experimental data.

PubMed

Durig, Douglas T; Durig, M S; Durig, James R

2005-05-01

The infrared and Raman spectra of methyl, silyl, and germyl azide (XN3 where X=CH3, SiH3 and GeH3) have been predicted from ab initio calculations with full electron correlation by second order perturbation theory (MP2) and hybrid density function theory (DFT) by the B3LYP method with a variety of basis sets. These predicted data are compared to previously reported experimental data and complete vibrational assignments are provided for all three molecules. It is shown that several of the assignments recently proposed [J. Mol. Struct. (Theochem.) 434 (1998) 1] for methyl azide are not correct. Structural parameters for CH3N3 and GeH3N3 have been obtained by combining the previously reported microwave rotational constants with the ab initio MP2/6-311+G(d,p) predicted values. These "adjusted r0" parameters have very small uncertainties of +/-0.003 A for the XH distances and a maximum of +/-0.005 A for the heavy atom distances and +/-0.5 degrees for the angles. The predicted distance for the terminal NN bond which is nearly a triple bond is much better predicted by the B3LYP calculations, whereas the fundamental frequencies are better predicted by the scaled ab initio calculations. The results are discussed and compared to those obtained for some similar molecules.

Features of Electron Density Distribution in Delafossite Cualo2

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pogoreltsev, A. I.; Schmidt, S. V.; Gavrilenko, A. N.; Shulgin, D. A.; Korzun, B. V.; Matukhin, V. L.

2015-07-01

We have used pulsed 63,65Cu nuclear quadrupole resonance at room temperature to study the semiconductor compound CuAlO2 with a delafossite crystal structure, and we have determined the quadrupole frequency νQ = 28.12 MHz and the asymmetry parameter η ~ 0, which we used to study the features of the electron density distribution in the vicinity of the quadrupolar nucleus. In order to take into account the influence of correlation effects on the electric field gradient, we carried out ab initio calculations within the density functional theory (DFT) approximation using a set of correlation functionals VWN1RPA, VWN5, PW91LDA, CPW91, and B3LYP1. We mapped the electron density distribution in the vicinity of the quadrupolar copper nucleus for the Cu7Al6o{14/- 1} cluster and we calculated the size of the LUMO-HOMO gap, Δ ~ 3.33 eV. We established the anisotropy of the spatial electron density distribution. Based on analysis of the electron density distribution obtained, we suggest that the bond in CuAlO2 is not purely covalent.

Ammonia-water cation and ammonia dimer cation.

PubMed

Kim, Hahn; Lee, Han Myoung

2009-06-25

We have investigated the structure, interaction energy, electronic properties, and IR spectra of the ammonia-water cation (NH(3)H(2)O)(+) using density functional theory (DFT) and high-level ab initio theory. The ammonia-water cation has three minimum-energy structures of (a) H(2)NH(+)...OH(2), (b) H(3)N(+)...OH(2), and (c) H(3)NH(+)...OH. The lowest-energy structure is (a), followed by (c) and (b). The ammonia dimer cation has two minimum-energy structures [the lowest H(3)NH(+)...NH(2) structure and the second lowest (H(3)N...NH(3))(+) structure]. The minimum transition barrier for the interconversion between (a), (b), and (c) is approximately 6 kcal/mol. Most DFT calculations with various functionals, except a few cases, overstabilize the N...O and N...N binding, predicting different structures from Moller-Plesset second-order perturbation (MP2) theory and the most reliable complete basis set (CBS) limit of coupled cluster theory with single, double, and perturbative triple excitations [CCSD(T)]. Thus, the validity test of the DFT functionals for these ionized molecular systems would be of importance.

Analysis of the local structure around Cr3+ centers in perovskite KMgF3 using both ab initio (DFT) and semi-empirical (SPM) calculations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Emül, Y.; Erbahar, D.; Açıkgöz, M.

2014-11-01

The local structure around Cr3+ centers in perovskite KMgF3 crystal have been investigated through the applications of both an ab-initio, density functional theory (DFT), and a semi empirical, superposition model (SPM), analyses. A supercell approach is used for DFT calculations. All the tetragonal (Cr3+-VMg and Cr3+-Li+), trigonal (Cr3+-VK), and CrF5O cluster centers have been considered with various structural models based on the previously suggested experimental inferences. The significant structural changes around the Cr3+ centers induced by Mg2+ or K+ vacancies and the Li substitution at those vacancy sites have been determined and discussed by means of charge distribution. This study provides insight on both the roles of Mg2+ and K+ vacancies and Li+ ion in the local structural properties around Cr3+ centers in KMgF3.

Computational design and experimental validation of new thermal barrier systems

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Guo, Shengmin

2015-03-31

The focus of this project is on the development of a reliable and efficient ab initio based computational high temperature material design method which can be used to assist the Thermal Barrier Coating (TBC) bond-coat and top-coat design. Experimental evaluations on the new TBCs are conducted to confirm the new TBCs’ properties. Southern University is the subcontractor on this project with a focus on the computational simulation method development. We have performed ab initio density functional theory (DFT) method and molecular dynamics simulation on screening the top coats and bond coats for gas turbine thermal barrier coating design and validationmore » applications. For experimental validations, our focus is on the hot corrosion performance of different TBC systems. For example, for one of the top coatings studied, we examined the thermal stability of TaZr 2.75O 8 and confirmed it’s hot corrosion performance.« less

Progress towards an ab initio real-time treatment of warm dense matter

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baczewski, Andrew; Cangi, Attila; Hansen, Stephanie; Jensen, Daniel

2017-10-01

Time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) provides an accurate description of equilibrium properties of warm dense matter, such as the dynamic structure factor (Baczewski et al., Phys. Rev. Lett., 116(11), 2016). While non-equilibrium properties, such as stopping power, have also been demonstrated to be within the grasp of TDDFT, the ultrafast isochoric heating of condensed matter into the warm dense state, enabled by recent advances in XFELs, remains beyond its capabilities. In this talk, we will describe the successes of and continuing challenges for TDDFT for warm dense matter, and present progress towards a more complete ab initio treatment of isochoric x-ray heating. Sandia National Laboratories is a multi-mission laboratory managed and operated by National Technology and Engineering Solutions of Sandia, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Honeywell International, Inc., for the DOE's National Nuclear Security Administration under contract DE-NA0003525.

Correlation of electronic structure and magnetic moment in Ga1-xMnxN : First-principles, mean field and high temperature series expansions calculations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Masrour, R.; Hlil, E. K.

2016-08-01

Self-consistent ab initio calculations based on density-functional theory and using both full potential linearized augmented plane wave and Korring-Kohn-Rostoker-coherent potential approximation methods, are performed to investigate both electronic and magnetic properties of the Ga1-xMnxN system. Magnetic moments considered to lie along (001) axes are computed. Obtained data from ab initio calculations are used as input for the high temperature series expansions (HTSEs) calculations to compute other magnetic parameters such as the magnetic phase diagram and the critical exponent. The increasing of the dilution x in this system has allowed to verify a series of HTSEs predictions on the possibility of ferromagnetism in dilute magnetic insulators and to demonstrate that the interaction changes from antiferromagnetic to ferromagnetic passing through the spins glace phase.

DFT study of Al doped armchair SWCNTs

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Dhiman, Shobhna, E-mail: s-dhiman@hotmail.com; Rani, Anita; Kumar, Ranjan

2016-05-23

Electronic properties of endohedrally doped armchair single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) with a chain of six Al atoms have been studied using ab-initio density functional theory. We investigate the binding energy/atom, ionization potential, electron Affinity and Homo-Lumo gap of doped armchair SWNTs from (4,4) to (6,6) with two ends open. BE/dopant atom and ionization potential is maximum for (6, 6) doped armchair carbon nanotube; suggest that it is more stable than (4, 4) and (5, 5) doped tubes. HOMO - LUMO gap of Al doped arm chair carbon nanotubes decreases linearly with the increase in diameter of the tube. This showsmore » that confinement induce a strong effect on electronic properties of doped tubes. These combined systems can be used for future nano electronics. The ab–initio calculations were performed with SIESTA code using generalized gradient approximation (GGA).« less

Ab initio study of structural and mechanical property of solid molecular hydrogens

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ye, Yingting; Yang, Li; Yang, Tianle; Nie, Jinlan; Peng, Shuming; Long, Xinggui; Zu, Xiaotao; Du, Jincheng

2015-06-01

Ab initio calculations based on density functional theory (DFT) were performed to investigate the structural and the elastic properties of solid molecular hydrogens (H2). The influence of molecular axes of H2 on structural relative stabilities of hexagonal close-packed (hcp) and face-centered cubic (fcc) structured hydrogen molecular crystals were systematically investigated. Our results indicate that for hcp structures, disordered hydrogen molecule structure is more stable, while for fcc structures, Pa3 hydrogen molecular crystal is most stable. The cohesive energy of fcc H2 crystal was found to be lower than hcp. The mechanical properties of fcc and hcp hydrogen molecular crystals were obtained, with results consistent with previous theoretical calculations. In addition, the effects of zero point energy (ZPE) and van der Waals (vdW) correction on the cohesive energy and the stability of hydrogen molecular crystals were systematically studied and discussed.

Ab initio structure prediction of silicon and germanium sulfides for lithium-ion battery materials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hsueh, Connie; Mayo, Martin; Morris, Andrew J.

Conventional experimental-based approaches to materials discovery, which can rely heavily on trial and error, are time-intensive and costly. We discuss approaches to coupling experimental and computational techniques in order to systematize, automate, and accelerate the process of materials discovery, which is of particular relevance to developing new battery materials. We use the ab initio random structure searching (AIRSS) method to conduct a systematic investigation of Si-S and Ge-S binary compounds in order to search for novel materials for lithium-ion battery (LIB) anodes. AIRSS is a high-throughput, density functional theory-based approach to structure prediction which has been successful at predicting the structures of LIBs containing sulfur and silicon and germanium. We propose a lithiation mechanism for Li-GeS2 anodes as well as report new, theoretically stable, layered and porous structures in the Si-S and Ge-S systems that pique experimental interest.

Ab Initio Multiple Spawning Photochemical Dynamics of DMABN Using GPUs

DOE PAGES

Curchod, Basile F. E.; Sisto, Aaron; Martinez, Todd J.

2016-12-15

The ultrafast decay dynamics of 4-( N,N-dimethylamino)benzonitrile (DMABN) following photoexcitation was studied with the ab initio multiple spawning (AIMS) method, combined with GPU-accelerated linear-response time-dependent density functional theory (LR-TDDFT). We validate the LR-TDDFT method for this case and then present a detailed analysis of the first ≈200 fs of DMABN excited-state dynamics. Almost complete nonadiabatic population transfer from S 2 (the initially populated bright state) to S 1 takes place in less than 50 fs, without significant torsion of the dimethylamino (DMA) group. Significant torsion of the DMA group is only observed after the nuclear wavepacket reaches S 1 andmore » acquires locally excited electronic character. Here, our results show that torsion of the DMA group is not prerequisite for nonadiabatic transitions in DMABN, although such motion is indeed relevant on the lowest excited state (S 1).« less

Density functional theory study of phase stability and defect thermodynamics in iron-oxyhydroxide mineral materials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pinney, Nathan Douglas

Due to their high surface area and reactivity toward a variety of heavy metal and oxyanion species of environmental concern, Fe-(oxyhydr)oxide materials play an important role in the geochemical fate of natural and anthropogenic contaminants in soils, aquifers and surface water environments worldwide. In this research, ab initio simulations describe the bulk structure, magnetic properties, and relative phase stability of major Fe-(oxyhydr)oxide materials, including hematite, goethite, lepidocrocite, and ferrihydrite.These bulk models are employed in further studies of point defect and alloy/dopant thermodynamics in these materials, allowing construction of a phase stability model that better replicates the structure and composition of real materials. Li + adsorption at the predominant goethite (101) surface is simulated using ab initio methods, offering energetic and structural insight into the binding mechanisms of metal cations over a range of surface protonation conditions.

Electronic structure and equation of state of Sm2Co17 from first-principles DFT+ U

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, Patrick; Butch, Nicholas P.; Jeffries, Jason R.; McCall, Scott K.

2013-03-01

Rare-earth intermetallics have important applications as permanent magnet materials, and the rational optimization of their properties would benefit greatly from guidance from ab initio modeling. However, these systems are particularly challenging for current electronic structure methods. Here, we present an ab initio study of the prototype material Sm2Co17 and related compounds, using density functional theory with a Hubbard correction for the Sm 4 f-electrons (DFT+ U method) and ultrasoft pseudopotentials. The Hubbard U parameter is derived from first principles [Cococcioni and de Gironcoli, PRB 71, 035105 (2005)], not fit to experiment. Our calculations are in good agreement with recent photoemission measurements at ambient pressure and the equation of state up to 40 GPa, thus supporting the validity of our DFT+ U model. Prepared by LLNL under Contract DE-AC52-07NA27344.

Theoretical and experimental studies of the structure and vibrational spectra of NTO

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sorescu, Dan C.; Sutton, Teressa R. L.; Thompson, Donald L.; Beardall, David; Wight, Charles A.

1996-10-01

The structure and vibrational spectra of the high explosive 5-nitro-2,4-dihydro-3H-1,2,4-triazol-3-one (NTO) have been determined by ab initio molecular orbital calculations at the Hartree-Fock and second-order Møller-Plesset levels and by density functional theory (B3LYP). Experimental frequencies for the molecule have been determined from infrared spectra of pure NTO films and NTO molecules isolated in an argon matrix at 21 K. A force field for gas phase NTO has been obtained based on calculated results at the MP2/6-311G∗∗ level. In addition, a force field for solid state NTO has been constructed using the experimental vibrational frequencies for NTO films and scaled ab initio vibrational frequencies. Differences between the solid state and gas phase results indicate that the environment and preparation procedure exert a marked influence on the spectral characteristics of the NTO molecule.

Magneto-optical spectroscopy of Co{sub 2}FeSi Heusler compound

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Veis, M., E-mail: veis@karlov.mff.cuni.cz; Beran, L.; Antos, R.

2014-05-07

Magneto-optical and electronic properties of the Co{sub 2}FeSi Heusler compound were studied by polar Kerr magneto-optical spectroscopy and ab-initio calculations. The thin-film samples were grown by dc/rf magnetron co-sputtering on MgO(100) substrates. A Cr seed layer was deposited prior to the Co{sub 2}FeSi layer to achieve its epitaxial growth. The magneto-optical spectroscopy was carried out using generalized magneto-optical ellipsometry with rotating analyzer in the photon energy range from 1.4 to 5.5 eV with an applied magnetic field of up to 1.2 T. The polar Kerr spectra showed a smooth spectral behavior up to 5.5 eV indicating nearly free charge carriers. Experimental data weremore » compared with ab-initio calculations based on density functional theory employing the full-potential linearized augmented plane wave method.« less

The modular approach enables a fully ab initio simulation of the contacts between 3D and 2D materials.

PubMed

Fediai, Artem; Ryndyk, Dmitry A; Cuniberti, Gianaurelio

2016-10-05

Up to now, the electrical properties of the contacts between 3D metals and 2D materials have never been computed at a fully ab initio level due to the huge number of atomic orbitals involved in a current path from an electrode to a pristine 2D material. As a result, there are still numerous open questions and controversial theories on the electrical properties of systems with 3D/2D interfaces-for example, the current path and the contact length scalability. Our work provides a first-principles solution to this long-standing problem with the use of the modular approach, a method which rigorously combines a Green function formalism with the density functional theory (DFT) for this particular contact type. The modular approach is a general approach valid for any 3D/2D contact. As an example, we apply it to the most investigated among 3D/2D contacts-metal/graphene contacts-and show its abilities and consistency by comparison with existing experimental data. As it is applicable to any 3D/2D interface, the modular approach allows the engineering of 3D/2D contacts with the pre-defined electrical properties.

Density functional study of structural and electronic properties of Al{sub n}@C{sub 60}

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Dhiman, Shobhna, E-mail: s-dhiman@hotmail.com; Kumar, Ranjan; Dharamvir, Keya

2014-04-24

Fullerene derivatives have been shown to make contributions in many types of applications. Ab initio investigation of structural and electronic properties of aluminum doped endohedral fullerene has been performed using numerical atomic orbital density functional theory. We have obtained ground state structures for Al{sub n}@C{sub 60} (n=1–10). Which shows that C{sub 60} molecule can accommodate maximum of nine aluminum atoms, for n > 9 the cage eventually break. Encapsulated large number of aluminum atoms leads to deformation of cage with diameter varies from 7.16Å to 7.95Å. Binding energy/Al atom is found to increase till n = 4 and after thatmore » it decreases with the number of Al atoms with a sudden increase for n=10 due to breakage of C{sub 60} cage and electronic affinity first increases till n=4 then it decreases up to n=9 with a sharp increase for n=10. Ionization potential also first increases and then decreases. Homo-Lumo gap decreases till n=3 with a sharp increase for n=4, after that it shows an oscillatory nature. The results obtained are consistent with available theoretical and experimental results. The ab-initio calculations were performed using SIESTA code with generalized gradient approximation (GGA)« less

Ab initio and DFT studies of the structure and vibrational spectra of anhydrous caffeine

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Srivastava, Santosh K.; Singh, Vipin B.

2013-11-01

Vibrational spectra and molecular structure of anhydrous caffeine have been systematically investigated by second order Moller-Plesset (MP2) perturbation theory and density functional theory (DFT) calculations. Vibrational assignments have been made and many previous ambiguous assignments in IR and Raman spectra are amended. The calculated DFT frequencies and intensities at B3LYP/6-311++G(2d,2p) level, were found to be in better agreement with the experimental values. It was found that DFT with B3LYP functional predicts harmonic vibrational wave numbers more close to experimentally observed value when it was performed on MP2 optimized geometry rather than DFT geometry. The calculated TD-DFT vertical excitation electronic energies of the valence excited states of anhydrous caffeine are found to be in consonance to the experimental absorption peaks.

π-π stacking tackled with density functional theory

PubMed Central

Swart, Marcel; van der Wijst, Tushar; Fonseca Guerra, Célia

2007-01-01

Through comparison with ab initio reference data, we have evaluated the performance of various density functionals for describing π-π interactions as a function of the geometry between two stacked benzenes or benzene analogs, between two stacked DNA bases, and between two stacked Watson–Crick pairs. Our main purpose is to find a robust and computationally efficient density functional to be used specifically and only for describing π-π stacking interactions in DNA and other biological molecules in the framework of our recently developed QM/QM approach "QUILD". In line with previous studies, most standard density functionals recover, at best, only part of the favorable stacking interactions. An exception is the new KT1 functional, which correctly yields bound π-stacked structures. Surprisingly, a similarly good performance is achieved with the computationally very robust and efficient local density approximation (LDA). Furthermore, we show that classical electrostatic interactions determine the shape and depth of the π-π stacking potential energy surface. Figure Additivity approximation for the π-π interaction between two stacked Watson–Crick base pairs in terms of pairwise interactions between individual bases Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00894-007-0239-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. PMID:17874150

Photoinduced electron transfer process on emission spectrum of N,N‧-bis(salicylidene)-1,2-phenylenediamine as a Mg2+ cation chemosensor: A first principle DFT and TDDFT study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Taherpour, Avat (Arman); Jamshidi, Morteza; Rezaei, Omid; Belverdi, Ali Rezaei

2018-06-01

The electronic and optical properties of N,N‧-bis(salicylidene)-1,2-phenylenediamine (SPDA) ligand were studied as a chemical sensor of Mg2+ cation in two solvents (water and DMSO) using the ab initio theory through Density Functional Theory (DFT) and Time Dependent Density Functional theory (TDDFT) methods. The results show that the SPDA ligand has a high ability for chemical sensing of Mg2+. The results has also represented that HOMO-LUMO energy gap decreases 0.941 eV after the complex formation between SPDA and Mg2+. In addition, obvious changes are found in the UV-Vis absorption spectrum, optical analyses SPDA ligand and [SPDA.Mg]2+ complex, which it has the capability of detecting Mg2+ via the adsorptive UV-Vis and colorimetric methods. Emission spectrum calculations and photoinduced electron transfer (PET) process in water solution shows different wavelength emission spectrum in amount of 4.6 nm. An analysis of NBO (natural bond orbital) data indicates tangible changes in the electron transfers data from the electron pairs of ligand to the conjugated system, both prior and subsequent to Mg2+addition.

Understanding the Relativistic Generalization of Density Functional Theory (DFT) and Completing it in Practice

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bagayoko, Diola

In 2014, 50 years following the introduction of density functional theory (DFT), a rigorous understanding of it was published [AIP Advances, 4, 127104 (2014)]. This understanding included necessary steps ab initio electronic structure calculations have to take if their results are to possess the full physical content of DFT. These steps guarantee the fulfillment of conditions of validity of DFT; not surprisingly, they have led to accurate descriptions of several dozens of semiconductors, from first principle, without invoking derivative discontinuity or self-interaction correction. This presentation shows the mathematically and physically rigorous understanding of the relativistic extension of DFT by Rajagopal and Callaway {Phys. Rev. B 7, 1912 (1973)]. As in the non-relativistic case, the attainment of the absolute minima of the occupied energies is a necessary condition for the corresponding current density to be that of the ground state of the system and for computational results to agree with corresponding, experimental ones. Acknowledgments:This work was funded in part by the US National Science Foundation [NSF, Award Nos. EPS-1003897, NSF (2010-2015)-RII-SUBR, and HRD-1002541], the US Department of Energy, National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA, Award No. DE-NA0002630), LaSPACE, and LONI-SUBR.

Ab-initio study of structural and electronic properties of WS2/h-BN van der Waals heterostructure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ghasemi majd, Zahra; Amiri, Peiman; Taghizadeh, Seyed Fardin

2018-06-01

First-principle calculations with different exchange-correlation functionals, including LDA, GGA, semi-empirical and ab-initio van der Waals in the forms of vdW-DF2B86R and vdW-DF2 were performed to evaluate the performance of different functionals in describing the bonding mechanism, adsorption energy and interlayer distance of WS2 monolayer on and between h-BN layers. The finding was that the vdW-DF2B86R seems to be the approach best lending itself to this purpose. In order to include the van der Waals (vdW) interactions in our calculations, we used the DFT-D2 and vdW methods, which gave rise to a physical adsorption with no net charge transfer between the WS2 layer and the corresponding substrates. In addition, we investigated the electronic and structural properties of WS2 and h-BN heterolayers, using vdW-DF2B86R functional. Based on density functional theory calculations, WS2 on and between h-BN layers showed a direct band gap at the K-point, which was experimentally observed.

Calculated electronic, transport, and related properties of zinc blende boron arsenide (zb-BAs)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nwigboji, Ifeanyi H.; Malozovsky, Yuriy; Franklin, Lashounda; Bagayoko, Diola

2016-10-01

We present the results from ab-initio, self-consistent density functional theory (DFT) calculations of electronic, transport, and bulk properties of zinc blende boron arsenide. We utilized the local density approximation potential of Ceperley and Alder, as parameterized by Vosko and his group, the linear combination of Gaussian orbitals formalism, and the Bagayoko, Zhao, and Williams (BZW) method, as enhanced by Ekuma and Franklin (BZW-EF), in carrying out our completely self-consistent calculations. With this method, the results of our calculations have the full, physical content of density functional theory (DFT). Our results include electronic energy bands, densities of states, effective masses, and the bulk modulus. Our calculated, indirect band gap of 1.48 eV, from Γ to a conduction band minimum close to X, for the room temperature lattice constant of 4.777 Å, is in an excellent agreement with the experimental value of 1.46 ± 0.02 eV. We thoroughly explain the reasons for the excellent agreement between our findings and corresponding, experimental ones. This work provides a confirmation of the capability of DFT to describe accurately properties of materials, if the computations adhere strictly to the conditions of validity of DFT, as done by the BZW-EF method.

General framework for fluctuating dynamic density functional theory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Durán-Olivencia, Miguel A.; Yatsyshin, Peter; Goddard, Benjamin D.; Kalliadasis, Serafim

2017-12-01

We introduce a versatile bottom-up derivation of a formal theoretical framework to describe (passive) soft-matter systems out of equilibrium subject to fluctuations. We provide a unique connection between the constituent-particle dynamics of real systems and the time evolution equation of their measurable (coarse-grained) quantities, such as local density and velocity. The starting point is the full Hamiltonian description of a system of colloidal particles immersed in a fluid of identical bath particles. Then, we average out the bath via Zwanzig’s projection-operator techniques and obtain the stochastic Langevin equations governing the colloidal-particle dynamics. Introducing the appropriate definition of the local number and momentum density fields yields a generalisation of the Dean-Kawasaki (DK) model, which resembles the stochastic Navier-Stokes description of a fluid. Nevertheless, the DK equation still contains all the microscopic information and, for that reason, does not represent the dynamical law of observable quantities. We address this controversial feature of the DK description by carrying out a nonequilibrium ensemble average. Adopting a natural decomposition into local-equilibrium and nonequilibrium contribution, where the former is related to a generalised version of the canonical distribution, we finally obtain the fluctuating-hydrodynamic equation governing the time-evolution of the mesoscopic density and momentum fields. Along the way, we outline the connection between the ad hoc energy functional introduced in previous DK derivations and the free-energy functional from classical density-functional theory. The resultant equation has the structure of a dynamical density-functional theory (DDFT) with an additional fluctuating force coming from the random interactions with the bath. We show that our fluctuating DDFT formalism corresponds to a particular version of the fluctuating Navier-Stokes equations, originally derived by Landau and Lifshitz. Our framework thus provides the formal apparatus for ab initio derivations of fluctuating DDFT equations capable of describing the dynamics of soft-matter systems in and out of equilibrium.

Towards an ab initio description of correlated materials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yee, Chuck-Hou

Strongly-correlated materials are a rich playground for physical phenomena, exhibiting complex phase diagrams with many competing orders. Ab initio insights into materials combined with physical ideas provide the ability to identify the organizing principles driving the correlated electronic behavior and pursue first-principles design of new compounds. Realistic modeling of correlated materials is an active area of research, especially with the recent merger of density functional theory (DFT) with dynamical mean-field theory (DMFT). This thesis is structured in two parts. The first describes the methods and algorithmic developments which drive advances in DFT+DMFT. In Ch. 2 and 3, we provide an overview of the two foundational theories, DMFT and DFT. In the second half of Ch. 3, we describe some of the principles guiding the combination of the two theories to form DFT+DMFT. In Ch. 4, we describe the algorithm lying at the heart of modern DFT+DMFT implementations, the hybridization expansion formulation of continuous-time quantum monte carlo (CTQMC) for the general Anderson impurity problem, as well as a fast rejection algorithm for speeding-up the local trace evaluation. The final chapter in the methods section describes an algorithm for direct sampling of the partition function, and thus the free energy and entropy, of simple Anderson impurity models within CTQMC. The second part of the thesis is a collection of applications of our ab initio approach to key correlated materials. We first apply our method to plutonium binary alloys (Ch. 6), which when supplemented with slave-boson mean-field theory, allows us to understand the observed photoemission spectra. Ch. 7 describes the computation of spectra and optical conductivity for rare-earth nickelates grown as epitaxial thin films. In the final two chapters, we turn our attention to the high-temperature superconductors. In the first, we show that the charge-transfer energy is a key chemical variable which controls the superconducting transition temperatures across the cuprate families. In the second, we extend this idea towards first-principles design of cuprates by exploring a new family of copper oxysulfides.

Communication: Biological applications of coupled-cluster frozen-density embedding

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Heuser, Johannes; Höfener, Sebastian

2018-04-01

We report the implementation of the Laplace-transform scaled opposite-spin (LT-SOS) resolution-of-the-identity second-order approximate coupled-cluster singles and doubles (RICC2) combined with frozen-density embedding for excitation energies and molecular properties. In the present work, we furthermore employ the Hartree-Fock density for the interaction energy leading to a simplified Lagrangian which is linear in the Lagrangian multipliers. This approximation has the key advantage of a decoupling of the coupled-cluster amplitude and multipliers, leading also to a significant reduction in computation time. Using the new simplified Lagrangian in combination with efficient wavefunction models such as RICC2 or LT-SOS-RICC2 and density-functional theory (DFT) for the environment molecules (CC2-in-DFT) enables the efficient study of biological applications such as the rhodopsin and visual cone pigments using ab initio methods as routine applications.

Superconductivity in Doped sp3 Semiconductors: The Case of the Clathrates

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Connétable, D.; Timoshevskii, V.; Masenelli, B.; Beille, J.; Marcus, J.; Barbara, B.; Saitta, A. M.; Rignanese, G.-M.; Mélinon, P.; Yamanaka, S.; Blase, X.

2003-12-01

We present a joint experimental and theoretical study of the superconductivity in doped silicon clathrates. The critical temperature in Ba8@Si-46 is shown to strongly decrease with applied pressure. These results are corroborated by ab initio calculations using MacMillan's formulation of the BCS theory with the electron-phonon coupling constant λ calculated from perturbative density functional theory. Further, the study of I8@Si-46 and of gedanken pure silicon diamond and clathrate phases doped within a rigid-band approach show that the superconductivity is an intrinsic property of the sp3 silicon network. As a consequence, carbon clathrates are predicted to yield large critical temperatures with an effective electron-phonon interaction much larger than in C60.

Ab-initio Calculation of Optoelectronic and Structural Properties of Cubic Lithium Oxide (Li2O)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ziegler, Joshua; Polin, Daniel; Malozovsky, Yuriy; Bagayoko, Diola

Using the Bagayoko, Zhao, and Williams (BZW) method, as enhanced by Ekuma and Franklin (BZW-EF), we performed ab-initio, density functional theory (DFT) calculations of optoelectronic, transport, and bulk properties of Li2S. In so doing, we avoid ``band gap'' and problems plaguing many DET calculations [AIP Advances 4, 127104 (2014)]. We employed a local density approximation (LDA) potential and the linear combination of atomic orbitals (LCAO). With the BZW-EF method, our results possess the full, physical content of DFT and agree with available, corresponding experimental ones. In particular, we found a room temperature indirect band gap of 6.659 eV that compares favorably with experimental values ranging from 5 to 7.99 eV. We also calculated total and partial density of states (DOS and PDOS), effective masses of charge carriers, the equilibrium lattice constant, and the bulk modulus. Acknowledgments: This work was funded in part by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Louisiana Board of Regents, through LASiGMA [Award Nos. EPS- 1003897, NSF (2010-15)-RII-SUBR] and NSF HRD-1002541, the US Department of Energy - National, Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) (Award Nos. DE-NA0001861 and DE- NA0002630), LaSPACE, and LONI-SUBR.

Liquid Aluminum: Atomic diffusion and viscosity from ab initio molecular dynamics

PubMed Central

Jakse, Noel; Pasturel, Alain

2013-01-01

We present a study of dynamic properties of liquid aluminum using density-functional theory within the local-density (LDA) and generalized gradient (GGA) approximations. We determine the temperature dependence of the self-diffusion coefficient as well the viscosity using direct methods. Comparisons with experimental data favor the LDA approximation to compute dynamic properties of liquid aluminum. We show that the GGA approximation induce more important backscattering effects due to an enhancement of the icosahedral short range order (ISRO) that impact directly dynamic properties like the self-diffusion coefficient. All these results are then used to test the Stokes-Einstein relation and the universal scaling law relating the diffusion coefficient and the excess entropy of a liquid. PMID:24190311

AB INITIO STUDY OF PHONON DISPERSION AND ELASTIC PROPERTIES OF L12 INTERMETALLICS Ti3Al AND Y3Al

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Arikan, N.; Ersen, M.; Ocak, H. Y.; Iyigör, A.; Candan, A.; UǦUR, Ş.; UǦUR, G.; Khenata, R.; Varshney, D.

2013-12-01

In this paper, the structural, elastic and phonon properties of Ti3Al and Y3Al in L12(Cu3Al) phase are studied by performing first-principles calculations within the generalized gradient approximation. The calculated lattice constants, static bulk moduli, first-order pressure derivative of bulk moduli and elastic constants for both compounds are reported. The phonon dispersion curves along several high-symmetry lines at the Brillouin zone, together with the corresponding phonon density of states, are determined using the first-principles linear-response approach of the density functional perturbation theory. Temperature variations of specific heat in the range of 0-500 K are obtained using the quasi-harmonic model.

Structural, Electronic and Elastic Properties of Half-Heusler Alloys CrNiZ (Z = Al, Si, Ge and As)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zitouni, A.; Benstaali, W.; Abbad, A.; Lantri, T.; Bouadjemi, B.; Aziz, Z.

2018-06-01

In the present work, a self-consistent ab-initio calculation using the full- potential linearized augmented plane wave (FP-LAPW) method within the framework of the spin-polarized density functional theory (DFT) was used to study the structural, electronic, magnetic and elastic properties of the half Heusler alloys CrNiZ (Z = Al, Si, Ge and As) in three phases ( α, β and γ phases). The generalized gradient approximation (GGA) described by Perdew-Burke-Ernzerhof (PBE) was used. The results obtained for the spin-polarized band structure and the density of states show a halfmetallic behavior for the four compounds. The elastic constants ( C ij ) show that our compounds are ductile, stiff and anisotropic.

Methode de calcul a N-corps basee sur la G0W0: Etude du couplage electron-phonon dans le C60 et developpement d'une approche acceleree pour materiaux organiques

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Laflamme Janssen, Jonathan

This thesis studies the limitations of density functional theory. These limits are explored in the context of a traditional implementation using a plane waves basis set. First, we investigate the limit of the size of the systems that can be treated. Cutting edge methods that assess these limitations are then used to simulate nanoscale systems. More specifically, the grafting of bromophenyl molecules on the sidewall of carbon nanotubes is studied with these methods, as a better understanding of this procedure could have substantial impact on the electronic industry. Second, the limitations of the precision of density functional theory are explored. We begin with a quantitative study of the uncertainty of this method for the case of electron-phonon coupling calculations and find it to be substantially higher than what is widely presumed in the literature. The uncertainty on electronphonon coupling calculations is then explored within the G0W0 method, which is found to be a substantially more precise alternative. However, this method has the drawback of being severely limitated in the size of systems that can be computed. In the following, theoretical solutions to overcome these limitations are developed and presented. The increased performance and precision of the resulting implementation opens new possibilities for the study and design of materials, such as superconductors, polymers for organic photovoltaics and semiconductors. Keywords: Condensed matter physics, ab initio calculations, density functional theory, nanotechnology, carbon nanotubes, many-body perturbation theory, G0W0 method..

Density functional theory: Foundations reviewed

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kryachko, Eugene S.; Ludeña, Eduardo V.

2014-11-01

Guided by the above motto (quotation), we review a broad range of issues lying at the foundations of Density Functional Theory, DFT, a theory which is currently omnipresent in our everyday computational study of atoms and molecules, solids and nano-materials, and which lies at the heart of modern many-body computational technologies. The key goal is to demonstrate that there are definitely the ways to improve DFT. We start by considering DFT in the larger context provided by reduced density matrix theory (RDMT) and natural orbital functional theory (NOFT), and examine the implications that N-representability conditions on the second-order reduced density matrix (2-RDM) have not only on RDMT and NOFT but, also, by extension, on the functionals of DFT. This examination is timely in view of the fact that necessary and sufficient N-representability conditions on the 2-RDM have recently been attained. In the second place, we review some problems appearing in the original formulation of the first Hohenberg-Kohn theorem which is still a subject of some controversy. In this vein we recall Lieb's comment on this proof and the extension to this proof given by Pino et al. (2009), and in this context examine the conditions that must be met in order that the one-to-one correspondence between ground-state densities and external potentials remains valid for finite subspaces (namely, the subspaces where all Kohn-Sham solutions are obtained in practical applications). We also consider the issue of whether the Kohn-Sham equations can be derived from basic principles or whether they are postulated. We examine this problem in relation to ab initio DFT. The possibility of postulating arbitrary Kohn-Sham-type equations, where the effective potential is by definition some arbitrary mixture of local and non-local terms, is discussed. We also deal with the issue of whether there exists a universal functional, or whether one should advocate instead the construction of problem-geared functionals. These problems are discussed by making reference to ab initio DFT as well as to the local-scaling-transformation version of DFT, LS-DFT. In addition, we examine the question of the accuracy of approximate exchange-correlation functionals in the light of their non-observance of the variational principle. Why do approximate functionals yield reasonable (and accurate) descriptions of many molecular and condensed matter properties? Are the conditions imposed on exchange and correlation functionals sufficiently adequate to produce accurate semi-empirical functionals? In this respect, we consider the question of whether the results reflect a true approach to chemical accuracy or are just the outcome of a virtuoso-like performance which cannot be systematically improved. We discuss the issue of the accuracy of the contemporary DFT results by contrasting them to those obtained by the alternative RDMT and NOFT. We discuss the possibility of improving DFT functionals by applying in a systematic way the N-representability conditions on the 2-RDM. In this respect, we emphasize the possibility of constructing 2-matrices in the context of the local scaling transformation version of DFT to which the N-representability condition of RDM theory may be applied. We end up our revision of HKS-DFT by considering some of the problems related to spin symmetry and discuss some current issues dealing with a proper treatment of open-shell systems. We are particularly concerned, as in the rest of this paper, mostly with foundational issues arising in the construction of functionals. We dedicate the whole Section 4 to the local-scaling transformation version of density functional theory, LS-DFT. The reason is that in this theory some of the fundamental problems that appear in HKS-DFT, have been solved. For example, in LS-DFT the functionals are, in principle, designed to fulfill v- and N-representability conditions from the outset. This is possible because LS-DFT is based on density transformation (local-scaling of coordinates proceeds through density transformation) and so, because these functionals are constructed from prototype N-particle wavefunctions, the ensuing density functionals already have built-in N-representability conditions. This theory is presented in great detail with the purpose of illustrating an alternative way to HKS-DFT which could be used to improve the construction of HKS-DFT functionals. Let us clearly indicate, however, that although appealing from a theoretical point of view, the actual application of LS-DFT to large systems has not taken place mostly because of technical difficulties. Thus, our aim in introducing this theory is to foster a better understanding of its foundations with the hope that it may promote a cross-hybridization with the already existing approaches. Also, to complete our previous discussion on symmetry, in particular, spin-symmetry, we discuss this issue from the perspective of LS-DFT. Finally, in Section 6, we discuss dispersion molecular forces emphasizing their relevance to DFT approaches.

Self-consistent mapping of the ab initio calculations to the multi-orbital p- d model: Magnetism in α-FeSi2 films as the effect of the local environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhandun, V.; Zamkova, N.; Ovchinnikov, S.; Sandalov, I.

2017-11-01

To accurately translate the results obtained within density functional theory (DFT) to the language of many-body theory we suggest and test the following approach: the parameters of the formulated model are to be found from the requirement that the model self-consistent electron density and density of electron states are as close as possible to the ones found from the DFT-based calculations. The investigation of the phase diagram of the model allows us to find the critical regions in magnetic properties. Then the behavior of the real system in these regions is checked by the ab initio calculations. As an example, we studied the physics of magnetic moment (MM) formation due to substitutions of Si by Fe-atoms or vice versa in the otherwise non-magnetic alloy α-FeSi2. We find that the MM formation is essentially controlled by the interaction of Fe atoms with its next nearest atoms (NNN) and by their particular arrangement. The latter may result in different magnetic states at the same concentrations of constituents. Moreover, one of arrangements produces the counterintuitive result: a ferromagnetism arises due to an increase in Si concentration in Fe1-xSi2+ x ordered alloy. The existing phenomenological models associate the destruction of magnetic moment only with the number of Fe-Si nearest neighbors. The presented results show that the crucial role in MM formation is played by the particular local NNN environment of the metal atom in the transition metal-metalloid alloy.

Ab initio study of structural, elastic, and vibrational properties of transition-metal disilicides NbSi2 and TaSi2 in hexagonal C40 structure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ertürk, Esra; Gürel, Tanju

2018-05-01

We present an ab initio study of structural, elastic and vibrational properties of transition-metal disilicides NbSi2 and TaSi2. The calculations have been carried out within the density-functional theory and linear-response formalism using norm-conserving pseudopotentials and a plane-wave basis. The calculated lattice parameters, bulk moduli, and elastic constants agree well with previous theoretical and experimental results. The calculated phonon frequencies at the Brillouin zone center are in good agreement with the reported Raman spectra and provide reference values for the future infrared and neutron phonon measurements. Phonon dispersion relations, mode Grüneisen parameters, and total and partial phonon density of states are also discussed. Mode Grüneisen parameters of NbSi2 and TaSi2 at Brillouin zone center show similar trends and all values are found to be positive. From phonon dispersion relations and phonon density of states, we have found a gap around 200 cm-1 for TaSi2, where the frequencies below this gap mainly belong to Ta vibrations and frequencies above the gap is mainly related with Si vibrations. In the case of NbSi2, there is no such gap and both Nb and Si atoms contribute to the phonon density of states in an energy range of 150-270 cm-1.

An ab-initio density functional theory investigation of fullerene/Zn-phthalocyanine (C60/ZnPc) interface with face-on orientation

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Javaid, Saqib; National Centre of Physics, Islamabad; Javed Akhtar, M., E-mail: javedakhtar6@gmail.com

2015-07-28

We have employed density functional theory to study the C60/ZnPc interface with face-on orientation, which has recently been tailored experimentally. For this purpose, adsorption of ZnPc on C60 has been studied, while taking into account different orientations of C60. Out of various adsorption sites investigated, 6:6 C-C bridge position in apex configuration of C60 has been found energetically the most favourable one with C60-ZnPc adsorption distance of ∼2.77 Å. The adsorption of ZnPc on C60 ensues both charge re-organization and charge transfer at the interface, resulting in the formation of interface dipole. Moreover, by comparing results with that of C60/CuPc interface,more » we show that the direction of interface dipole can be tuned by the change of the central atom of the phthalocyanine molecule. These results highlight the complexity of electronic interactions present at the C60/Phthalocyanine interface.« less

Density functional theory fragment descriptors to quantify the reactivity of a molecular family: application to amino acids.

PubMed

Senet, P; Aparicio, F

2007-04-14

By using the exact density functional theory, one demonstrates that the value of the local electronic softness of a molecular fragment is directly related to the polarization charge (Coulomb hole) induced by a test electron removed (or added) from (at) the fragment. Our finding generalizes to a chemical group a formal relation between these molecular descriptors recently obtained for an atom in a molecule using an approximate atomistic model [P. Senet and M. Yang, J. Chem. Sci. 117, 411 (2005)]. In addition, a practical ab initio computational scheme of the Coulomb hole and related local descriptors of reactivity of a molecular family having in common a similar fragment is presented. As a blind test, the method is applied to the lateral chains of the 20 isolated amino acids. One demonstrates that the local softness of the lateral chain is a quantitative measure of the similarity of the amino acids. It predicts the separation of amino acids in different biochemical groups (aliphatic, basic, acidic, sulfur contained, and aromatic). The present approach may find applications in quantitative structure activity relationship methodology.

Density functional simulations as a tool to probe molecular interactions in wet supercritical CO2

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Glezakou, Vassiliki Alexandra; McGrail, B. Peter

2013-06-03

Recent advances in mixed Gaussian and plane wave algorithms have made possible the effective use of density functional theory (DFT) in ab initio molecular dynamics (AIMD) simulations for large and chemically complex models of condensed phase materials. In this chapter, we are reviewing recent progress on the modeling and characterization of co-sequestration processes and reactivity in wet supercritical CO2 (sc-CO2). We examine the molecular transformations of mineral and metal components of a sequestration system in contact with water-bearing scCO2 media and aim to establish a reliable correspondence between experimental observations and theory models with predictive ability and transferability of resultsmore » in large scale geomechanical simulators. This work is funded by the Department of Energy, Office of Fossil Energy. A portion of the research was performed using EMSL, a national scientific user facility sponsored by the Department of Energy’s Office of Biological and Environmental Research located at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. The Pacific Norhtwest National Laboratory (PNNL) is operated by Battelle for DOE under contract DE-AC06-76RL01830.« less

Detection of Cu2Zn5SnSe8 and Cu2Zn6SnSe9 phases in co-evaporated Cu2ZnSnSe4 thin-films

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schwarz, Torsten; Marques, Miguel A. L.; Botti, Silvana; Mousel, Marina; Redinger, Alex; Siebentritt, Susanne; Cojocaru-Mirédin, Oana; Raabe, Dierk; Choi, Pyuck-Pa

2015-10-01

Cu2ZnSnSe4 thin-films for photovoltaic applications are investigated using combined atom probe tomography and ab initio density functional theory. The atom probe studies reveal nano-sized grains of Cu2Zn5SnSe8 and Cu2Zn6SnSe9 composition, which cannot be assigned to any known phase reported in the literature. Both phases are considered to be metastable, as density functional theory calculations yield positive energy differences with respect to the decomposition into Cu2ZnSnSe4 and ZnSe. Among the conceivable crystal structures for both phases, a distorted zinc-blende structure shows the lowest energy, which is a few tens of meV below the energy of a wurtzite structure. A band gap of 1.1 eV is calculated for both the Cu2Zn5SnSe8 and Cu2Zn6SnSe9 phases. Possible effects of these phases on solar cell performance are discussed.

SurfKin: an ab initio kinetic code for modeling surface reactions.

PubMed

Le, Thong Nguyen-Minh; Liu, Bin; Huynh, Lam K

2014-10-05

In this article, we describe a C/C++ program called SurfKin (Surface Kinetics) to construct microkinetic mechanisms for modeling gas-surface reactions. Thermodynamic properties of reaction species are estimated based on density functional theory calculations and statistical mechanics. Rate constants for elementary steps (including adsorption, desorption, and chemical reactions on surfaces) are calculated using the classical collision theory and transition state theory. Methane decomposition and water-gas shift reaction on Ni(111) surface were chosen as test cases to validate the code implementations. The good agreement with literature data suggests this is a powerful tool to facilitate the analysis of complex reactions on surfaces, and thus it helps to effectively construct detailed microkinetic mechanisms for such surface reactions. SurfKin also opens a possibility for designing nanoscale model catalysts. Copyright © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

A review on ab initio studies of static, transport, and optical properties of polystyrene under extreme conditions for inertial confinement fusion applications

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Collins, L. A.; Boehly, T. R.; Ding, Y. H.

Polystyrene (CH), commonly known as “plastic,” has been one of the widely used ablator materials for capsule designs in inertial confinement fusion (ICF). Knowing its precise properties under high-energy-density conditions is crucial to understanding and designing ICF implosions through radiation–hydrodynamic simulations. For this purpose, systematic ab initio studies on the static, transport, and optical properties of CH, in a wide range of density and temperature conditions (ρ= 0.1 to 100 g/cm 3 and T = 10 3 to 4 × 10 6K), have been conducted using quantum molecular dynamics (QMD) simulations based on the density functional theory. We have builtmore » several wide-ranging, self-consistent material-properties tables for CH, such as the first-principles equation of state (FPEOS), the QMD-based thermal conductivity (Κ QMD) and ionization, and the first-principles opacity table (FPOT). This paper is devoted to providing a review on (1) what results were obtained from these systematic ab initio studies; (2) how these self-consistent results were compared with both traditional plasma-physics models and available experiments; and (3) how these first-principles–based properties of polystyrene affect the predictions of ICF target performance, through both 1-D and 2-D radiation–hydrodynamic simulations. In the warm dense regime, our ab initio results, which can significantly differ from predictions of traditional plasma-physics models, compared favorably with experiments. When incorporated into hydrocodes for ICF simulations, these first-principles material properties of CH have produced significant differences over traditional models in predicting 1-D/2-D target performance of ICF implosions on OMEGA and direct-drive–ignition designs for the National Ignition Facility. Lastly, we will discuss the implications of these studies on the current small-margin ICF target designs using a CH ablator.« less

A review on ab initio studies of static, transport, and optical properties of polystyrene under extreme conditions for inertial confinement fusion applications

DOE PAGES

Collins, L. A.; Boehly, T. R.; Ding, Y. H.; ...

2018-03-23

Polystyrene (CH), commonly known as “plastic,” has been one of the widely used ablator materials for capsule designs in inertial confinement fusion (ICF). Knowing its precise properties under high-energy-density conditions is crucial to understanding and designing ICF implosions through radiation–hydrodynamic simulations. For this purpose, systematic ab initio studies on the static, transport, and optical properties of CH, in a wide range of density and temperature conditions (ρ= 0.1 to 100 g/cm 3 and T = 10 3 to 4 × 10 6K), have been conducted using quantum molecular dynamics (QMD) simulations based on the density functional theory. We have builtmore » several wide-ranging, self-consistent material-properties tables for CH, such as the first-principles equation of state (FPEOS), the QMD-based thermal conductivity (Κ QMD) and ionization, and the first-principles opacity table (FPOT). This paper is devoted to providing a review on (1) what results were obtained from these systematic ab initio studies; (2) how these self-consistent results were compared with both traditional plasma-physics models and available experiments; and (3) how these first-principles–based properties of polystyrene affect the predictions of ICF target performance, through both 1-D and 2-D radiation–hydrodynamic simulations. In the warm dense regime, our ab initio results, which can significantly differ from predictions of traditional plasma-physics models, compared favorably with experiments. When incorporated into hydrocodes for ICF simulations, these first-principles material properties of CH have produced significant differences over traditional models in predicting 1-D/2-D target performance of ICF implosions on OMEGA and direct-drive–ignition designs for the National Ignition Facility. Lastly, we will discuss the implications of these studies on the current small-margin ICF target designs using a CH ablator.« less

Impact of incomplete metal coverage on the electrical properties of metal-CNT contacts: A large-scale ab initio study

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Fediai, Artem, E-mail: artem.fediai@nano.tu-dresden.de; Ryndyk, Dmitry A.; Center for Advancing Electronics Dresden, TU Dresden, 01062 Dresden

2016-09-05

Using a dedicated combination of the non-equilibrium Green function formalism and large-scale density functional theory calculations, we investigated how incomplete metal coverage influences two of the most important electrical properties of carbon nanotube (CNT)-based transistors: contact resistance and its scaling with contact length, and maximum current. These quantities have been derived from parameter-free simulations of atomic systems that are as close as possible to experimental geometries. Physical mechanisms that govern these dependences have been identified for various metals, representing different CNT-metal interaction strengths from chemisorption to physisorption. Our results pave the way for an application-oriented design of CNT-metal contacts.

Electron-density critical points analysis and catastrophe theory to forecast structure instability in periodic solids.

PubMed

Merli, Marcello; Pavese, Alessandro

2018-03-01

The critical points analysis of electron density, i.e. ρ(x), from ab initio calculations is used in combination with the catastrophe theory to show a correlation between ρ(x) topology and the appearance of instability that may lead to transformations of crystal structures, as a function of pressure/temperature. In particular, this study focuses on the evolution of coalescing non-degenerate critical points, i.e. such that ∇ρ(x c ) = 0 and λ 1 , λ 2 , λ 3 ≠ 0 [λ being the eigenvalues of the Hessian of ρ(x) at x c ], towards degenerate critical points, i.e. ∇ρ(x c ) = 0 and at least one λ equal to zero. The catastrophe theory formalism provides a mathematical tool to model ρ(x) in the neighbourhood of x c and allows one to rationalize the occurrence of instability in terms of electron-density topology and Gibbs energy. The phase/state transitions that TiO 2 (rutile structure), MgO (periclase structure) and Al 2 O 3 (corundum structure) undergo because of pressure and/or temperature are here discussed. An agreement of 3-5% is observed between the theoretical model and experimental pressure/temperature of transformation.

Systematic investigation of structural, electronic, optical and thermal properties of ternary MoAlB; an ab initio approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rajpoot, Priyanka; Rastogi, Anugya; Verma, U. P.

2018-02-01

Structural, electronic, optical and thermal properties of molybdenum aluminum boride (MoAlB) have been analyzed systematically using the full potential linearized augmented plane wave method based on density functional theory at ambient condition as well as high pressure and high temperature. Density of states and band structure calculation reflect the metallic character of MoAlB. In addition to this, the electron charge density calculation reveals the strong covalent bonding, in between ‘B’ atoms as well as ‘Mo’ and ‘B’ atoms. Optical parameters exhibit anisotropic nature and MoAlB become transparent in ultraviolet region for the radiation of energy above 25 eV. The thermal properties were investigated by using the quasi-harmonic Debye model at high temperature and high pressure.

Prediction of electronic and optical properties of ZnAl2Te4 defect chalcopyrite semiconductor: an ab-initio study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mayengbam, Rishikanta; Tripathy, S. K.; Pandey, B. P.

2018-03-01

In this paper, we have investigated the structural, electronic and optical properties of ZnAl2Te4 defect chalcopyrite semiconductor using generalized gradient approximation (GGA) within density functional theory (DFT). We have calculated the optimized lattice constants (a and c) and compared with the available experimental values. The optimized lattice constants have been used to calculate the energy band gap and found to be 1.57 eV. The partial density of states and total density of states have been discussed in detail. The frequency dependent dielectric constant and refractive index have been calculated and plotted in the energy range 0-13 eV. All the above parameters have been compared with the available experimental and theoretical values and found good agreement between them.

First-principles studies of electronic, transport and bulk properties of pyrite FeS2

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Banjara, Dipendra; Mbolle, Augustine; Malozovsky, Yuriy; Franklin, Lashounda; Bagayoko, Diola

We present results of ab-initio, self-consistent density functional theory (DFT) calculations of electronic, transport, and bulk properties of pyrite FeS2. We employed a local density approximation (LDA) potential and the linear combination of atomic orbitals (LCAO) formalism, following the Bagayoko, Zhao and Williams (BZW) method, as enhanced by Ekuma and Franklin (BZW-EF). The BZW-EF method requires successive, self consistent calculations with increasing basis sets to reach the ground state of the system under study. We report the band structure, the band gap, total and partial densities of states, effective masses, and the bulk modulus. Work funded in part by the US Department of Energy (DOE), National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) (Award No.DE-NA0002630), the National Science Foundation (NSF) (Award No, 1503226), LaSPACE, and LONI-SUBR.

Characterizing water-metal interfaces and machine learning potential energy surfaces

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ryczko, Kevin

In this thesis, we first discuss the fundamentals of ab initio electronic structure theory and density functional theory (DFT). We also discuss statistics related to computing thermodynamic averages of molecular dynamics (MD). We then use this theory to analyze and compare the structural, dynamical, and electronic properties of liquid water next to prototypical metals including platinum, graphite, and graphene. Our results are built on Born-Oppenheimer molecular dynamics (BOMD) generated using density functional theory (DFT) which explicitly include van der Waals (vdW) interactions within a first principles approach. All calculations reported use large simulation cells, allowing for an accurate treatment of the water-electrode interfaces. We have included vdW interactions through the use of the optB86b-vdW exchange correlation functional. Comparisons with the Perdew-Burke-Ernzerhof (PBE) exchange correlation functional are also shown. We find an initial peak, due to chemisorption, in the density profile of the liquid water-Pt interface not seen in the liquid water-graphite interface, liquid watergraphene interface, nor interfaces studied previously. To further investigate this chemisorption peak, we also report differences in the electronic structure of single water molecules on both Pt and graphite surfaces. We find that a covalent bond forms between the single water molecule and the platinum surface, but not between the single water molecule and the graphite surface. We also discuss the effects that defects and dopants in the graphite and graphene surfaces have on the structure and dynamics of liquid water. Lastly, we introduce artificial neural networks (ANNs), and demonstrate how they can be used to machine learn electronic structure calculations. As a proof of principle, we show the success of an ANN potential energy surfaces for a dimer molecule with a Lennard-Jones potential.

Low-Dimensional Materials for Optoelectronic and Bioelectronic Applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hong, Tu

In this thesis, we first discuss the fundamentals of ab initio electronic structure theory and density functional theory (DFT). We also discuss statistics related to computing thermodynamic averages of molecular dynamics (MD). We then use this theory to analyze and compare the structural, dynamical, and electronic properties of liquid water next to prototypical metals including platinum, graphite, and graphene. Our results are built on Born-Oppenheimer molecular dynamics (BOMD) generated using density functional theory (DFT) which explicitly include van der Waals (vdW) interactions within a first principles approach. All calculations reported use large simulation cells, allowing for an accurate treatment of the water-electrode interfaces. We have included vdW interactions through the use of the optB86b-vdW exchange correlation functional. Comparisons with the Perdew-Burke-Ernzerhof (PBE) exchange correlation functional are also shown. We find an initial peak, due to chemisorption, in the density profile of the liquid water-Pt interface not seen in the liquid water-graphite interface, liquid watergraphene interface, nor interfaces studied previously. To further investigate this chemisorption peak, we also report differences in the electronic structure of single water molecules on both Pt and graphite surfaces. We find that a covalent bond forms between the single water molecule and the platinum surface, but not between the single water molecule and the graphite surface. We also discuss the effects that defects and dopants in the graphite and graphene surfaces have on the structure and dynamics of liquid water. Lastly, we introduce artificial neural networks (ANNs), and demonstrate how they can be used to machine learn electronic structure calculations. As a proof of principle, we show the success of an ANN potential energy surfaces for a dimer molecule with a Lennard-Jones potential.

Accurate first-principles structures and energies of diversely bonded systems from an efficient density functional

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sun, Jianwei; Remsing, Richard C.; Zhang, Yubo

2016-06-13

One atom or molecule binds to another through various types of bond, the strengths of which range from several meV to several eV. Although some computational methods can provide accurate descriptions of all bond types, those methods are not efficient enough for many studies (for example, large systems, ab initio molecular dynamics and high-throughput searches for functional materials). Here, we show that the recently developed non-empirical strongly constrained and appropriately normed (SCAN) meta-generalized gradient approximation (meta-GGA) within the density functional theory framework predicts accurate geometries and energies of diversely bonded molecules and materials (including covalent, metallic, ionic, hydrogen and vanmore » der Waals bonds). This represents a significant improvement at comparable efficiency over its predecessors, the GGAs that currently dominate materials computation. Often, SCAN matches or improves on the accuracy of a computationally expensive hybrid functional, at almost-GGA cost. SCAN is therefore expected to have a broad impact on chemistry and materials science.« less

Analysis of the structural, electronic and optic properties of Ni doped MgSiP{sub 2} semiconductor chalcopyrite compound

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kocak, Belgin, E-mail: koakbelgin@gmail.com; Ciftci, Yasemin Oztekin, E-mail: yasemin@gazi.edu.tr

2016-03-25

The structural, electronic band structure and optic properties of the Ni doped MgSiP{sub 2} chalcopyrite compound have been performed by using first-principles method in the density functional theory (DFT) as implemented in Vienna Ab-initio Simulation Package (VASP). The generalized gradient approximation (GGA) in the scheme of Perdew, Burke and Ernzerhof (PBE) is used for the exchange and correlation functional. The present lattice constant (a) follows generally the Vegard’s law. The electronic band structure, total and partial density of states (DOS and PDOS) are calculated. We present data for the frequency dependence of imaginary and real parts of dielectric functions ofmore » Ni doped MgSiP{sub 2}. For further investigation of the optical properties the reflectivity, refractive index, extinction coefficient and electron energy loss function are also predicted. Our obtained results indicate that the lattice constants, electronic band structure and optical properties of this compound are dependent on the substitution concentration of Ni.« less

Accurate first-principles structures and energies of diversely bonded systems from an efficient density functional.

PubMed

Sun, Jianwei; Remsing, Richard C; Zhang, Yubo; Sun, Zhaoru; Ruzsinszky, Adrienn; Peng, Haowei; Yang, Zenghui; Paul, Arpita; Waghmare, Umesh; Wu, Xifan; Klein, Michael L; Perdew, John P

2016-09-01

One atom or molecule binds to another through various types of bond, the strengths of which range from several meV to several eV. Although some computational methods can provide accurate descriptions of all bond types, those methods are not efficient enough for many studies (for example, large systems, ab initio molecular dynamics and high-throughput searches for functional materials). Here, we show that the recently developed non-empirical strongly constrained and appropriately normed (SCAN) meta-generalized gradient approximation (meta-GGA) within the density functional theory framework predicts accurate geometries and energies of diversely bonded molecules and materials (including covalent, metallic, ionic, hydrogen and van der Waals bonds). This represents a significant improvement at comparable efficiency over its predecessors, the GGAs that currently dominate materials computation. Often, SCAN matches or improves on the accuracy of a computationally expensive hybrid functional, at almost-GGA cost. SCAN is therefore expected to have a broad impact on chemistry and materials science.

Effect on magnetic properties of germanium encapsulated C60 fullerene

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Umran, Nibras Mossa; Kumar, Ranjan

2013-02-01

Structural and electronic properties of Gen(n = 1-4) doped C60 fullerene are investigated with ab initio density functional theory calculations by using an efficient computer code, known as SIESTA. The pseudopotentials are constructed using a Trouiller-Martins scheme, to describe the interaction of valence electrons with the atomic cores. In endohedral doped embedding of more germanium atoms complexes we have seen that complexes are stable and thereafter cage break down. We have also investigated that binding energy, electronic affinity increases and magnetic moment oscillating behavior as the number of semiconductor atoms in C60 fullerene goes on increasing.

First-principles modeling of hardness in transition-metal diborides

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lazar, Petr; Chen, Xing-Qiu; Podloucky, Raimund

2009-07-01

Based on recent experiments, the diborides OsB2 and ReB2 were proposed to be ultraincompressible and superhard materials. By application of an ab initio density-functional theory approach we investigate the elastic and cleavage fracture properties of the borides MB2 ( M=Hf , Ta, W, Re, Os, and Ir). We derive a direct correlation between the lowest calculated critical cleavage stress and the experimental (micro)hardness. By calculating the critical shear stress and estimating the possibility of dislocation emission we can justify the prediction that ReB2 is indeed a superhard material.

Vibrations of bioionic liquids by ab initio molecular dynamics and vibrational spectroscopy.

PubMed

Tanzi, Luana; Benassi, Paola; Nardone, Michele; Ramondo, Fabio

2014-12-26

Density functional theory and vibrational spectroscopy are used to investigate a class of bioionic liquids consisting of a choline cation and carboxylate anions. Through quantum mechanical studies of motionless ion pairs and molecular dynamics of small portions of the liquid, we have characterized important structural features of the ionic liquid. Hydrogen bonding produces stable ion pairs in the liquid and induces vibrational features of the carboxylate groups comparable with experimental results. Infrared and Raman spectra of liquids have been measured, and main bands have been assigned on the basis of theoretical spectra.

Theoretical evidence for unexpected O-rich phases at corners of MgO surfaces

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bhattacharya, Saswata; Berger, Daniel; Reuter, Karsten; Ghiringhelli, Luca M.; Levchenko, Sergey V.

2017-12-01

Realistic oxide materials are often semiconductors, in particular at elevated temperatures, and their surfaces contain undercoordinated atoms at structural defects such as steps and corners. Using hybrid density-functional theory and ab initio atomistic thermodynamics, we investigate the interplay of bond-making, bond-breaking, and charge-carrier trapping at the corner defects at the (100) surface of a p -doped MgO in thermodynamic equilibrium with an O2 atmosphere. We show that by manipulating the coordination of surface atoms, one can drastically change and even reverse the order of stability of reduced versus oxidized surface sites.

Atomic structure of the GaAs(001)-c(4x4) surface: first-principles evidence for diversity of heterodimer motifs.

PubMed

Penev, E; Kratzer, P; Scheffler, M

2004-10-01

The GaAs(001)-c(4x4) surface was studied using ab initio atomistic thermodynamics based on density-functional theory calculations. We demonstrate that in a range of stoichiometries, between those of the conventional three As-dimer and the new three Ga-As-dimer models, there exists a diversity of atomic structures featuring Ga-As heterodimers. These results fully explain the experimental scanning tunneling microscopy images and are likely to be relevant also to the c(4x4)-reconstructed (001) surfaces of other III-V semiconductors.

Research Update: The materials genome initiative: Data sharing and the impact of collaborative ab initio databases

DOE PAGES

Jain, Anubhav; Persson, Kristin A.; Ceder, Gerbrand

2016-03-24

Materials innovations enable new technological capabilities and drive major societal advancements but have historically required long and costly development cycles. The Materials Genome Initiative (MGI) aims to greatly reduce this time and cost. Here, we focus on data reuse in the MGI and, in particular, discuss the impact of three different computational databases based on density functional theory methods to the research community. Finally, we discuss and provide recommendations on technical aspects of data reuse, outline remaining fundamental challenges, and present an outlook on the future of MGI's vision of data sharing.

Graphene production by laser shot on graphene oxide: An ab initio prediction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Hong; Miyamoto, Yoshiyuki

2012-01-01

By performing the first-principles simulation of electron-ion dynamics based on the time-dependent density-functional theory, we propose a way to produce graphene from graphene oxides by means of the laser-induced reduction without using chemical species. Epoxy and hydroxyl groups on graphene sheets can be completely removed upon irradiation with femtosecond laser without damaging the graphene sheet. By comparing the simulated results with different pulse shapes and intensities, optimum conditions of the femtosecond laser for reduction of graphene oxide were determined. The current works will be useful for further experimental researches.

Real-time ab initio KMC simulation of the self-assembly and sintering of bimetallic epitaxial nanoclusters: Au + Ag on Ag(100).

PubMed

Han, Yong; Liu, Da-Jiang; Evans, James W

2014-08-13

Far-from-equilibrium shape and structure evolution during formation and post-assembly sintering of bimetallic nanoclusters is extremely sensitive to the periphery diffusion and intermixing kinetics. Precise characterization of the many distinct local-environment-dependent diffusion barriers is achieved for epitaxial nanoclusters using density functional theory to assess interaction energies both with atoms at adsorption sites and at transition states. Kinetic Monte Carlo simulation incorporating these barriers then captures structure evolution on the appropriate time scale for two-dimensional core-ring and intermixed Au-Ag nanoclusters on Ag(100).

Real-Time Ab Initio KMC Simulation of the Self-Assembly and Sintering of Bimetallic Epitaxial Nanoclusters: Au + Ag on Ag(100)

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Han, Yong; Liu, Da-Jiang; Evans, James W

2014-08-13

Far-from-equilibrium shape and structure evolution during formation and post-assembly sintering of bimetallic nanoclusters is extremely sensitive to the periphery diffusion and intermixing kinetics. Precise characterization of the many distinct local-environment-dependent diffusion barriers is achieved for epitaxial nanoclusters using density functional theory to assess interaction energies both with atoms at adsorption sites and at transition states. Kinetic Monte Carlo simulation incorporating these barriers then captures structure evolution on the appropriate time scale for two-dimensional core-ring and intermixed Au-Ag nanoclusters on Ag(100).

An Integrated Study on a Novel High Temperature High Entropy Alloy

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Yang, Shizhong

2016-12-31

This report summarizes our recent works of theoretical modeling, simulation, and experimental validation of the simulation results on the new refractory high entropy alloy (HEA) design and oxide doped refractory HEA research. The simulation of the stability and thermal dynamics simulation on potential thermal stable candidates were performed and related HEA with oxide doped samples were synthesized and characterized. The HEA ab initio density functional theory and molecular dynamics physical property simulation methods and experimental texture validation techniques development, achievements already reached, course work development, students and postdoc training, and future improvement research directions are briefly introduced.

Ab initio modeling of point defects, self-diffusion, and incorporation of impurities in thorium

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Daroca, D. Pérez

2017-02-01

Research on Generation-IV nuclear reactors has boosted the investigation of thorium as nuclear fuel. By means of first-principles calculations within the framework of density functional theory, structural properties and phonon dispersion curves of Th are obtained. These results agreed very well with previous ones. The stability and formation energies of vacancies, interstitial and divacancies are studied. It is found that vacancies are the energetically preferred defects. The incorporation energies of He, Xe, and Kr atoms in Th defects are analyzed. Self-diffusion, migration paths and activation energies are also calculated.

Detuning the honeycomb of α -RuCl3 : Pressure-dependent optical studies reveal broken symmetry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Biesner, Tobias; Biswas, Sananda; Li, Weiwu; Saito, Yohei; Pustogow, Andrej; Altmeyer, Michaela; Wolter, Anja U. B.; Büchner, Bernd; Roslova, Maria; Doert, Thomas; Winter, Stephen M.; Valentí, Roser; Dressel, Martin

2018-06-01

The honeycomb Mott insulator α -RuCl3 loses its low-temperature magnetic order by pressure. We report clear evidence for a dimerized structure at P >1 GPa and observe the breakdown of the relativistic jeff picture in this regime strongly affecting the electronic properties. A pressure-induced Kitaev quantum spin liquid cannot occur in this broken symmetry state. We shed light on the new phase by broadband infrared spectroscopy of the low-temperature properties of α -RuCl3 and ab initio density functional theory calculations, both under hydrostatic pressure.

Extent of hydrogen coverage of Si(001) under chemical vapor deposition conditions from ab initio approaches

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rosenow, Phil; Tonner, Ralf

2016-05-01

The extent of hydrogen coverage of the Si(001) c(4 × 2) surface in the presence of hydrogen gas has been studied with dispersion corrected density functional theory. Electronic energy contributions are well described using a hybrid functional. The temperature dependence of the coverage in thermodynamic equilibrium was studied computing the phonon spectrum in a supercell approach. As an approximation to these demanding computations, an interpolated phonon approach was found to give comparable accuracy. The simpler ab initio thermodynamic approach is not accurate enough for the system studied, even if corrections by the Einstein model for surface vibrations are considered. The on-set of H2 desorption from the fully hydrogenated surface is predicted to occur at temperatures around 750 K. Strong changes in hydrogen coverage are found between 1000 and 1200 K in good agreement with previous reflectance anisotropy spectroscopy experiments. These findings allow a rational choice for the surface state in the computational treatment of chemical reactions under typical metal organic vapor phase epitaxy conditions on Si(001).

Extent of hydrogen coverage of Si(001) under chemical vapor deposition conditions from ab initio approaches

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Rosenow, Phil; Tonner, Ralf, E-mail: tonner@chemie.uni-marburg.de

2016-05-28

The extent of hydrogen coverage of the Si(001) c(4 × 2) surface in the presence of hydrogen gas has been studied with dispersion corrected density functional theory. Electronic energy contributions are well described using a hybrid functional. The temperature dependence of the coverage in thermodynamic equilibrium was studied computing the phonon spectrum in a supercell approach. As an approximation to these demanding computations, an interpolated phonon approach was found to give comparable accuracy. The simpler ab initio thermodynamic approach is not accurate enough for the system studied, even if corrections by the Einstein model for surface vibrations are considered. Themore » on-set of H{sub 2} desorption from the fully hydrogenated surface is predicted to occur at temperatures around 750 K. Strong changes in hydrogen coverage are found between 1000 and 1200 K in good agreement with previous reflectance anisotropy spectroscopy experiments. These findings allow a rational choice for the surface state in the computational treatment of chemical reactions under typical metal organic vapor phase epitaxy conditions on Si(001).« less

Quantum dynamics of hydrogen atoms on graphene. I. System-bath modeling

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bonfanti, Matteo, E-mail: matteo.bonfanti@unimi.it; Jackson, Bret; Hughes, Keith H.

2015-09-28

An accurate system-bath model to investigate the quantum dynamics of hydrogen atoms chemisorbed on graphene is presented. The system comprises a hydrogen atom and the carbon atom from graphene that forms the covalent bond, and it is described by a previously developed 4D potential energy surface based on density functional theory ab initio data. The bath describes the rest of the carbon lattice and is obtained from an empirical force field through inversion of a classical equilibrium correlation function describing the hydrogen motion. By construction, model building easily accommodates improvements coming from the use of higher level electronic structure theorymore » for the system. Further, it is well suited to a determination of the system-environment coupling by means of ab initio molecular dynamics. This paper details the system-bath modeling and shows its application to the quantum dynamics of vibrational relaxation of a chemisorbed hydrogen atom, which is here investigated at T = 0 K with the help of the multi-configuration time-dependent Hartree method. Paper II deals with the sticking dynamics.« less

Ab initio study on the structural and electronic properties of water surrounding a multifunctional nanoprobe

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xia, Xiuli; Shao, Yuanzhi

2018-02-01

We report the magneto-electric behavior of a dual-modality biomedical nanoprobe, a ternary nanosystem consisting of gold and gadolinia clusters and water molecules, with the effect of both nanoclusters on the structural and electronic properties of water. The hydrogen-oxygen bond lengths and angles as well as electronic charges of water molecules surrounding both nanoclusters were calculated using Hubbard U corrected density functional theory aided by molecular dynamics approach. The calculations reveal existence of a magneto-electric interaction between gold and gadolinium oxide nanoclusters, which influences the physical properties of surrounding water remarkably. A broader (narrower) distribution of Hsbnd O bond lengths (Hsbnd Osbnd H bond angles) was observed at the presence of either gold or gadolinia nanoclusters. The presence of Gd6O9 cluster leads to the larger charges of neighbour oxygen atoms. The distribution of oxygen atom charges becomes border when both Gd6O9 and Au13 clusters coexist. Ab initio calculation provides a feasible approach to explore the most essential interactions among functional components of a multimodal nanoprobe applied in aqueous environment.

Dynamical correlation effects in a weakly correlated material: Inelastic x-ray scattering and photoemission spectra of beryllium

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Seidu, Azimatu; Marini, Andrea; Gatti, Matteo

2018-03-01

Beryllium is a weakly correlated simple metal. Still we find that dynamical correlation effects, beyond the independent-particle picture, are necessary to successfully interpret the electronic spectra measured by inelastic x-ray scattering (IXS) and photoemission spectroscopies (PES). By combining ab initio time-dependent density-functional theory (TDDFT) and many-body Green's function theory in the G W approximation (G W A ), we calculate the dynamic structure factor, the quasiparticle (QP) properties and PES spectra of bulk Be. We show that band-structure effects (i.e., due to interaction with the crystal potential) and QP lifetimes (LT) are both needed in order to explain the origin of the measured double-peak features in the IXS spectra. A quantitative agreement with experiment is obtained only when LT are supplemented to the adiabatic local-density approximation (ALDA) of TDDFT. Besides the valence band, PES spectra display a satellite, a signature of dynamical correlation due to the coupling of QPs and plasmons, which we are able to reproduce thanks to the combination of the G W A for the self-energy with the cumulant expansion of the Green's function.

Anharmonic Thermal Oscillations of the Electron Momentum Distribution in Lithium Fluoride

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Erba, A.; Maul, J.; Itou, M.; Dovesi, R.; Sakurai, Y.

2015-09-01

Anharmonic thermal effects on the electron momentum distribution of a lithium fluoride single crystal are experimentally measured through high-resolution Compton scattering and theoretically modeled with ab initio simulations, beyond the harmonic approximation to the lattice potential, explicitly accounting for thermal expansion. Directional Compton profiles are measured at two different temperatures, 10 and 300 K, with a high momentum space resolution (0.10 a.u. in full width at half maximum), using synchrotron radiation. The effect of temperature on measured directional Compton profiles is clearly revealed by oscillations extending almost up to |p |=4 a .u . , which perfectly match those predicted from quantum-mechanical simulations. The wave-function-based Hartree-Fock method and three classes of the Kohn-Sham density functional theory (local-density, generalized-gradient, and hybrid approximations) are adopted. The lattice thermal expansion, as described with the quasiharmonic approach, is found to entirely account for the effect of temperature on the electron momentum density within the experimental accuracy.

Phonon Softening due to Melting of the Ferromagnetic Order in Elemental Iron

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Han, Qiang; Birol, Turan; Haule, Kristjan

2018-05-01

We study the fundamental question of the lattice dynamics of a metallic ferromagnet in the regime where the static long-range magnetic order is replaced by the fluctuating local moments embedded in a metallic host. We use the ab initio density functional theory + embedded dynamical mean-field theory functional approach to address the dynamic stability of iron polymorphs and the phonon softening with an increased temperature. We show that the nonharmonic and inhomogeneous phonon softening measured in iron is a result of the melting of the long-range ferromagnetic order and is unrelated to the first-order structural transition from the bcc to the fcc phase, as is usually assumed. We predict that the bcc structure is dynamically stable at all temperatures at normal pressure and is thermodynamically unstable only between the bcc-α and the bcc-δ phases of iron.

Development of a machine learning potential for graphene

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rowe, Patrick; Csányi, Gábor; Alfè, Dario; Michaelides, Angelos

2018-02-01

We present an accurate interatomic potential for graphene, constructed using the Gaussian approximation potential (GAP) machine learning methodology. This GAP model obtains a faithful representation of a density functional theory (DFT) potential energy surface, facilitating highly accurate (approaching the accuracy of ab initio methods) molecular dynamics simulations. This is achieved at a computational cost which is orders of magnitude lower than that of comparable calculations which directly invoke electronic structure methods. We evaluate the accuracy of our machine learning model alongside that of a number of popular empirical and bond-order potentials, using both experimental and ab initio data as references. We find that whilst significant discrepancies exist between the empirical interatomic potentials and the reference data—and amongst the empirical potentials themselves—the machine learning model introduced here provides exemplary performance in all of the tested areas. The calculated properties include: graphene phonon dispersion curves at 0 K (which we predict with sub-meV accuracy), phonon spectra at finite temperature, in-plane thermal expansion up to 2500 K as compared to NPT ab initio molecular dynamics simulations and a comparison of the thermally induced dispersion of graphene Raman bands to experimental observations. We have made our potential freely available online at [http://www.libatoms.org].

Density functional study on the mechanism for the highly active palladium monolayer supported on titanium carbide for the oxygen reduction reaction

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Mao, Jianjun; Zhang, Yanxing; Chu, Xingli

2016-05-28

The adsorption, diffusion, and dissociation of O{sub 2} on the palladium monolayer supported on TiC(001) surface, MLPd/TiC(001), are investigated using ab initio density functional theory calculations. Strong adhesion of palladium monolayer to the TiC(001) support, accompanied by a modification of electronic structure of the supported palladium, is evidenced. Compared with Pt(111) surface, the MLPd/TiC(001) can enhance the adsorption of O{sub 2}, leading to comparable dissociation barrier and a smaller diffusion barrier of O{sub 2}. Whilst the adsorption strength of atomic O (the dissociation product of O{sub 2}) on MLPd/TiC(001) is similar to that on the Pt(111) surface, possessing high mobility,more » our theoretical results indicate that MLPd/TiC(001) may serve as a good catalyst for the oxygen reduction reaction.« less

Magnetic 4d monoatomic rows on Ag vicinal surfaces

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bellini, V.; Papanikolaou, N.; Zeller, R.; Dederichs, P. H.

2001-09-01

The magnetic properties of 4d monoatomic rows on Ag substrates have been studied by ab initio calculations using the screened Korringa-Kohn-Rostoker (SKKR) Green's function method within density functional theory (DFT) in its local spin density approximation (LSDA). The rows were placed at step-edge (step decoration) and on terrace positions of different vicinal Ag surfaces, i.e., fcc (711), fcc (410), and fcc (221). The results for the magnetic moments are explained in terms of the different coordination numbers of the row atoms and the different hybridization between the rather extended 4d orbitals of the row atoms and the sp-like valence electrons of the Ag substrates. For the fcc (711) vicinal surface, we explore the possibility of antiferromagnetic coupling between the atoms in each row and discuss, by means of total energy calculations, the stability of the antiferromagnetic solutions with respect to the ferromagnetic ones.

Room temperature stable single molecule rectifiers with graphite electrodes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rungger, Ivan; Kaliginedi, V.; Droghetti, A.; Ozawa, H.; Kuzume, A.; Haga, M.; Broekmann, P.; Rudnev, A. V.

In this combined theoretical and experimental study we present new molecular electronics device characteristics of unprecedented stability at room temperature by using electrodes based on highly oriented pyrolytic graphite with covalently attached molecules. To this aim, we explore the effect of the anchoring group chemistry on the charge transport properties of graphite/molecule contacts by means of the scanning tunneling microscopy break-junction technique and ab initio simulations. The theoretical approach to evaluate the conductance is based on density functional theory calculations combined with the non-equilibrium Greens function technique, as implemented in the Smeagol electron transport code. We also demonstrate a strong bias dependence and rectification of the single molecule conductance induced by the anchoring chemistry in combination with the very low density of states of graphite around the Fermi energy. We show that the direction of tunneling current rectification can be tuned by anchoring group chemistry.

Pair potentials for warm dense matter and their application to x-ray Thomson scattering in aluminum and beryllium.

PubMed

Harbour, L; Dharma-Wardana, M W C; Klug, D D; Lewis, L J

2016-11-01

Ultrafast laser experiments yield increasingly reliable data on warm dense matter, but their interpretation requires theoretical models. We employ an efficient density functional neutral-pseudoatom hypernetted-chain (NPA-HNC) model with accuracy comparable to ab initio simulations and which provides first-principles pseudopotentials and pair potentials for warm-dense matter. It avoids the use of (i) ad hoc core-repulsion models and (ii) "Yukawa screening" and (iii) need not assume ion-electron thermal equilibrium. Computations of the x-ray Thomson scattering (XRTS) spectra of aluminum and beryllium are compared with recent experiments and with density-functional-theory molecular-dynamics (DFT-MD) simulations. The NPA-HNC structure factors, compressibilities, phonons, and conductivities agree closely with DFT-MD results, while Yukawa screening gives misleading results. The analysis of the XRTS data for two of the experiments, using two-temperature quasi-equilibrium models, is supported by calculations of their temperature relaxation times.

A Hybrid Density Functional Study of Atomic Hydrogen and Oxygen Adsorptions on the (0001) Surface of Non-Magnetic DHCP Americium

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Amdani-Moten, Shafaq; Atta-Fynn, Raymond; Ray, Asok

2010-03-01

As our group have recently shown^+, hybrid density functional theory (HDFT) which replaces a fraction (40%) of approximate DFT exchange with exact Hartree-Fock exchange yield structural, magnetic, and electronic properties for Americium-I that are in excellent agreement with experimental data. As a natural progression, ab initio calculations for atomic adsorptions on the (0001) surface of non-magnetic americium have been performed using HDFT. The americium surface is modeled by a seven-layer slab using inversion symmetry consisting of one atom per layer and non-magnetic ABAC stacking arrangement of these layers. Top, bridge, hcp and fcc chemisorption sites have been investigated with energies optimized with respect to the adatom distance from the surface. Details of the chemisorptions processes as well as comparisons of different sites will be presented. ^+ R. Atta-Fynn and A. K. Ray, Chemical Physics Letters, 482, 223-227 (2009).

Non-empirical Prediction of the Photophysical and Magnetic Properties of Systems with Open d- and f-Shells Based on Combined Ligand Field and Density Functional Theory (LFDFT).

PubMed

Daul, Claude

2014-09-01

Despite the important growth of ab initio and computational techniques, ligand field theory in molecular science or crystal field theory in condensed matter offers the most intuitive way to calculate multiplet energy levels arising from systems with open shells d and/or f electrons. Over the past decade we have developed a ligand field treatment of inorganic molecular modelling taking advantage of the dominant localization of the frontier orbitals within the metal-sphere. This feature, which is observed in any inorganic coordination compound, especially if treated by Density Functional Theory calculation, allows the determination of the electronic structure and properties with a surprising good accuracy. In ligand field theory, the theoretical concepts consider only a single atom center; and treat its interaction with the chemical environment essentially as a perturbation. Therefore success in the simple ligand field theory is no longer questionable, while the more accurate molecular orbital theory does in general over-estimate the metal-ligand covalence, thus yields wave functions that are too delocalized. Although LF theory has always been popular as a semi-empirical method when dealing with molecules of high symmetry e.g. cubic symmetry where the number of parameters needed is reasonably small (3 or 5), this is no more the case for molecules without symmetry and involving both an open d- and f-shell (# parameters ∼90). However, the combination of LF theory and Density Functional (DF) theory that we introduced twenty years ago can easily deal with complex molecules of any symmetry with two and more open shells. The accuracy of these predictions from 1(st) principles achieves quite a high accuracy (<5%) in terms of states energies. Hence, this approach is well suited to predict the magnetic and photo-physical properties arbitrary molecules and materials prior to their synthesis, which is the ultimate goal of each computational chemist. We will illustrate the performance of LFDFT for the design of phosphors that produces light similar to our sun and predict the magnetic anisotropy energy of single ion magnets.

Band structure and thermoelectric properties of half-Heusler semiconductors from many-body perturbation theory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zahedifar, Maedeh; Kratzer, Peter

2018-01-01

Various ab initio approaches to the band structure of A NiSn and A CoSb half-Heusler compounds (A = Ti, Zr, Hf) are compared and their consequences for the prediction of thermoelectric properties are explored. Density functional theory with the generalized-gradient approximation (GGA), as well as the hybrid density functional HSE06 and ab initio many-body perturbation theory in the form of the G W0 approach, are employed. The G W0 calculations confirm the trend of a smaller band gap (0.75 to 1.05 eV) in A NiSn compared to the A CoSb compounds (1.13 to 1.44 eV) already expected from the GGA calculations. While in A NiSn materials the G W0 band gap is 20% to 50% larger than in HSE06, the fundamental gap of A CoSb materials is smaller in G W0 compared to HSE06. This is because G W0 , similar to PBE, locates the valence band maximum at the L point of the Brillouin zone, whereas it is at the Γ point in the HSE06 calculations. The differences are attributed to the observation that the relative positions of the d levels of the transition metal atoms vary among the different methods. Using the calculated band structures and scattering rates taking into account the band effective masses at the extrema, the Seebeck coefficients, thermoelectric power factors, and figures of merit Z T are predicted for all six half-Heusler compounds. Comparable performance is predicted for the n -type A NiSn materials, whereas clear differences are found for the p -type A CoSb materials. Using the most reliable G W0 electronic structure, ZrCoSb is predicted to be the most efficient material with a power factor of up to 0.07 W/(K2 m) at a temperature of 600 K. We find strong variations among the different ab initio methods not only in the prediction of the maximum power factor and Z T value of a given material, but also in comparing different materials to each other, in particular in the p -type thermoelectric materials. Thus we conclude that the most elaborate, but also most costly G W0 method is required to perform a reliable computational search for the optimum material.

Ab Initio Prediction of the Structural, Electronic, Elastic, and Thermoelectric Properties of Half-Heusler Ternary Compounds TiIrX (X = As and Sb)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chibani, S.; Arbouche, O.; Zemouli, M.; Amara, K.; Benallou, Y.; Azzaz, Y.; Belgoumène, B.; Bentayeb, A.; Ameri, M.

2018-01-01

The structural, electronic, elastic, and thermoelectric properties of TiIrX (X = As and Sb) half-Heusler compounds with 18 valence electrons were studied using density functional theory. The generalized gradient approximation of Perdew-Burke and Ernzerhof used for calculation of the structural parameters and elastic properties of TiIrAs and TiIrSb denotes that the computed lattice constants were in excellent agreement with the available experimental data and previous theoretical works. Furthermore, the calculated elastic constants for both compounds satisfy the Born criteria indicating their mechanical stabilities. The modified Becke-Johnson potential (TB-mBJ) was used to provide a better description of the electronic structures, which indicate that both compounds are narrow-gap semiconductors. Additionally, the investigations of thermoelectric performance were carried out using the results of ab initio band-structure calculations and the semi-classical Boltzmann theory within the constant relaxation time approximations. The predicted values of the figure of merit ZT e are close to unity at room temperature. This reveals that TiIrAs and TiIrSb compounds are excellent candidates for practical applications in the thermoelectric devices.

FAST TRACK COMMUNICATION Understanding adhesion at as-deposited interfaces from ab initio thermodynamics of deposition growth: thin-film alumina on titanium carbide

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rohrer, Jochen; Hyldgaard, Per

2010-12-01

We investigate the chemical composition and adhesion of chemical vapour deposited thin-film alumina on TiC using and extending a recently proposed nonequilibrium method of ab initio thermodynamics of deposition growth (AIT-DG) (Rohrer and Hyldgaard 2010 Phys. Rev. B 82 045415). A previous study of this system (Rohrer et al 2010 J. Phys.: Condens. Matter 22 015004) found that use of equilibrium thermodynamics leads to predictions of a non-binding TiC/alumina interface, despite its industrial use as a wear-resistant coating. This discrepancy between equilibrium theory and experiment is resolved by the AIT-DG method which predicts interfaces with strong adhesion. The AIT-DG method combines density functional theory calculations, rate-equation modelling of the pressure evolution of the deposition environment and thermochemical data. The AIT-DG method was previously used to predict prevalent terminations of growing or as-deposited surfaces of binary materials. Here we extend the method to predict surface and interface compositions of growing or as-deposited thin films on a substrate and find that inclusion of the nonequilibrium deposition environment has important implications for the nature of buried interfaces.

Antibacterial activity, thermal stability and ab initio study of copolymer containing sulfobetaine and carboxybetaine groups

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tarannum, Nazia; Singh, Meenakshi; Yadav, Anil K.

2017-10-01

Here, we have explored the antibacterial activity, thermal stability and theoretical study of two copolymers that contain sulfobetaine and carboetaine moiety. Copolymers were synthesized based on Schiff base chemistry with generation of zwitterionic centres by nucleophilic addition of sultone/lactone. To predict and confirm the molecular structure of zwitterionic polyelectrolyte molecule, the theoretical study of structural features and other thermodynamic characteristics of copolymer constituents was obtained by ab initio calculations. Various parameters such as geometry optimization, energy calculations, frequency calculations and intrinsic reaction coefficient (IRC) are simulated using Hartree Fock (HF) method. The geometry optimizations are analyzed at HF/3-21 G default level of theory. The vibrational frequency is calculated via density functional theory (DFT)/B3LYP 6-31G*(d) level whose values are in accord with the experimental observed frequency. Both copolymers have been successfully assessed for antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeuroginosa bacterial strains by disc diffusion method. The antibacterial study helped in evaluating zone of inhibition, minimum inhibitory concentration and minimum bactericidal concentration. Sulfobetaine copolymer is found to be more effective in curtailing the infection caused by bacteria as compared to carbobetaine.

Electronic and magnetic structures of Fe3O4 ferrimagnetic investigated by first principle, mean field and series expansions calculations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Masrour, R.; Hlil, E. K.; Hamedoun, M.; Benyoussef, A.; Mounkachi, O.; El Moussaoui, H.

2015-03-01

Self-consistent ab initio calculations, based on density functional theory (DFT) approach and using a full potential linear augmented plane wave (FLAPW) method, are performed to investigate both electronic and magnetic properties of the Fe3O4. Polarized spin and spin-orbit coupling are included in calculations within the framework of the antiferromagnetic state between two adjacent Fe plans. Magnetic moment considered to lie along (010) axes are computed. Obtained data from ab initio calculations are used as input for the high temperature series expansions (HTSEs) calculations to compute other magnetic parameters. The exchange interactions between the magnetic atoms Fe-Fe in Fe3O4 are given using the mean field theory. The high temperature series expansions (HTSEs) of the magnetic susceptibility of with the magnetic moments, mFe in Fe3O4 is given up to seventh order series in (1/kBT). The Néel temperature TN is obtained by HTSEs of the magnetic susceptibility series combined with the Padé approximant method. The critical exponent γ associated with the magnetic susceptibility is deduced as well.

Novel density functional methodology for the computation of accurate electronic and thermodynamic properties of molecular systems and improved long-range behavior

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kafafi, S.A.

1998-12-10

A novel general purpose density functional methodology for the computation of accurate electronic and thermodynamic properties of molecules and improved long-range behavior is reported. Assuming the separability of the exchange (E{sub x}) and correlation (E{sub c}) contributions to the total exchange-correlation energy functional (E{sub xc}), the E{sub x} term consists of a hybrid mixture of 37.5% Hartree-Fock exchange and the appropriate local spin density exchange using the adiabatic connection formula. He demonstrated that E{sub x} and its corresponding potential V{sub x} [=dE{sub x}/d{rho}(r)] have the proper asymptotic limits at r = 0 and r {r_arrow} {infinity}, E{sub c} consists ofmore » the Vosko, Wilk, and Nusair formula for the free-electron gas correlation energy and a generalized gradient approximation term with one adjustable parameter. V{sub c} [=dE{sub c}/d{rho}(r)] was shown to obey the r {r_arrow} {infinity} limit of the corresponding potential derived from exact atomic exchange-correlation computations; namely, V{sub c} is proportional to r{sup {minus}4}. Most importantly, he demonstrated that, at r values where dispersion forces are operating, V{sub c} is proportional to 1/r{sup n} (n = 4, 6, 8, {hor_ellipsis}). The reported method was denoted by K2-BVWN because it used two adjustable parameters in its formulation. The K2-BVWN scheme scales as N{sup 3}, where N is the number of basis functions, compared to {approximately}N{sup 7} for Gaussian-2 (G2) ab initio theory and related methods, {approximately}N{sup 5} for Barone`s mPW1,3PW, and {approximately}N{sup 4} for Becke`s three-parameter density functional approaches. The G2 data set complemented by the reported molecular systems investigated in this work was recommended as a critical test for evaluating novel ab initio and density functional methodologies. The K2-BVWN method has been implemented in the Gaussian series of programs.« less

Ab initio and DFT study of hydrogen bond interactions between ascorbic acid and dimethylsulfoxide based on FT-IR and FT-Raman spectra

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Niazazari, Naser; Zatikyan, Ashkhen L.; Markarian, Shiraz A.

2013-06-01

The hydrogen bonding of 1:1 complexes formed between L-ascorbic acid (LAA) and dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) has been studied by means of ab initio and density functional theory (DFT) calculations. Solutions of L-ascorbic acid (AA) in dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) have been studied by means of both FT-IR (4000-220 cm-1) and FT-Raman spectroscopy. Ab initio Hartree-Fock (HF) and DFT methods have been used to determine the structure and energies of stable conformers of various types of L-AA/DMSO complexes in gas phase and solution. The basis sets 6-31++G∗∗ and 6-311+G∗ were used to describe the structure, energy, charges and vibrational frequencies of interacting complexes in the gas phase. The optimized geometric parameters and interaction energies for various complexes at different theories have been estimated. Binding energies have been corrected for basis set superposition error (BSSE) and harmonic vibrational frequencies of the structures have been calculated to obtain the stable forms of the complexes. The self-consistent reaction field (SCRF) has been used to calculate the effect of DMSO as the solvent on the geometry, energy and charges of complexes. The solvent effect has been studied using the Onsager models. It is shown that the polarity of the solvent plays an important role on the structures and relative stabilities of different complexes. The results obtained show that there is a satisfactory correlation between experimental and theoretical predictions.

Theoretical study on the spectroscopic properties of CO3(*-).nH2O clusters: extrapolation to bulk.

PubMed

Pathak, Arup K; Mukherjee, Tulsi; Maity, Dilip K

2008-10-24

Vertical detachment energies (VDE) and UV/Vis absorption spectra of hydrated carbonate radical anion clusters, CO(3)(*-).nH(2)O (n=1-8), are determined by means of ab initio electronic structure theory. The VDE values of the hydrated clusters are calculated with second-order Moller-Plesset perturbation (MP2) and coupled cluster theory using the 6-311++G(d,p) set of basis functions. The bulk VDE value of an aqueous carbonate radical anion solution is predicted to be 10.6 eV from the calculated weighted average VDE values of the CO(3)(*-).nH(2)O clusters. UV/Vis absorption spectra of the hydrated clusters are calculated by means of time-dependent density functional theory using the Becke three-parameter nonlocal exchange and the Lee-Yang-Parr nonlocal correlation functional (B3LYP). The simulated UV/Vis spectrum of the CO(3)(*-).8H(2)O cluster is in excellent agreement with the reported experimental spectrum for CO(3)(*-) (aq), obtained based on pulse radiolysis experiments.

Electronic transport coefficients from ab initio simulations and application to dense liquid hydrogen

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Holst, Bastian; French, Martin; Redmer, Ronald

2011-06-15

Using Kubo's linear response theory, we derive expressions for the frequency-dependent electrical conductivity (Kubo-Greenwood formula), thermopower, and thermal conductivity in a strongly correlated electron system. These are evaluated within ab initio molecular dynamics simulations in order to study the thermoelectric transport coefficients in dense liquid hydrogen, especially near the nonmetal-to-metal transition region. We also observe significant deviations from the widely used Wiedemann-Franz law, which is strictly valid only for degenerate systems, and give an estimate for its valid scope of application toward lower densities.

Full-band quantum simulation of electron devices with the pseudopotential method: Theory, implementation, and applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pala, M. G.; Esseni, D.

2018-03-01

This paper presents the theory, implementation, and application of a quantum transport modeling approach based on the nonequilibrium Green's function formalism and a full-band empirical pseudopotential Hamiltonian. We here propose to employ a hybrid real-space/plane-wave basis that results in a significant reduction of the computational complexity compared to a full plane-wave basis. To this purpose, we provide a theoretical formulation in the hybrid basis of the quantum confinement, the self-energies of the leads, and the coupling between the device and the leads. After discussing the theory and the implementation of the new simulation methodology, we report results for complete, self-consistent simulations of different electron devices, including a silicon Esaki diode, a thin-body silicon field effect transistor (FET), and a germanium tunnel FET. The simulated transistors have technologically relevant geometrical features with a semiconductor film thickness of about 4 nm and a channel length ranging from 10 to 17 nm. We believe that the newly proposed formalism may find applications also in transport models based on ab initio Hamiltonians, as those employed in density functional theory methods.

Temperature-dependent excitonic effects in the optical properties of single-layer MoS2

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Molina-Sánchez, Alejandro; Palummo, Maurizia; Marini, Andrea; Wirtz, Ludger

2016-04-01

Temperature influences the performance of two-dimensional (2D) materials in optoelectronic devices. Indeed, the optical characterization of these materials is usually realized at room temperature. Nevertheless, most ab initio studies are still performed without including any temperature effect. As a consequence, important features are thus overlooked, such as the relative height of the excitonic peaks and their broadening, directly related to the temperature and to the nonradiative exciton relaxation time. We present ab initio calculations of the optical response of single-layer MoS2, a prototype 2D material, as a function of temperature using density functional theory and many-body perturbation theory. We compute the electron-phonon interaction using the full spinorial wave functions, i.e., fully taking into account the effects of spin-orbit interaction. We find that bound excitons (A and B peaks) and resonant excitons (C peak) exhibit different behavior with temperature, displaying different nonradiative linewidths. We conclude that the inhomogeneous broadening of the absorption spectra is mainly due to electron-phonon scattering mechanisms. Our calculations explain the shortcomings of previous (zero-temperature) theoretical spectra and match well with the experimental spectra acquired at room temperature. Moreover, we disentangle the contributions of acoustic and optical phonon modes to the quasiparticles and exciton linewidths. Our model also allows us to identify which phonon modes couple to each exciton state, which is useful for the interpretation of resonant Raman-scattering experiments.

Hybrid functional study of band structures of GaAs1-xNx and GaSb1-xNx alloys

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Virkkala, Ville; Havu, Ville; Tuomisto, Filip; Puska, Martti J.

2012-02-01

Band structures of GaAs1-xNx and GaSb1-xNx alloys are studied in the framework of the density functional theory within the hybrid functional scheme (HSE06). We find that the scheme gives a clear improvement over the traditional (semi)local functionals in describing, in a qualitative agreement with experiments, the bowing of electron energy band gap in GaAs1-xNx alloys. In the case of GaSb1-xNx alloys, the hybrid functional used makes the study of band structures possible ab initio without any empirical parameter fitting. We explain the trends in the band gap reductions in the two materials that result mainly from the positions of the nitrogen-induced states with respect to the bottoms of the bulk conduction bands.

Tuning spin transport properties and molecular magnetoresistance through contact geometry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ulman, Kanchan; Narasimhan, Shobhana; Delin, Anna

2014-01-01

Molecular spintronics seeks to unite the advantages of using organic molecules as nanoelectronic components, with the benefits of using spin as an additional degree of freedom. For technological applications, an important quantity is the molecular magnetoresistance. In this work, we show that this parameter is very sensitive to the contact geometry. To demonstrate this, we perform ab initio calculations, combining the non-equilibrium Green's function method with density functional theory, on a dithienylethene molecule placed between spin-polarized nickel leads of varying geometries. We find that, in general, the magnetoresistance is significantly higher when the contact is made to sharp tips than to flat surfaces. Interestingly, this holds true for both resonant and tunneling conduction regimes, i.e., when the molecule is in its "closed" and "open" conformations, respectively. We find that changing the lead geometry can increase the magnetoresistance by up to a factor of ˜5. We also introduce a simple model that, despite requiring minimal computational time, can recapture our ab initio results for the behavior of magnetoresistance as a function of bias voltage. This model requires as its input only the density of states on the anchoring atoms, at zero bias voltage. We also find that the non-resonant conductance in the open conformation of the molecule is significantly impacted by the lead geometry. As a result, the ratio of the current in the closed and open conformations can also be tuned by varying the geometry of the leads, and increased by ˜400%.

Gas-Phase Molecular Structure of Nopinone and its Water Complexes Studied by Microwave Fourier Transform Spectroscopy and Quantum Chemical Calculations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Neeman, Elias M.; Aviles Moreno, Juan-Ramon; Huet, T. R.

2016-06-01

Several monoterpenes and terpenoids are biogenic volatile organic compounds which are emitted in the atmosphere, where they react with OH, O_3 and NO_x etc. to give rise to several oxidation and degradation products. Their decomposition products are a major source of secondray organic aerosol (SOA). Spectroscopic information on these atmospheric species is still very scarce. The rotational spectrum of nopinone (C_9H14O) one of the major oxidation products of β-pinene, and of its water complexes were recorded in a supersonic jet expansion with a Fourier transform microwave spectrometer over the range 2-20 GHz. The structure of the unique stable conformer of the nopinone was optimized using density functional theory and ab initio calculations. Signals from the parent species and from the 13C and 18O isotopomers were observed in natural abundance. A magnetic hyperfine structure associated with the pairs of hydrogen nuclei in the methylene groups was observed and modeled. The structures of several conformers of the nopinone-water complexes with up to three molecules of water were optimized using density functional theory and ab initio calculations. The energetically most stable of calculated conformers were observed and anlyzed. The rotational and centrifugal distortion parameters were fitted to a Watson's Hamiltonian in the A-reduction. The present work provides the first spectroscopic characterization of nopinone and its water complexes in the gas phase. A. Calogirou, B.R. Larsen, and D. Kotzias, Atmospheric Environment, 33, 1423-1439, (1999) P. Paasonen et al., Nat. Geosci., 6, 438-442 (2013) D. Zhang and R. Zhang The Journal of Chemical Physics, 122, 114308, (2005) R. Winterhalter et al. Journal of Atmospheric Chemistry, 35, 165-197, (2000)

Calculation of strained BaTiO3 with different exchange correlation functionals examined with criterion by Ginzburg-Landau theory, uncovering expressions by crystallographic parameters

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Watanabe, Yukio

2018-05-01

In the calculations of tetragonal BaTiO3, some exchange-correlation (XC) energy functionals such as local density approximation (LDA) have shown good agreement with experiments at room temperature (RT), e.g., spontaneous polarization (PS), and superiority compared with other XC functionals. This is due to the error compensation of the RT effect and, hence, will be ineffective in the heavily strained case such as domain boundaries. Here, ferroelectrics under large strain at RT are approximated as those at 0 K because the strain effect surpasses the RT effects. To find effective XC energy functionals for strained BaTiO3, we propose a new comparison, i.e., a criterion. This criterion is the properties at 0 K given by the Ginzburg-Landau (GL) theory because GL theory is a thermodynamic description of experiments working under the same symmetry-constraints as ab initio calculations. With this criterion, we examine LDA, generalized gradient approximations (GGA), meta-GGA, meta-GGA + local correlation potential (U), and hybrid functionals, which reveals the high accuracy of some XC functionals superior to XC functionals that have been regarded as accurate. This result is examined directly by the calculations of homogenously strained tetragonal BaTiO3, confirming the validity of the new criterion. In addition, the data points of theoretical PS vs. certain crystallographic parameters calculated with different XC functionals are found to lie on a single curve, despite their wide variations. Regarding these theoretical data points as corresponding to the experimental results, analytical expressions of the local PS using crystallographic parameters are uncovered. These expressions show the primary origin of BaTiO3 ferroelectricity as oxygen displacements. Elastic compliance and electrostrictive coefficients are estimated. For the comparison of strained results, we show that the effective critical temperature TC under strain <-0.01 is >1000 K from an approximate method combining ab initio results with GL theory. In addition, in a definite manner, the present results show much more enhanced ferroelectricity at large strain than the previous reports.

Regarding the use and misuse of retinal protonated Schiff base photochemistry as a test case for time-dependent density-functional theory

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Valsson, Omar; Filippi, Claudia, E-mail: c.filippi@utwente.nl; Casida, Mark E., E-mail: mark.casida@ujf-grenoble.fr

2015-04-14

The excited-state relaxation of retinal protonated Schiff bases (PSBs) is an important test case for biological applications of time-dependent (TD) density-functional theory (DFT). While well-known shortcomings of approximate TD-DFT might seem discouraging for application to PSB relaxation, progress continues to be made in the development of new functionals and of criteria allowing problematic excitations to be identified within the framework of TD-DFT itself. Furthermore, experimental and theoretical ab initio advances have recently lead to a revised understanding of retinal PSB photochemistry, calling for a reappraisal of the performance of TD-DFT in describing this prototypical photoactive system. Here, we re-investigate themore » performance of functionals in (TD-)DFT calculations in light of these new benchmark results, which we extend to larger PSB models. We focus on the ability of the functionals to describe primarily the early skeletal relaxation of the chromophore and investigate how far along the out-of-plane pathways these functionals are able to describe the subsequent rotation around formal single and double bonds. Conventional global hybrid and range-separated hybrid functionals are investigated as the presence of Hartree-Fock exchange reduces problems with charge-transfer excitations as determined by the Peach-Benfield-Helgaker-Tozer Λ criterion and by comparison with multi-reference perturbation theory results. While we confirm that most functionals cannot render the complex photobehavior of the retinal PSB, do we also observe that LC-BLYP gives the best description of the initial part of the photoreaction.« less

Radii of neutron drops probed via the neutron skin thickness of nuclei

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zhao, P. W.; Gandolfi, S.

Multineutron systems are crucial to understanding the physics of neutron-rich nuclei and neutron stars. Neutron drops, neutrons confined in an external field, are investigated systematically in both nonrelativistic and relativistic density functional theories and with ab initio calculations. Here, we demonstrate a new strong linear correlation, which is universal in the realm of mean-field models, between the rms radii of neutron drops and the neutron skin thickness of 208 Pb and 48 Ca , i.e., the difference between the neutron and proton rms radii of a nucleus. This correlation can be used to deduce the radii of neutron drops frommore » the measured neutron skin thickness in a model-independent way, and the radii obtained for neutron drops can provide a useful constraint for realistic three-neutron forces, due to its high quality. Furthermore, we present a new correlation between the slope L of the symmetry energy and the radii of neutron drops, and provide the first validation of such a correlation by using density-functional models and ab initio calculations. These newly established correlations, together with more precise measurements of the neutron skin thicknesses of 208 Pb and 48 Ca and/or accurate determinations of L , will have an enduring impact on the understanding of multineutron interactions, neutron-rich nuclei, neutron stars, etc.« less

Radii of neutron drops probed via the neutron skin thickness of nuclei

DOE PAGES

Zhao, P. W.; Gandolfi, S.

2016-10-10

Multineutron systems are crucial to understanding the physics of neutron-rich nuclei and neutron stars. Neutron drops, neutrons confined in an external field, are investigated systematically in both nonrelativistic and relativistic density functional theories and with ab initio calculations. Here, we demonstrate a new strong linear correlation, which is universal in the realm of mean-field models, between the rms radii of neutron drops and the neutron skin thickness of 208 Pb and 48 Ca , i.e., the difference between the neutron and proton rms radii of a nucleus. This correlation can be used to deduce the radii of neutron drops frommore » the measured neutron skin thickness in a model-independent way, and the radii obtained for neutron drops can provide a useful constraint for realistic three-neutron forces, due to its high quality. Furthermore, we present a new correlation between the slope L of the symmetry energy and the radii of neutron drops, and provide the first validation of such a correlation by using density-functional models and ab initio calculations. These newly established correlations, together with more precise measurements of the neutron skin thicknesses of 208 Pb and 48 Ca and/or accurate determinations of L , will have an enduring impact on the understanding of multineutron interactions, neutron-rich nuclei, neutron stars, etc.« less

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Huang, Li; Wang, Yilin; Werner, Philipp

Understanding the electronic properties of actinide oxides under pressure poses a great challenge for experimental and theoretical studies. Here, we investigate the electronic structure of cubic phase uranium dioxide at different volumes using a combination of density functional theory and dynamical mean-field theory. The ab initio calculations predict an orbital-selective insulator-metal transition at a moderate pressure of ~45 GPa. At this pressure the uranium's 5f 5/2 state becomes metallic, while the 5f 7/2 state remains insulating up to about 60 GPa. In the metallic state, we observe a rapid decrease of the 5f occupation and total angular momentum with pressure.more » Simultaneously, the so-called "Zhang-Rice state", which is of predominantly 5f 5/2 character, quickly disappears after the transition into the metallic phase.« less

A note on the electric quadrupole and higher electric moments of ozone (O3)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Maroulis, George

2012-02-01

We have obtained accurate ab initio and density functional theory values for the quadrupole, octopole and hexadecapole electric moments of the cyclic and open forms of ozone. Our best values have been calculated at the coupled cluster level of theory with molecule-specific basis sets. For the quadrupole moment (Θαβ/ea02) they are Θyy = -1.366 (cyclic), Θxx = -1.202, Θyy = 1.426 and Θxx = -0.223 (open). For the octopole (Ωαβγ/ea03) and hexadecapole (Φαβγδ/ea04) moments our best results are Ωzzz = 2.25, Φyyyy = 19.53 (cyclic), Ωxxz = 3.28, Ωzzz = -2.97, Φxxxx = -6.00, Φyyyy = -3.90 and Φzzzz = -3.54 (open).

Electronic and optical properties of Si and Ge nanocrystals: An ab initio study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pulci, Olivia; Degoli, Elena; Iori, Federico; Marsili, Margherita; Palummo, Maurizia; Del Sole, Rodolfo; Ossicini, Stefano

2010-01-01

First-principles calculations within density functional theory and many-body perturbation theory have been carried out in order to investigate the structural, electronic and optical properties of undoped and doped silicon nanostructures. We consider Si nanoclusters co-doped with B and P. We find that the electronic band gap is reduced with respect to that of the undoped crystals, suggesting the possibility of impurity based engineering of electronic and optical properties of Si nanocrystals. Finally, motivated by recent suggestions concerning the chance of exploiting Ge dots for photovoltaic nanodevices, we present calculations of the electronic and optical properties of a Ge 35H 36 nanocrystal, and compare the results with those for the corresponding Si 35H 36 nanocrystals and the co-doped Si 33BPH 36.

Ab initio investigation of the structural and electronic properties of the MgFBrxCl1-x quaternary alloy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mokhtari, Ali; Alidoosti, Mohammad

2014-11-01

In the present work, we have performed first principles calculations to study the structural and electronic properties of the MgFBrxCl1-x quaternary alloys using the pseudo-potential plane wave approach within the framework of density functional theory. By using the optimized initial parameters, we have obtained the physical quantities such as equilibrium lattice constants a and c, cohesive energy and band gap and then fitted the results by a quadratic expression for all x compositions. The results of bulk modulus exhibit nearly linear concentration dependence (LCD) but other quantities show nonlinear dependence. Finally, we have calculated the total and angular momentum decomposed (partial) density of states and determined the contributions of different orbitals of each atoms.

Theoretical investigation of the structural, electronic, dynamical and thermal properties of YSn3 and YPb3

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kılıçarslan, Aynur; Salmankurt, Bahadır; Duman, Sıtkı

2017-02-01

We have performed an ab initio study of the structural, electronic, dynamical and thermal properties of the cubic AuCu3-type YSn3 and YPb3 by using the density functional theory, plane-wave pseudopotential method and a linear response scheme, within the generalized gradient approximation. An analysis of the electronic density of states at the Fermi level is found to be governed by the p states of Sn and Pb atoms with some contributions from the d states of Y atoms. The obtained phonon figures indicate that these material are dynamically stable in the cubic structure. Due to the metallic behavior of the compounds, the calculated zone-center phonon modes are triply degenerate. Also the thermal properties have been examined.

Ab Initio Study of Electronic Structure, Elastic and Transport Properties of Fluoroperovskite LiBeF3

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Benmhidi, H.; Rached, H.; Rached, D.; Benkabou, M.

2017-04-01

The aim of this work is to investigate the electronic, mechanical, and transport properties of the fluoroperovskite compound LiBeF3 by first-principles calculations using the full-potential linear muffin-tin orbital method based on density functional theory within the local density approximation. The independent elastic constants and related mechanical properties including the bulk modulus ( B), shear modulus ( G), Young's modulus ( E), and Poisson's ratio ( ν) have been studied, yielding the elastic moduli, shear wave velocities, and Debye temperature. According to the electronic properties, this compound is an indirect-bandgap material, in good agreement with available theoretical data. The electron effective mass, hole effective mass, and energy bandgaps with their volume and pressure dependence are investigated for the first time.

Structural, electronic, magnetic and thermodynamic properties of Ni1-xTixO alloys an ab initio calculation and Monte Carlo study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Klaa, K.; Labidi, S.; Masrour, R.; Jabar, A.; Labidi, M.; Amara, A.; Drici, A.; Hlil, E. K.; Ellouze, M.

2018-06-01

Structural, electronic, magnetic and thermodynamic main features for Ni1-xTixO ternary alloys in rock-salt structure with Ti content in the range ? were studied using the full potential Linearized augmented plane wave (FP-LAPW) method within density functional theory. The exchange-correlation potential was calculated by the generalized gradient approximation. The analysis of the electronic density of states curves allowed the computation of the magnetic moments which are considered to lie along (010) axes. The thermodynamic stability of this alloy was investigated by calculating the excess enthalpy of mixing ? as well as the phase diagram. In addition, the Monte Carlo simulations have been exploited to calculate the transition temperature and magnetic coercive field in the alloy.

Benchmarking density functional tight binding models for barrier heights and reaction energetics of organic molecules.

PubMed

Gruden, Maja; Andjeklović, Ljubica; Jissy, Akkarapattiakal Kuriappan; Stepanović, Stepan; Zlatar, Matija; Cui, Qiang; Elstner, Marcus

2017-09-30

Density Functional Tight Binding (DFTB) models are two to three orders of magnitude faster than ab initio and Density Functional Theory (DFT) methods and therefore are particularly attractive in applications to large molecules and condensed phase systems. To establish the applicability of DFTB models to general chemical reactions, we conduct benchmark calculations for barrier heights and reaction energetics of organic molecules using existing databases and several new ones compiled in this study. Structures for the transition states and stable species have been fully optimized at the DFTB level, making it possible to characterize the reliability of DFTB models in a more thorough fashion compared to conducting single point energy calculations as done in previous benchmark studies. The encouraging results for the diverse sets of reactions studied here suggest that DFTB models, especially the most recent third-order version (DFTB3/3OB augmented with dispersion correction), in most cases provide satisfactory description of organic chemical reactions with accuracy almost comparable to popular DFT methods with large basis sets, although larger errors are also seen for certain cases. Therefore, DFTB models can be effective for mechanistic analysis (e.g., transition state search) of large (bio)molecules, especially when coupled with single point energy calculations at higher levels of theory. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Quantitative verification of ab initio self-consistent laser theory.

PubMed

Ge, Li; Tandy, Robert J; Stone, A D; Türeci, Hakan E

2008-10-13

We generalize and test the recent "ab initio" self-consistent (AISC) time-independent semiclassical laser theory. This self-consistent formalism generates all the stationary lasing properties in the multimode regime (frequencies, thresholds, internal and external fields, output power and emission pattern) from simple inputs: the dielectric function of the passive cavity, the atomic transition frequency, and the transverse relaxation time of the lasing transition.We find that the theory gives excellent quantitative agreement with full time-dependent simulations of the Maxwell-Bloch equations after it has been generalized to drop the slowly-varying envelope approximation. The theory is infinite order in the non-linear hole-burning interaction; the widely used third order approximation is shown to fail badly.

First-principles study on structural, thermal, mechanical and dynamic stability of T'-MoS2.

PubMed

Liu, Y C; Wang, V; Xia, M G; Zhang, S L

2017-03-08

Using first-principles density functional theory calculations, we investigate the structure, stability, optical modes and electronic band gap of a distorted tetragonal MoS 2 monolayer (T'-MoS 2 ). Our simulated scanning tunnel microscopy (STM) images of T'-MoS 2 are dramatically similar to those STM images which were identified as K x (H 2 O) y MoS 2 from a previous experimental study. This similarity suggests that T'-MoS 2 might have already been experimentally observed, but due to being unexpected was misidentified. Furthermore, we verify the stability of T'-MoS 2 from the thermal, mechanical and dynamic aspects, by ab initio molecular dynamics simulation, elastic constants evaluation and phonon band structure calculation based on density functional perturbation theory, respectively. In addition, we calculate the eigenfrequencies and eigenvectors of the optical modes of T'-MoS 2 at [Formula: see text] point and distinguish their Raman and infrared activity by pointing out their irreducible representations using group theory. At the same time, we compare the Raman modes of T'-MoS 2 with those of H-MoS 2 and T-MoS 2 . Our results provide useful guidance for further experimental identification and characterization of T'-MoS 2 .

Accuracy of ab initio electron correlation and electron densities in vanadium dioxide

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kylänpää, Ilkka; Balachandran, Janakiraman; Ganesh, Panchapakesan; Heinonen, Olle; Kent, Paul R. C.; Krogel, Jaron T.

2017-11-01

Diffusion quantum Monte Carlo results are used as a reference to analyze properties related to phase stability and magnetism in vanadium dioxide computed with various formulations of density functional theory. We introduce metrics related to energetics, electron densities and spin densities that give us insight on both local and global variations in the antiferromagnetic M1 and R phases. Importantly, these metrics can address contributions arising from the challenging description of the 3 d orbital physics in this material. We observe that the best description of energetics between the structural phases does not correspond to the best accuracy in the charge density, which is consistent with observations made recently by Medvedev et al. [Science 355, 371 (2017), 10.1126/science.aag0410] in the context of isolated atoms. However, we do find evidence that an accurate spin density connects to correct energetic ordering of different magnetic states in VO2, although local, semilocal, and meta-GGA functionals tend to erroneously favor demagnetization of the vanadium sites. The recently developed SCAN functional stands out as remaining nearly balanced in terms of magnetization across the M1-R transition and correctly predicting the ground state crystal structure. In addition to ranking current density functionals, our reference energies and densities serve as important benchmarks for future functional development. With our reference data, the accuracy of both the energy and the electron density can be monitored simultaneously, which is useful for functional development. So far, this kind of detailed high accuracy reference data for correlated materials has been absent from the literature.

High-throughput materials discovery and development: breakthroughs and challenges in the mapping of the materials genome

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Buongiorno Nardelli, Marco

High-Throughput Quantum-Mechanics computation of materials properties by ab initio methods has become the foundation of an effective approach to materials design, discovery and characterization. This data driven approach to materials science currently presents the most promising path to the development of advanced technological materials that could solve or mitigate important social and economic challenges of the 21st century. In particular, the rapid proliferation of computational data on materials properties presents the possibility to complement and extend materials property databases where the experimental data is lacking and difficult to obtain. Enhanced repositories such as AFLOWLIB open novel opportunities for structure discovery and optimization, including uncovering of unsuspected compounds, metastable structures and correlations between various properties. The practical realization of these opportunities depends almost exclusively on the the design of efficient algorithms for electronic structure simulations of realistic material systems beyond the limitations of the current standard theories. In this talk, I will review recent progress in theoretical and computational tools, and in particular, discuss the development and validation of novel functionals within Density Functional Theory and of local basis representations for effective ab-initio tight-binding schemes. Marco Buongiorno Nardelli is a pioneer in the development of computational platforms for theory/data/applications integration rooted in his profound and extensive expertise in the design of electronic structure codes and in his vision for sustainable and innovative software development for high-performance materials simulations. His research activities range from the design and discovery of novel materials for 21st century applications in renewable energy, environment, nano-electronics and devices, the development of advanced electronic structure theories and high-throughput techniques in materials genomics and computational materials design, to an active role as community scientific software developer (QUANTUM ESPRESSO, WanT, AFLOWpi)

Electronic structure investigations of 4-aminophthal hydrazide by UV-visible, NMR spectral studies and HOMO-LUMO analysis by ab initio and DFT calculations.

PubMed

Sambathkumar, K; Jeyavijayan, S; Arivazhagan, M

2015-08-05

Combined experimental and theoretical studies were conducted on the molecular structure and vibrational spectra of 4-AminoPhthalhydrazide (APH). The FT-IR and FT-Raman spectra of APH were recorded in the solid phase. The molecular geometry and vibrational frequencies of APH in the ground state have been calculated by using the ab initio HF (Hartree-Fock) and density functional methods (B3LYP) invoking 6-311+G(d,p) basis set. The optimized geometric bond lengths and bond angles obtained by HF and B3LYP method show best agreement with the experimental values. Comparison of the observed fundamental vibrational frequencies of APH with calculated results by HF and density functional methods indicates that B3LYP is superior to the scaled Hartree-Fock approach for molecular vibrational problems. The difference between the observed and scaled wave number values of most of the fundamentals is very small. A detailed interpretation of the NMR spectra of APH was also reported. The theoretical spectrograms for infrared and Raman spectra of the title molecule have been constructed. UV-vis spectrum of the compound was recorded and the electronic properties, such as HOMO and LUMO energies, were performed by time dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT) approach. Finally the calculations results were applied to simulated infrared and Raman spectra of the title compound which show good agreement with observed spectra. And the temperature dependence of the thermodynamic properties of constant pressure (Cp), entropy (S) and enthalpy change (ΔH0→T) for APH were also determined. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Density functional theory determination of structural and electronic properties of struvite.

PubMed

Romanowski, Zbigniew; Kempisty, Paweł; Prywer, Jolanta; Krukowski, Stanisław; Torzewska, Agnieszka

2010-07-29

Crystallographic structure, total energy, electronic structure, and the most important elastic properties of struvite, NH(4)MgPO(4).6H(2)O, the main component of infectious urinary stones, are presented. The calculations were performed using ab initio full-electron calculations within the density functional theory-generalized gradient approximation (DFT-GGA) framework. The obtained crystallographic symmetry and the calculated lattice parameters and also the elastic constants are in good agreement with the experimental data. The elastic properties are essential for establishing an optimal response of urinary stones during shock-wave lithotripsy. The calculated electronic charge distribution confirms the layered structure of the struvite crystals. The polar character of the crystal, well-known from crystal growth experiments, was also confirmed by the magnitude of spontaneous polarization which was obtained from direct determination of the electrical dipole density. The calculated value of spontaneous polarization is equal to -8.8 microC cm(-2). This feature may play a key role in struvite crystallization, electrically binding the charged active impurities and other active species, and consequently determining urinary stone formation. We also present the results of our own experiment of the mineralization of struvite induced to growth by Proteus bacteria which are mainly isolated from infectious urinary stones.

High density H2 associative absorption on Titanium alpha-borozene (Ti2B6H6): An ab-initio case study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Akbarzadeh, Alireza; Tymzcak, C. J.

2011-03-01

Hydrogen is considered as a clean energy carrier that could be a future replacement for our addiction to fossil fuels. However, in order to have hydrogen economy at its highest efficiently we need to store hydrogen at high volumetric and gravimetric density. Using the all electron hybrid density functional theory, we have designed a benzene-like-molecule, Ti2B6H6, which has the promise of achieving this goal. Our results show that the molecule can associatively absorb the hydrogen up to ten percent by weight of hydrogen, which exceeds the 2015 US department of energy target. In this presentation we will discuss the mechanisms of H2 absorption and possible applications of this novel molecule. This research is funded by the Welch Foundation under Grant J. 1675 and the Texas Southern University High Performance Computing Center.

Maximally localized Wannier functions in LaMnO3 within PBE + U, hybrid functionals and partially self-consistent GW: an efficient route to construct ab initio tight-binding parameters for eg perovskites.

PubMed

Franchini, C; Kováčik, R; Marsman, M; Murthy, S Sathyanarayana; He, J; Ederer, C; Kresse, G

2012-06-13

Using the newly developed VASP2WANNIER90 interface we have constructed maximally localized Wannier functions (MLWFs) for the e(g) states of the prototypical Jahn-Teller magnetic perovskite LaMnO(3) at different levels of approximation for the exchange-correlation kernel. These include conventional density functional theory (DFT) with and without the additional on-site Hubbard U term, hybrid DFT and partially self-consistent GW. By suitably mapping the MLWFs onto an effective e(g) tight-binding (TB) Hamiltonian we have computed a complete set of TB parameters which should serve as guidance for more elaborate treatments of correlation effects in effective Hamiltonian-based approaches. The method-dependent changes of the calculated TB parameters and their interplay with the electron-electron (el-el) interaction term are discussed and interpreted. We discuss two alternative model parameterizations: one in which the effects of the el-el interaction are implicitly incorporated in the otherwise 'noninteracting' TB parameters and a second where we include an explicit mean-field el-el interaction term in the TB Hamiltonian. Both models yield a set of tabulated TB parameters which provide the band dispersion in excellent agreement with the underlying ab initio and MLWF bands.

Calculated electronic, transport, and related properties of zinc blende boron arsenide (zb-BAs)

DOE PAGES

Nwigboji, Ifeanyi H.; Malozovsky, Yuriy; Franklin, Lashounda; ...

2016-10-11

Here, we present the results from ab-initio, self-consistent density functional theory (DFT) calculations of electronic, transport, and bulk properties of zinc blende boron arsenide. We utilized the local density approximation potential of Ceperley and Alder, as parameterized by Vosko and his group, the linear combination of Gaussian orbitals formalism, and the Bagayoko, Zhao, and Williams (BZW) method, as enhanced by Ekuma and Franklin (BZW-EF), in carrying out our completely self-consistent calculations. With this method, the results of our calculations have the full, physical content of density functional theory (DFT). Our results include electronic energy bands, densities of states, effective masses,more » and the bulk modulus. Our calculated, indirect band gap of 1.48 eV, from C to a conduction band minimum close to X, for the room temperature lattice constant of 4.777 Å, is in an excellent agreement with the experimental value of 1.46 6 0.02 eV. We thor-oughly explain the reasons for the excellent agreement between our findings and corresponding, experimental ones. This work provides a confirmation of the capability of DFT to describe accu-rately properties of materials, provides a confirmation of the capability of DFT to describe accu-rately properties of materials, if the computations adhere strictly to the conditions of validity of DFT, as done by the BZW-EF method.« less

Double-walled silicon nanotubes: an ab initio investigation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lima, Matheus P.

2018-02-01

The synthesis of silicon nanotubes realized in the last decade demonstrates multi-walled tubular structures consisting of Si atoms in {{sp}}2 and the {{sp}}3 hybridizations. However, most of the theoretical models were elaborated taking as the starting point {{sp}}2 structures analogous to carbon nanotubes. These structures are unfavorable due to the natural tendency of the Si atoms to undergo {{sp}}3. In this work, through ab initio simulations based on density functional theory, we investigated double-walled silicon nanotubes proposing layered tubes possessing most of the Si atoms in an {{sp}}3 hybridization, and with few {{sp}}2 atoms localized at the outer wall. The lowest-energy structures have metallic behavior. Furthermore, the possibility to tune the band structure with the application of a strain was demonstrated, inducing a metal-semiconductor transition. Thus, the behavior of silicon nanotubes differs significantly from carbon nanotubes, and the main source of the differences is the distortions in the lattice associated with the tendency of Si to make four chemical bonds.

The ab initio Calculation of Electric Field Gradient at the Site of P Impurity in α-Al3O2

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Qiao-Li; Yuan, Da-Qing; Zhang, Huan-Qiao; Fan, Ping; Zuo, Yi; Zheng, Yong-Nan; Masuta, K.; Fukuda, M.; Mihara, M.; Minamisono, T.; Kitagawa, A.; Zhu, Sheng-Yun

2012-09-01

An ab initio calculation of the electric-field gradient (EFG) at the site of a phosphorous impurity substituting an Al atom in α-Al2O3 is carried out using the WIEN2k code with the full-potential linearized augmented plane wave plus local orbital method (LAPW+lo) in the frame of density functional theory. The atomic lattice relaxations caused by the implanted impurities were calculated for two different charged states to well describe the electronic structure of the doped system. The EFG at the site of the phosphorous impurity in the charged supercell calculated with the exchange-correlation potential of the Wu-Cohen generalized gradient approximation (WC-GGA) is 0.573 × 1021 V/m2. Then, the nuclear quadrupole moment of the I = 3 state in 28P is deduced to be 137 mb from the quadrupole interaction frequency of 190 kHz measured recently by the β-NQR method.

FT-IR spectroscopy combined with DFT calculation to explore solvent effects of vinyl acetate

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Yi; Zhang, Hui; Liu, Qing

The infrared vibration frequencies of vinyl acetate (VAc) in 18 different solvents were theoretically computed at Density Function Theory (DFT) B3LYP/6-311G* level based on Polarizable Continuum Model (PCM) and experimentally recorded by FT-IR spectroscopy. The solvent-induced long-range bulk electrostatic solvation free energies of VAc (ΔGelec) were calculated by the SMD model. The Cdbnd O stretching vibration frequencies of VAc were utilized as a measure of the chemical reactivities of the Cdbnd C group in VAc. The calculated and experimental Cdbnd O stretching vibration frequencies of VAc (νcal(Cdbnd O) and νexp(Cdbnd O)) were correlated with empirical solvent parameters including the KBM equation, the Swain equation and the linear solvation energy relationships (LSER). Through ab initio calculation, assignments of the two Cdbnd O absorption bands of VAc in alcohol solvents were achieved. The PCM, SMD and ab initio calculation offered supporting evidence to explain the FT-IR experimental observations from differing aspects.

Prediction of possible CaMnO3 modifications using an ab initio minimization data-mining approach.

PubMed

Zagorac, Jelena; Zagorac, Dejan; Zarubica, Aleksandra; Schön, J Christian; Djuris, Katarina; Matovic, Branko

2014-10-01

We have performed a crystal structure prediction study of CaMnO3 focusing on structures generated by octahedral tilting according to group-subgroup relations from the ideal perovskite type (Pm\\overline 3 m), which is the aristotype of the experimentally known CaMnO3 compound in the Pnma space group. Furthermore, additional structure candidates have been obtained using data mining. For each of the structure candidates, a local optimization on the ab initio level using density-functional theory (LDA, hybrid B3LYP) and the Hartree--Fock (HF) method was performed, and we find that several of the modifications may be experimentally accessible. In the high-pressure regime, we identify a post-perovskite phase in the CaIrO3 type, not previously observed in CaMnO3. Similarly, calculations at effective negative pressure predict a phase transition from the orthorhombic perovskite to an ilmenite-type (FeTiO3) modification of CaMnO3.

The uniform electron gas at warm dense matter conditions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dornheim, Tobias; Groth, Simon; Bonitz, Michael

2018-05-01

Motivated by the current high interest in the field of warm dense matter research, in this article we review the uniform electron gas (UEG) at finite temperature and over a broad density range relevant for warm dense matter applications. We provide an exhaustive overview of different simulation techniques, focusing on recent developments in the dielectric formalism (linear response theory) and quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) methods. Our primary focus is on two novel QMC methods that have recently allowed us to achieve breakthroughs in the thermodynamics of the warm dense electron gas: Permutation blocking path integral MC (PB-PIMC) and configuration path integral MC (CPIMC). In fact, a combination of PB-PIMC and CPIMC has allowed for a highly accurate description of the warm dense UEG over a broad density-temperature range. We are able to effectively avoid the notorious fermion sign problem, without invoking uncontrolled approximations such as the fixed node approximation. Furthermore, a new finite-size correction scheme is presented that makes it possible to treat the UEG in the thermodynamic limit without loss of accuracy. In addition, we in detail discuss the construction of a parametrization of the exchange-correlation free energy, on the basis of these data - the central thermodynamic quantity that provides a complete description of the UEG and is of crucial importance as input for the simulation of real warm dense matter applications, e.g., via thermal density functional theory. A second major aspect of this review is the use of our ab initio simulation results to test previous theories, including restricted PIMC, finite-temperature Green functions, the classical mapping by Perrot and Dharma-wardana, and various dielectric methods such as the random phase approximation, or the Singwi-Tosi-Land-Sjölander (both in the static and quantum versions), Vashishta-Singwi and the recent Tanaka scheme for the local field correction. Thus, for the first time, thorough benchmarks of the accuracy of important approximation schemes regarding various quantities such as different energies, in particular the exchange-correlation free energy, and the static structure factor, are possible. In the final part of this paper, we outline a way how to rigorously extend our QMC studies to the inhomogeneous electron gas. We present first ab initio data for the static density response and for the static local field correction.

Multiscale Modeling of Grain Boundaries in ZrB2: Structure, Energetics, and Thermal Resistance

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lawson, John W.; Daw, Murray S.; Squire, Thomas H.; Bauschlicher, Charles W., Jr.

2012-01-01

A combination of ab initio, atomistic and finite element methods (FEM) were used to investigate the structures, energetics and lattice thermal conductance of grain boundaries for the ultra high temperature ceramic ZrB2. Atomic models of idealized boundaries were relaxed using density functional theory. Information about bonding across the interfaces was determined from the electron localization function. The Kapitza conductance of larger scale versions of the boundary models were computed using non-equilibrium molecular dynamics. The interfacial thermal parameters together with single crystal thermal conductivities were used as parameters in microstructural computations. FEM meshes were constructed on top of microstructural images. From these computations, the effective thermal conductivity of the polycrystalline structure was determined.

Single nickel-related defects in molecular-sized nanodiamonds for multicolor bioimaging: an ab initio study.

PubMed

Thiering, Gergő; Londero, Elisa; Gali, Adam

2014-10-21

Fluorescent nanodiamonds constitute an outstanding alternative to semiconductor quantum dots and dye molecules for in vivo biomarker applications, where the fluorescence comes from optically active point defects acting as color centers in the nanodiamonds. For practical purposes, these color centers should be photostable as a function of the laser power or the surface termination of nanodiamonds. Furthermore, they should exhibit a sharp and nearly temperature-independent zero-phonon line. In this study, we show by hybrid density functional theory calculations that nickel doped nanodiamonds exhibit the desired properties, thus opening the avenue to practical applications. In particular, harnessing the strong quantum confinement effect in molecule-sized nanodiamonds is very promising for achieving multicolor imaging by single nickel-related defects.

Single nickel-related defects in molecular-sized nanodiamonds for multicolor bioimaging: an ab initio study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thiering, Gergő; Londero, Elisa; Gali, Adam

2014-09-01

Fluorescent nanodiamonds constitute an outstanding alternative to semiconductor quantum dots and dye molecules for in vivo biomarker applications, where the fluorescence comes from optically active point defects acting as color centers in the nanodiamonds. For practical purposes, these color centers should be photostable as a function of the laser power or the surface termination of nanodiamonds. Furthermore, they should exhibit a sharp and nearly temperature-independent zero-phonon line. In this study, we show by hybrid density functional theory calculations that nickel doped nanodiamonds exhibit the desired properties, thus opening the avenue to practical applications. In particular, harnessing the strong quantum confinement effect in molecule-sized nanodiamonds is very promising for achieving multicolor imaging by single nickel-related defects.

From Geometry Optimization to Time Dependent Molecular Structure Modeling: Method Developments, ab initio Theories and Applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liang, Wenkel

This dissertation consists of two general parts: (I) developments of optimization algorithms (both nuclear and electronic degrees of freedom) for time-independent molecules and (II) novel methods, first-principle theories and applications in time dependent molecular structure modeling. In the first part, we discuss in specific two new algorithms for static geometry optimization, the eigenspace update (ESU) method in nonredundant internal coordinate that exhibits an enhanced performace with up to a factor of 3 savings in computational cost for large-sized molecular systems; the Car-Parrinello density matrix search (CP-DMS) method that enables direct minimization of the SCF energy as an effective alternative to conventional diagonalization approach. For the second part, we consider the time dependence and first presents two nonadiabatic dynamic studies that model laser controlled molecular photo-dissociation for qualitative understandings of intense laser-molecule interaction, using ab initio direct Ehrenfest dynamics scheme implemented with real-time time-dependent density functional theory (RT-TDDFT) approach developed in our group. Furthermore, we place our special interest on the nonadiabatic electronic dynamics in the ultrafast time scale, and presents (1) a novel technique that can not only obtain energies but also the electron densities of doubly excited states within a single determinant framework, by combining methods of CP-DMS with RT-TDDFT; (2) a solvated first-principles electronic dynamics method by incorporating the polarizable continuum solvation model (PCM) to RT-TDDFT, which is found to be very effective in describing the dynamical solvation effect in the charge transfer process and yields a consistent absorption spectrum in comparison to the conventional linear response results in solution. (3) applications of the PCM-RT-TDDFT method to study the intramolecular charge-transfer (CT) dynamics in a C60 derivative. Such work provides insights into the characteristics of ultrafast dynamics in photoexcited fullerene derivatives, and aids in the rational design for pre-dissociative exciton in the intramolecular CT process in organic solar cells.

Importance of van der Waals interaction on structural, vibrational, and thermodynamic properties of NaCl

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marcondes, Michel L.; Wentzcovitch, Renata M.; Assali, Lucy V. C.

2018-05-01

Thermal equations of state (EOS) are essential in several scientific domains. However, experimental determination of EOS parameters may be limited at extreme conditions, therefore, ab initio calculations have become an important method to obtain them. Density functional theory (DFT) and its extensions with various degrees of approximations for the exchange and correlation (XC) energy is the method of choice, but large errors in the EOS parameters are still common. The alkali halides have been problematic from the onset of this field and the quest for appropriate DFT functionals for such ionic and relatively weakly bonded systems has remained an active topic of research. Here we use DFT + van der Waals functionals to calculate vibrational properties, thermal EOS, thermodynamic properties, and the B1 to B2 phase boundary of NaCl with high precision. Our results reveal a remarkable improvement over the performance of standard local density approximation and generalized gradient approximation functionals for all these properties and phase transition boundary, as well as great sensitivity of anharmonic effects on the choice of XC functional.

Ab initio thermodynamic results for warm dense matter

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bonitz, Michael

2016-10-01

Warm dense matter (WDM) - an exotic state where electrons are quantum degenerate and ions may be strongly correlated - is ubiquitous in dense astrophysical plasmas and highly compressed laboratory systems including inertial fusion. Accurate theoretical predictions require precision thermodynamic data for the electron gas at high density and finite temperature around the Fermi temperature. First such data have been obtained by restricted path integral Monte Carlo (restricted PIMC) simulations and transformed into analytical fits for the free energy. Such results are also key input for novel finite temperature density functional theory. However, the RPIMC data of Ref. 1 are limited to moderate densities, and even there turned out to be surprisingly inaccurate, which is a consequence of the fermion sign problem. These problems were recently overcome by the development of alternative QMC approaches in Kiel (configuration PIMC and permutation blocking PIMC) and Imperial College (Density matrix QMC). The three methods have their strengths and limitations in complementary parameter regions and provide highly accurate thermodynamic data for the electronic contributions in WDM. While the original results were obtained for small particle numbers, recently accurate finite size corrections were derived allowing to compute ab initio thermodynamic data with an unprecedented accuracy of better than 0.3 percent. This provides the final step for the use as benchmark data for experiments and models of Warm dense matter. Co-authors: T. Schoof, S. Groth, T. Dornheim, F. D. Malone, M. Foulkes, and T. Sjostroem, Funded by: DFG via SFB-TR24 and project BO1366-10.

Analytical excited state forces for the time-dependent density-functional tight-binding method.

PubMed

Heringer, D; Niehaus, T A; Wanko, M; Frauenheim, Th

2007-12-01

An analytical formulation for the geometrical derivatives of excitation energies within the time-dependent density-functional tight-binding (TD-DFTB) method is presented. The derivation is based on the auxiliary functional approach proposed in [Furche and Ahlrichs, J Chem Phys 2002, 117, 7433]. To validate the quality of the potential energy surfaces provided by the method, adiabatic excitation energies, excited state geometries, and harmonic vibrational frequencies were calculated for a test set of molecules in excited states of different symmetry and multiplicity. According to the results, the TD-DFTB scheme surpasses the performance of configuration interaction singles and the random phase approximation but has a lower quality than ab initio time-dependent density-functional theory. As a consequence of the special form of the approximations made in TD-DFTB, the scaling exponent of the method can be reduced to three, similar to the ground state. The low scaling prefactor and the satisfactory accuracy of the method makes TD-DFTB especially suitable for molecular dynamics simulations of dozens of atoms as well as for the computation of luminescence spectra of systems containing hundreds of atoms. (c) 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Density, structure, and dynamics of water: The effect of van der Waals interactions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Jue; Román-Pérez, G.; Soler, Jose M.; Artacho, Emilio; Fernández-Serra, M.-V.

2011-01-01

It is known that ab initio molecular dynamics (AIMD) simulations of liquid water at ambient conditions, based on the generalized gradient approximation (GGA) to density functional theory (DFT), with commonly used functionals fail to produce structural and diffusive properties in reasonable agreement with experiment. This is true for canonical, constant temperature simulations where the density of the liquid is fixed to the experimental density. The equilibrium density, at ambient conditions, of DFT water has recently been shown by Schmidt et al. [J. Phys. Chem. B, 113, 11959 (2009)] to be underestimated by different GGA functionals for exchange and correlation, and corrected by the addition of interatomic pair potentials to describe van der Waals (vdW) interactions. In this contribution we present a DFT-AIMD study of liquid water using several GGA functionals as well as the van der Waals density functional (vdW-DF) of Dion et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 92, 246401 (2004)]. As expected, we find that the density of water is grossly underestimated by GGA functionals. When a vdW-DF is used, the density improves drastically and the experimental diffusivity is reproduced without the need of thermal corrections. We analyze the origin of the density differences between all the functionals. We show that the vdW-DF increases the population of non-H-bonded interstitial sites, at distances between the first and second coordination shells. However, it excessively weakens the H-bond network, collapsing the second coordination shell. This structural problem is partially associated to the choice of GGA exchange in the vdW-DF. We show that a different choice for the exchange functional is enough to achieve an overall improvement both in structure and diffusivity.

Ab initio study of Fe{sub 2}MnZ (Al, Si, Ge) Heusler alloy using GGA approximation

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Jain, Vivek Kumar, E-mail: vivek.jain129@gmail.com; Jain, Vishal, E-mail: vivek.jain129@gmail.com; Lakshmi, N., E-mail: vivek.jain129@gmail.com

Density functional theory based on FP-LAPW method used to investigate the electronic structure of Fe{sub 2}MnZ, shows that the total spin magnetic moment shows a trend consistent with the Slater–Pauling curve. The Fe and Mn magnetic moment depend on choice of Z element although the magnetic moment of Z element is negative and less than 0.1 μ{sub B}. Spin polarization calculations evidence 100% spin polarization for Fe{sub 2}MnSi. Fe{sub 2}MnAl and Fe{sub 2}MnGe show metallic behavior with 93%, 98% spin polarization.

Fragmentation of amino acids induced by collisions with low-energy highly charged ions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Piekarski, D. G.; Maclot, S.; Domaracka, A.; Adoui, L.; Alcamí, M.; Rousseau, P.; Díaz-Tendero, S.; Huber, B. A.; Martín, F.

2014-04-01

Fragmentation of amino acids NH2-(CH2)n-COOH (n=1 glycine; n=2 β-alanine and n=3 γ-aminobutyric acid GABA) following collisions with slow highly charged ions has been studied in the gas phase by a combined experimental and theoretical approach. In the experiments, a multi-coincidence detection method was used to deduce the charge state of the molecules before fragmentation. Quantum chemistry calculations have been carried out in the basis of the density functional theory and ab initio molecular dynamics. The combination of both methodologies is essential to unambiguously unravel the different fragmentation pathways.

Ab-initio study of boron incorporation and compositional limits at GaN and AlN (0001) surfaces

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lymperakis, L.

2018-06-01

Density functional theory calculations are employed to investigate B incorporation at the GaN(0001) and AlN(0001) surfaces. It is found that under typical metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) and metal rich molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) conditions, the maximum B contents at the surfaces are in the order of 3% for GaN and 15% for AlN. Under MBE N-rich growth conditions the calculations reveal a rehybridization enhanced solubility mechanism that dominates at the surface. This mechanism offers a promising route to kinetically stabilize B contents above the bulk solubility limit and as high as 25%.

A molecular dynamics and ab initio analysis of the electronic structure of single-walled carbon nanotubes adhered to a substrate

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Van Der Geest, A. G.; Lu, Z.; Lusk, M. T.; Dunn, M. L.

2011-04-01

Single-wall nanotubes can adhere to planar surfaces via van der Waals forces, and this causes the tubes to deform. We use classical molecular dynamics to estimate this deformation and density functional theory to quantify its impact on electronic band structure. For (n,0) tubes, adhesion causes the maximum bandgap to rise more rapidly with diameter, but the value of the maximum is not affected. The influence of adhesion forces on bandgap was found to correlate with that associated with lateral, uniaxial compression for moderate values of adhesion energy and compressive distortion.

Stability of vacancy-type defect clusters in Ni based on first-principles and molecular dynamics simulations

DOE PAGES

Zhao, Shijun; Zhang, Yanwen; Weber, William J.

2017-10-17

Using first-principles calculations based on density-functional theory, the energetics of different vacancy-type defects, including voids, stacking fault tetrahedra (SFT) and vacancy loops, in Ni are investigated. It is found that voids are more stable than SFT at 0 K, which is also the case after taking into account the volumetric strains. By carrying out ab initio molecular dynamics simulations at temperatures up to 1000 K, direct transformations from vacancy loops and voids into SFT are observed. Our results suggest the importance of temperature effects in determining thermodynamic stability of vacancy clusters in face-centered cubic metals.

First principle study of UHTC ternary diboride, Cr2AlB2

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rastogi, Anugya; Rajpoot, Priyanka; Verma, U. P.

2018-04-01

In this paper ab-initio study of the structural, electronic and optical properties of ternary metal boride Cr2AlB2 using full potential linear augmented plane wave (FP-LAPW) method based on the density functional theory (DFT). The study of structural properties shows that Cr2AlB2 is metallic in nature and have orthorhombic crystal structure. The optical properties show that it possess anisotropic behavior, which have wide applications in electricity production through concentration of solar power (CSP) technology. To the best of our knowledge, theoretical study of the optical properties of Cr2AlB2 is reported for the first time.

Theoretical study of superionic phase transition in Li2S.

PubMed

Jand, Sara Panahian; Zhang, Qian; Kaghazchi, Payam

2017-07-19

We have studied temperature-induced superionic phase transition in Li 2 S, which is one of the most promising Li-S battery cathode material. Concentration of ionic carriers at low and high temperature was evaluated from thermodynamics of defects (using density functional theory) and detailed balance condition (using ab initio molecular dynamics (AIMD)), respectively. Diffusion coefficients were also obtained using AIMD simulations. Calculated ionic conductivity shows that superionic phase transition occurs at T = 900 K, which is in agreement with reported experimental values. The superionic behavior of Li 2 S is found to be due to thermodynamic reason (i.e. a large concentration of disordered defects).

Employing OpenCL to Accelerate Ab Initio Calculations on Graphics Processing Units.

PubMed

Kussmann, Jörg; Ochsenfeld, Christian

2017-06-13

We present an extension of our graphics processing units (GPU)-accelerated quantum chemistry package to employ OpenCL compute kernels, which can be executed on a wide range of computing devices like CPUs, Intel Xeon Phi, and AMD GPUs. Here, we focus on the use of AMD GPUs and discuss differences as compared to CUDA-based calculations on NVIDIA GPUs. First illustrative timings are presented for hybrid density functional theory calculations using serial as well as parallel compute environments. The results show that AMD GPUs are as fast or faster than comparable NVIDIA GPUs and provide a viable alternative for quantum chemical applications.

Efficient mixing scheme for self-consistent all-electron charge density

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shishidou, Tatsuya; Weinert, Michael

2015-03-01

In standard ab initio density-functional theory calculations, the charge density ρ is gradually updated using the ``input'' and ``output'' densities of the current and previous iteration steps. To accelerate the convergence, Pulay mixing has been widely used with great success. It expresses an ``optimal'' input density ρopt and its ``residual'' Ropt by a linear combination of the densities of the iteration sequences. In large-scale metallic systems, however, the long range nature of Coulomb interaction often causes the ``charge sloshing'' phenomenon and significantly impacts the convergence. Two treatments, represented in reciprocal space, are known to suppress the sloshing: (i) the inverse Kerker metric for Pulay optimization and (ii) Kerker-type preconditioning in mixing Ropt. In all-electron methods, where the charge density does not have a converging Fourier representation, treatments equivalent or similar to (i) and (ii) have not been described so far. In this work, we show that, by going through the calculation of Hartree potential, one can accomplish the procedures (i) and (ii) without entering the reciprocal space. Test calculations are done with a FLAPW method.

Block-localized wavefunction (BLW) method at the density functional theory (DFT) level.

PubMed

Mo, Yirong; Song, Lingchun; Lin, Yuchun

2007-08-30

The block-localized wavefunction (BLW) approach is an ab initio valence bond (VB) method incorporating the efficiency of molecular orbital (MO) theory. It can generate the wavefunction for a resonance structure or diabatic state self-consistently by partitioning the overall electrons and primitive orbitals into several subgroups and expanding each block-localized molecular orbital in only one subspace. Although block-localized molecular orbitals in the same subspace are constrained to be orthogonal (a feature of MO theory), orbitals between different subspaces are generally nonorthogonal (a feature of VB theory). The BLW method is particularly useful in the quantification of the electron delocalization (resonance) effect within a molecule and the charge-transfer effect between molecules. In this paper, we extend the BLW method to the density functional theory (DFT) level and implement the BLW-DFT method to the quantum mechanical software GAMESS. Test applications to the pi conjugation in the planar allyl radical and ions with the basis sets of 6-31G(d), 6-31+G(d), 6-311+G(d,p), and cc-pVTZ show that the basis set dependency is insignificant. In addition, the BLW-DFT method can also be used to elucidate the nature of intermolecular interactions. Examples of pi-cation interactions and solute-solvent interactions will be presented and discussed. By expressing each diabatic state with one BLW, the BLW method can be further used to study chemical reactions and electron-transfer processes whose potential energy surfaces are typically described by two or more diabatic states.

Ab Initio Density Functional Calculations and Infra-Red Study of CO Interaction with Pd Atoms on θ-Al2O3 (010) Surface.

PubMed

Narula, Chaitanya K; Allard, Lawrence F; Wu, Zili

2017-07-24

The ab initio density functional theoretical studies show that energetics favor CO oxidation on single Pd atoms supported on θ-alumina. The diffuse reflectance infra-red spectroscopy (DRIFTS) results show that carbonates are formed as intermediates when single supported Pd atoms are exposed to a gaseous mixture of CO + O 2 . The rapid agglomeration of Pd atoms under CO oxidation conditions even at 6 °C leads to the presence of Pd particles along with single atoms during CO oxidation experiments. Thus, the observed CO oxidation has contributions from both single Pd atoms and Pd particles.

Introducing ab initio based neural networks for transition-rate prediction in kinetic Monte Carlo simulations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Messina, Luca; Castin, Nicolas; Domain, Christophe; Olsson, Pär

2017-02-01

The quality of kinetic Monte Carlo (KMC) simulations of microstructure evolution in alloys relies on the parametrization of point-defect migration rates, which are complex functions of the local chemical composition and can be calculated accurately with ab initio methods. However, constructing reliable models that ensure the best possible transfer of physical information from ab initio to KMC is a challenging task. This work presents an innovative approach, where the transition rates are predicted by artificial neural networks trained on a database of 2000 migration barriers, obtained with density functional theory (DFT) in place of interatomic potentials. The method is tested on copper precipitation in thermally aged iron alloys, by means of a hybrid atomistic-object KMC model. For the object part of the model, the stability and mobility properties of copper-vacancy clusters are analyzed by means of independent atomistic KMC simulations, driven by the same neural networks. The cluster diffusion coefficients and mean free paths are found to increase with size, confirming the dominant role of coarsening of medium- and large-sized clusters in the precipitation kinetics. The evolution under thermal aging is in better agreement with experiments with respect to a previous interatomic-potential model, especially concerning the experiment time scales. However, the model underestimates the solubility of copper in iron due to the excessively high solution energy predicted by the chosen DFT method. Nevertheless, this work proves the capability of neural networks to transfer complex ab initio physical properties to higher-scale models, and facilitates the extension to systems with increasing chemical complexity, setting the ground for reliable microstructure evolution simulations in a wide range of alloys and applications.

Electronic coupling matrix elements from charge constrained density functional theory calculations using a plane wave basis set

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oberhofer, Harald; Blumberger, Jochen

2010-12-01

We present a plane wave basis set implementation for the calculation of electronic coupling matrix elements of electron transfer reactions within the framework of constrained density functional theory (CDFT). Following the work of Wu and Van Voorhis [J. Chem. Phys. 125, 164105 (2006)], the diabatic wavefunctions are approximated by the Kohn-Sham determinants obtained from CDFT calculations, and the coupling matrix element calculated by an efficient integration scheme. Our results for intermolecular electron transfer in small systems agree very well with high-level ab initio calculations based on generalized Mulliken-Hush theory, and with previous local basis set CDFT calculations. The effect of thermal fluctuations on the coupling matrix element is demonstrated for intramolecular electron transfer in the tetrathiafulvalene-diquinone (Q-TTF-Q-) anion. Sampling the electronic coupling along density functional based molecular dynamics trajectories, we find that thermal fluctuations, in particular the slow bending motion of the molecule, can lead to changes in the instantaneous electron transfer rate by more than an order of magnitude. The thermal average, ( {< {| {H_ab } |^2 } > } )^{1/2} = 6.7 {mH}, is significantly higher than the value obtained for the minimum energy structure, | {H_ab } | = 3.8 {mH}. While CDFT in combination with generalized gradient approximation (GGA) functionals describes the intermolecular electron transfer in the studied systems well, exact exchange is required for Q-TTF-Q- in order to obtain coupling matrix elements in agreement with experiment (3.9 mH). The implementation presented opens up the possibility to compute electronic coupling matrix elements for extended systems where donor, acceptor, and the environment are treated at the quantum mechanical (QM) level.

Extended Lagrangian Excited State Molecular Dynamics

DOE PAGES

Bjorgaard, Josiah August; Sheppard, Daniel Glen; Tretiak, Sergei; ...

2018-01-09

In this work, an extended Lagrangian framework for excited state molecular dynamics (XL-ESMD) using time-dependent self-consistent field theory is proposed. The formulation is a generalization of the extended Lagrangian formulations for ground state Born–Oppenheimer molecular dynamics [Phys. Rev. Lett. 2008 100, 123004]. The theory is implemented, demonstrated, and evaluated using a time-dependent semiempirical model, though it should be generally applicable to ab initio theory. The simulations show enhanced energy stability and a significantly reduced computational cost associated with the iterative solutions of both the ground state and the electronically excited states. Relaxed convergence criteria can therefore be used both formore » the self-consistent ground state optimization and for the iterative subspace diagonalization of the random phase approximation matrix used to calculate the excited state transitions. In conclusion, the XL-ESMD approach is expected to enable numerically efficient excited state molecular dynamics for such methods as time-dependent Hartree–Fock (TD-HF), Configuration Interactions Singles (CIS), and time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT).« less

Extended Lagrangian Excited State Molecular Dynamics

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bjorgaard, Josiah August; Sheppard, Daniel Glen; Tretiak, Sergei

In this work, an extended Lagrangian framework for excited state molecular dynamics (XL-ESMD) using time-dependent self-consistent field theory is proposed. The formulation is a generalization of the extended Lagrangian formulations for ground state Born–Oppenheimer molecular dynamics [Phys. Rev. Lett. 2008 100, 123004]. The theory is implemented, demonstrated, and evaluated using a time-dependent semiempirical model, though it should be generally applicable to ab initio theory. The simulations show enhanced energy stability and a significantly reduced computational cost associated with the iterative solutions of both the ground state and the electronically excited states. Relaxed convergence criteria can therefore be used both formore » the self-consistent ground state optimization and for the iterative subspace diagonalization of the random phase approximation matrix used to calculate the excited state transitions. In conclusion, the XL-ESMD approach is expected to enable numerically efficient excited state molecular dynamics for such methods as time-dependent Hartree–Fock (TD-HF), Configuration Interactions Singles (CIS), and time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT).« less

Extended Lagrangian Excited State Molecular Dynamics.

PubMed

Bjorgaard, J A; Sheppard, D; Tretiak, S; Niklasson, A M N

2018-02-13

An extended Lagrangian framework for excited state molecular dynamics (XL-ESMD) using time-dependent self-consistent field theory is proposed. The formulation is a generalization of the extended Lagrangian formulations for ground state Born-Oppenheimer molecular dynamics [Phys. Rev. Lett. 2008 100, 123004]. The theory is implemented, demonstrated, and evaluated using a time-dependent semiempirical model, though it should be generally applicable to ab initio theory. The simulations show enhanced energy stability and a significantly reduced computational cost associated with the iterative solutions of both the ground state and the electronically excited states. Relaxed convergence criteria can therefore be used both for the self-consistent ground state optimization and for the iterative subspace diagonalization of the random phase approximation matrix used to calculate the excited state transitions. The XL-ESMD approach is expected to enable numerically efficient excited state molecular dynamics for such methods as time-dependent Hartree-Fock (TD-HF), Configuration Interactions Singles (CIS), and time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT).

Vibrational Properties of Hydrogen-Bonded Systems Using the Multireference Generalization to the "On-the-Fly" Electronic Structure within Quantum Wavepacket ab Initio Molecular Dynamics (QWAIMD).

PubMed

Li, Junjie; Li, Xiaohu; Iyengar, Srinivasan S

2014-06-10

We discuss a multiconfigurational treatment of the "on-the-fly" electronic structure within the quantum wavepacket ab initio molecular dynamics (QWAIMD) method for coupled treatment of quantum nuclear effects with electronic structural effects. Here, multiple single-particle electronic density matrices are simultaneously propagated with a quantum nuclear wavepacket and other classical nuclear degrees of freedom. The multiple density matrices are coupled through a nonorthogonal configuration interaction (NOCI) procedure to construct the instantaneous potential surface. An adaptive-mesh-guided set of basis functions composed of Gaussian primitives are used to simplify the electronic structure calculations. Specifically, with the replacement of the atom-centered basis functions positioned on the centers of the quantum-mechanically treated nuclei by a mesh-guided band of basis functions, the two-electron integrals used to compute the electronic structure potential surface become independent of the quantum nuclear variable and hence reusable along the entire Cartesian grid representing the quantum nuclear coordinates. This reduces the computational complexity involved in obtaining a potential surface and facilitates the interpretation of the individual density matrices as representative diabatic states. The parametric nuclear position dependence of the diabatic states is evaluated at the initial time-step using a Shannon-entropy-based sampling function that depends on an approximation to the quantum nuclear wavepacket and the potential surface. This development is meant as a precursor to an on-the-fly fully multireference electronic structure procedure embedded, on-the-fly, within a quantum nuclear dynamics formalism. We benchmark the current development by computing structural, dynamic, and spectroscopic features for a series of bihalide hydrogen-bonded systems: FHF(-), ClHCl(-), BrHBr(-), and BrHCl(-). We find that the donor-acceptor structural features are in good agreement with experiments. Spectroscopic features are computed using a unified velocity/flux autocorrelation function and include vibrational fundamentals and combination bands. These agree well with experiments and other theories.

Understanding the Mechanism of SiC Plasma-Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition (PECVD) and Developing Routes toward SiC Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) with Density Functional Theory.

PubMed

Filatova, Ekaterina A; Hausmann, Dennis; Elliott, Simon D

2018-05-02

Understanding the mechanism of SiC chemical vapor deposition (CVD) is an important step in investigating the routes toward future atomic layer deposition (ALD) of SiC. The energetics of various silicon and carbon precursors reacting with bare and H-terminated 3C-SiC (011) are analyzed using ab initio density functional theory (DFT). Bare SiC is found to be reactive to silicon and carbon precursors, while H-terminated SiC is found to be not reactive with these precursors at 0 K. Furthermore, the reaction pathways of silane plasma fragments SiH 3 and SiH 2 are calculated along with the energetics for the methane plasma fragments CH 3 and CH 2 . SiH 3 and SiH 2 fragments follow different mechanisms toward Si growth, of which the SiH 3 mechanism is found to be more thermodynamically favorable. Moreover, both of the fragments were found to show selectivity toward the Si-H bond and not C-H bond of the surface. On the basis of this, a selective Si deposition process is suggested for silicon versus carbon-doped silicon oxide surfaces.

Investigation of the Fe{sup 3+} centers in perovskite KMgF{sub 3} through a combination of ab initio (density functional theory) and semi-empirical (superposition model) calculations

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Emül, Y.; Department of Software Engineering, Cumhuriyet University, 58140 Sivas; Erbahar, D.

2015-08-14

Analyses of the local crystal and electronic structure in the vicinity of Fe{sup 3+} centers in perovskite KMgF{sub 3} crystal have been carried out in a comprehensive manner. A combination of density functional theory (DFT) and a semi-empirical superposition model (SPM) is used for a complete analysis of all Fe{sup 3+} centers in this study for the first time. Some quantitative information has been derived from the DFT calculations on both the electronic structure and the local geometry around Fe{sup 3+} centers. All of the trigonal (K-vacancy case, K-Li substitution case, and normal trigonal Fe{sup 3+} center case), FeF{sub 5}Omore » cluster, and tetragonal (Mg-vacancy and Mg-Li substitution cases) centers have been taken into account based on the previously suggested experimental and theoretical inferences. The collaboration between the experimental data and the results of both DFT and SPM calculations provides us to understand most probable structural model for Fe{sup 3+} centers in KMgF{sub 3}.« less

Application of the Real-Time Time-Dependent Density Functional Theory to Excited-State Dynamics of Molecules and 2D Materials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Miyamoto, Yoshiyuki; Rubio, Angel

2018-04-01

We review our recent developments in the ab initio simulation of excited-state dynamics within the framework of time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT). Our targets range from molecules to 2D materials, although the methods are general and can be applied to any other finite and periodic systems. We discuss examples of excited-state dynamics obtained by real-time TDDFT coupled with molecular dynamics (MD) and the Ehrenfest approximation, including photoisomerization in molecules, photoenhancement of the weak interatomic attraction of noble gas atoms, photoenhancement of the weak interlayer interaction of 2D materials, pulse-laser-induced local bond breaking of adsorbed atoms on 2D sheets, modulation of UV light intensity by graphene nanoribbons at terahertz frequencies, and collision of high-speed ions with the 2D material to simulate the images taken by He ion microscopy. We illustrate how the real-time TDDFT approach is useful for predicting and understanding non-equilibrium dynamics in condensed matter. We also discuss recent developments that address the excited-state dynamics of systems out of equilibrium and future challenges in this fascinating field of research.

First-principles study of the amorphous In3SbTe2 phase change compound

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Los, Jan H.; Kühne, Thomas D.; Gabardi, Silvia; Bernasconi, Marco

2013-11-01

Ab initio molecular dynamics simulations based on density functional theory were performed to generate amorphous models of the phase change compound In3SbTe2 by quenching from the melt. In-Sb and In-Te are the most abundant bonds with only a minor fraction of Sb-Te bonds. The bonding geometry in the amorphous phase is, however, strongly dependent on the density in the range 6.448-5.75 g/cm3 that we investigated. While at high density the bonding geometry of In atoms is mostly octahedral-like as in the cubic crystalline phase of the ternary compound In3SbTe2, at low density we observed a sizable fraction of tetrahedral-like geometries similar to those present in the crystalline phase of the two binary compounds InTe and InSb that the ternary system can be thought to be made of. We show that the different ratio between octahedral-like and tetrahedral-like bonding geometries has fingerprints in the optical and vibrational spectra.

Ab Initio Predictions of Hexagonal Zr(B,C,N) Polymorphs for Coherent Interface Design

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hu, Chongze; Huang, Jingsong; Sumpter, Bobby G.

2017-10-27

Density functional theory calculations are used to explore hexagonal (HX) NiAs-like polymorphs of Zr(B,C,N) and compare with corresponding Zr(B,C,N) Hagg-like face-centered cubic rocksalt (B1) phases. While all predicted compounds are mechanically stable according to the Born-Huang criteria, only HX Zr(C,N) are found dynamically stable from ab initio molecular dynamics simulations and lattice dynamics calculations. HX ZrN emerges as a candidate structure with ground state energy, elastic constants, and extrinsic mechanical parameters comparable with those of B1 ZrN. Ab initio band structure and semi-classical Boltzmann transport calculations predict a metallic character and a monotonic increase in electrical conductivity with the numbermore » of valence electrons. Electronic structure calculations indicate that the HX phases gain their stability and mechanical attributes by Zr d- non-metal p hybridization and by broadening of Zr d bands. Furthermore, it is shown that the HX ZrN phase provides a low-energy coherent interface model for connecting B1 ZrN domains, with significant energetic advantage over an atomistic interface model derived from high resolution transmission electron microscopy images. The ab initio characterizations provided herein should aid the experimental identification of non-Hagg-like hard phases. Furthermore, the results can also enrich the variety of crystalline phases potentially available for designing coherent interfaces in superhard nanostructured materials and in materials with multilayer characteristics.« less

Interaction of single-walled carbon nanotubes and saxitoxin: Ab initio simulations and biological responses in hippocampal cell line HT-22.

PubMed

Ramos, Patrícia; Schmitz, Marcos; Filgueira, Daza; Votto, Ana Paula; Durruthy, Michael; Gelesky, Marcos; Ruas, Caroline; Yunes, João; Tonel, Mariana; Fagan, Solange; Monserrat, José

2017-07-01

Saxitoxins (STXs) are potent neurotoxins that also induce cytotoxicity through the generation of reactive oxygen species. Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are nanomaterials that can promote a Trojan horse effect, facilitating the entry of toxic molecules to cells when adsorbed to nanomaterials. The interaction of pristine single-walled (SW)CNTs and carboxylated (SWCNT-COOH) nanotubes with STX was evaluated by ab initio simulation and bioassays using the cell line HT-22. Cells (5 × 10 4  cells/mL) were exposed to SWCNT and SWCNT-COOH (5 μg mL -1 ), STX (200 μg L -1 ), SWCNT+STX, and SWCNT-COOH+STX for 30 min or 24 h. Results of ab initio simulation showed that the interaction between SWCNT and SWCNT-COOH with STX occurs in a physisorption. The interaction of SWCNT+STX induced a decrease in cell viability. Cell proliferation was not affected in any treatment after 30 min or 24 h of exposure (p > 0.05). Treatment with SWCNT-COOH induced high reactive oxygen species levels, an effect attenuated in SWCNT-COOH+STX treatment. In terms of cellular oxygen consumption, both CNTs when coexposed with STX antagonize the toxin effect. Based on these results, it can be concluded that the results obtained in vitro corroborate the semiempirical evidence found using density functional theory ab initio simulation. Environ Toxicol Chem 2017;36:1728-1737. © 2016 SETAC. © 2016 SETAC.

Insight of DFT and ab initio atomistic thermodynamics on the surface stability and morphology of In2O3

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Minhua; Wang, Wenyi; Chen, Yifei

2018-03-01

In2O3 catalysts show remarkable activity and selectivity in methanol synthesis from CO2 hydrogenation. In order to get insight into the surface stability of this catalyst, density functional theory and ab initio atomistic thermodynamics method were used to investigate the surface free energies of various facets as a function of oxygen chemical potential, as well as the influences of temperature, pressure and gas compositions. The results show that the (111) facet presents lowest surface free energy under oxygen-rich condition, while the indium-terminated (100) facet is the most stable one under oxygen-lean condition. Moreover, we applied Wulff construction to determine the equilibrium shape of In2O3 with different oxygen chemical potentials. The equilibrium shape under oxygen-lean condition is cubic, which only expose (100) facet, while, the equilibrium shape under oxygen-rich condition is octahedron, which only expose (111) facet. Meanwhile, the results agree well with what is observed experimentally. It is further predicted that Wulff shape of In2O3 exists in a truncated octahedron morphology in which the (100) surface becomes predominant plane under CO2 hydrogenation reaction conditions.

Computation of geometries and frequencies of singlet and triplet nitromethane with density functional theory byusing gaussian type orbitals

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Jursic, B.S.

1996-12-31

The results of the computational study of the structures, energies, dipole moments and IR spectra for a singlet and a triplet nitromethane are presented. Five different hybrids (BHandH, BHandHLYP, B3LYP, B3P86 and B3PW91), local (SVWN), and nonlocal (BLYP) DFT methods are used with various sizes of the gaussian type of basis set. The obtained results are compared to the HF, MP2, and MCSCF ab initio calculations, as well as, to the experimental results. Becke`s three functional based hybrid DFT methods outperform the following: the ab initio (HF, MP2 and MCSCF), the Becke`s half-and-half based DFT methods, and the local (SVWNmore » or LSDA) and nonlocal (BLYP) DFT methods. The computed nitromethane geometry, the dipole moment, the energy difference, and the IR frequency are in extraordinary agreement with the experimental results. Thus, we are recommending the B3LYP and the B3PW91 as the methods of choice when the computational study of small {open_quotes}difficult{close_quotes} molecules is considered.« less

Unified theory of quantized electrons, phonons, and photons out of equilibrium: A simplified ab initio approach based on the generalized Baym-Kadanoff ansatz

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

de Melo, Pedro Miguel M. C.; Marini, Andrea

2016-04-01

We present a full ab initio description of the coupled out-of-equilibrium dynamics of photons, phonons, and electrons. In the present approach, the quantized nature of the electromagnetic field as well as of the nuclear oscillations is fully taken into account. The result is a set of integrodifferential equations, written on the Keldysh contour, for the Green's functions of electrons, phonons, and photons where the different kinds of interactions are merged together. We then concentrate on the electronic dynamics in order to reduce the problem to a computationally feasible approach. By using the generalized Baym-Kadanoff ansatz and the completed collision approximation, we introduce a series of efficient but controllable approximations. In this way, we reduce all equations to a set of decoupled equations for the density matrix that describe all kinds of static and dynamical correlations. The final result is a coherent, general, and inclusive scheme to calculate several physical quantities: carrier dynamics, transient photoabsorption, and light emission, all of which include, at the same time, electron-electron, electron-phonon, and electron-photon interactions. We further discuss how all these observables can be easily calculated within the present scheme using a fully atomistic ab initio approach.

Conformational stability, r(0) structural parameters, vibrational assignments and ab initio calculations of ethyldichlorophosphine.

PubMed

Darkhalil, Ikhlas D; Paquet, Charles; Waqas, Mohammad; Gounev, Todor K; Durig, James R

2015-02-05

Variable temperature (-60 to -100 °C) studies of ethyldichlorophosphine, CH3CH2PCl2, of the infrared spectra (4000-400 cm(-1)) dissolved in liquid xenon have been carried out. From these data, the two conformers have been identified and the enthalpy difference has been determined between the more stable trans conformer and the less stable gauche form to be 88±9 cm(-1) (1.04±0.11 kJ/mol). The percentage of abundance of the gauche conformer is estimated to be 57% at ambient temperature. The conformational stabilities have been predicted from ab initio calculations by utilizing many different basis sets up to aug-cc-pVTZ for both MP2(full) and density functional theory calculations by the B3LYP method. Vibrational assignments have been provided for both conformers which have been predicted by MP2(full)/6-31G(d) ab initio calculations to predict harmonic force fields, wavenumbers of the fundamentals, infrared intensities, Raman activities and depolarization ratios for both conformers. Estimated r0 structural parameters have been obtained from adjusted MP2(full)/6-311+G(d,p) calculations. The results are discussed and compared to the corresponding properties of some related molecules. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Revisiting the Electronic Structure of FeS Monomers Using ab Initio Ligand Field Theory and the Angular Overlap Model.

PubMed

Chilkuri, Vijay Gopal; DeBeer, Serena; Neese, Frank

2017-09-05

Iron-sulfur (FeS) proteins are universally found in nature with actives sites ranging in complexity from simple monomers to multinuclear sites from two up to eight iron atoms. These sites include mononuclear (rubredoxins), dinuclear (ferredoxins and Rieske proteins), trinuclear (e.g., hydrogenases), and tetranuclear (various ferredoxins and high-potential iron-sulfur proteins). The electronic structure of the higher-nuclearity clusters is inherently extremely complex. Hence, it is reasonable to take a bottom-up approach in which clusters of increasing nuclearity are analyzed in terms of the properties of their lower nuclearity constituents. In the present study, the first step is taken by an in-depth analysis of mononuclear FeS systems. Two different FeS molecules with phenylthiolate and methylthiolate as ligands are studied in their oxidized and reduced forms using modern wave function-based ab initio methods. The ab initio electronic spectra and wave function are presented and analyzed in detail. The very intricate electronic structure-geometry relationship in these systems is analyzed using ab initio ligand field theory (AILFT) in conjunction with the angular overlap model (AOM) parametrization scheme. The simple AOM model is used to explain the effect of geometric variations on the electronic structure. Through a comparison of the ab initio computed UV-vis absorption spectra and the available experimental spectra, the low-energy part of the many-particle spectrum is carefully analyzed. We show ab initio calculated magnetic circular dichroism spectra and present a comparison with the experimental spectrum. Finally, AILFT parameters and the ab initio spectra are compared with those obtained experimentally to understand the effect of the increased covalency of the thiolate ligands on the electronic structure of FeS monomers.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Allendorf, M.D.; Arsenlis, A.; Bastasz, R.

Titanium nitride (TiN) films deposited by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) techniques are of interest for a wide range of commercial applications. In this report, the authors describe a mechanism that predicts Tin film growth rates from TiCl{sub 4}/NH{sub 3} mixtures as a function of process parameters, including inlet reactant concentrations, substrate temperatures, reactor pressures, and total gas flow rates. Model predictions were verified by comparison with the results of TiN deposition experiments in the literature and with measurements made in a new stagnation-flow reactor developed for the purpose of testing deposition mechanisms such as this. In addition, they describe abmore » initio calculations that predict thermodynamic properties for titanium-containing compounds. The results of calculations using Moeller-Plesset perturbation theory, density functional theory, and coupled cluster theory are encouraging and suggest that these methods can be used to estimate thermodynamic data that are essential for the development of CVD models involving transition-metal compounds. Finally, measurements of the adsorption and desorption kinetics of NH{sub 3} on TiN films using temperature-programmed desorption are described and their relevance to TiN CVD and mechanism development are discussed.« less

DFT and ab initio study of the unimolecular decomposition of the lowest singlet and triplet states of nitromethane

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Manaa, M.R.; Fried, L.E.

1998-11-26

The fully optimized potential energy curves for the unimolecular decomposition of the lowest singlet and triplet states of nitromethane through the C-NO{sub 2} bond dissociation pathway are calculated using various DFT and high-level ab initio electronic structure methods. The authors perform gradient corrected density functional theory (DFT) and multiconfiguration self-consistent field (MCSCF) to conclusively demonstrate that the triplet state of nitromethane is bound. The adiabatic curve of this state exhibits a 33 kcal/mol energy barrier as determined at the MCSCF level. DFT methods locate this barrier at a shorter C-N bond distance with 12--16 kcal/mol lower energy than does MCSCF.more » In addition to MCSCF and DFT, quadratic configuration interactions with single and double substitutions (QCISD) calculations are also performed for the singlet curve. The potential energy profiles of this state predicted by FT methods based on Becke`s 1988 exchange functional differ by as much as 17 kcal/mol from the predictions of MCSCF and QCISD in the vicinity of the equilibrium structure. The computational methods predict bond dissociation energies 5--9 kcal/mol lower than the experimental value. DFT techniques based on Becke`s 3-parameter exchange functional show the best overall agreement with the higher level methods.« less

Pressure-driven insulator-metal transition in cubic phase UO 2

DOE PAGES

Huang, Li; Wang, Yilin; Werner, Philipp

2017-09-21

Understanding the electronic properties of actinide oxides under pressure poses a great challenge for experimental and theoretical studies. Here, we investigate the electronic structure of cubic phase uranium dioxide at different volumes using a combination of density functional theory and dynamical mean-field theory. The ab initio calculations predict an orbital-selective insulator-metal transition at a moderate pressure of ~45 GPa. At this pressure the uranium's 5f 5/2 state becomes metallic, while the 5f 7/2 state remains insulating up to about 60 GPa. In the metallic state, we observe a rapid decrease of the 5f occupation and total angular momentum with pressure.more » Simultaneously, the so-called "Zhang-Rice state", which is of predominantly 5f 5/2 character, quickly disappears after the transition into the metallic phase.« less

Pressure-driven insulator-metal transition in cubic phase UO2

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, Li; Wang, Yilin; Werner, Philipp

2017-09-01

Understanding the electronic properties of actinide oxides under pressure poses a great challenge for experimental and theoretical studies. Here, we investigate the electronic structure of cubic phase uranium dioxide at different volumes using a combination of density functional theory and dynamical mean-field theory. The ab initio calculations predict an orbital-selective insulator-metal transition at a moderate pressure of ∼45 GPa. At this pressure the uranium's 5f 5/2 state becomes metallic, while the 5f 7/2 state remains insulating up to about 60 GPa. In the metallic state, we observe a rapid decrease of the 5f occupation and total angular momentum with pressure. Simultaneously, the so-called “Zhang-Rice state”, which is of predominantly 5f 5/2 character, quickly disappears after the transition into the metallic phase.

Adsorption of magnetic transition metals on borophene: an ab initio study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tomar, Shalini; Rastogi, Priyank; Bhadoria, Bhagirath Singh; Bhowmick, Somnath; Chauhan, Yogesh Singh; Agarwal, Amit

2018-03-01

We explore the doping strategy for adsorbing different metallic 3d transition-metal atoms (Fe, Co and Ni) on two different polymorphs of borophene monolayer: 2-Pmmn and 8-Pmmn borophene. Both have energy dispersion, with 2-Pmmn borophene being metallic in nature, and 8-Pmmn borophene being semi-metallic with a tilted Dirac cone like dispersion. Using density functional theory based calculations, we find the most suitable adsorption site for each adatom, and calculate the binding energy, binding energy per atom, charge transfer, density of states and magnetic moment of the resulting borophene-adatom system. We show that Ni is the most effective for electron doping for both the polymorphs. Additionally Fe is the most suitable to magnetically dope 8-Pmmn borophene, while Co is the best for magnetically doping 2-Pmmn borophene.

Symmetry and electronic structure of noble-metal nanoparticles and the role of relativity.

PubMed

Häkkinen, Hannu; Moseler, Michael; Kostko, Oleg; Morgner, Nina; Hoffmann, Margarita Astruc; von Issendorff, Bernd

2004-08-27

We present high resolution UV-photoelectron spectra of cold mass selected Cun-, Agn-, and Aun- with n=53-58. The observed electron density of states is not the expected simple electron shell structure, but is strongly influenced by electron-lattice interactions. Only Cu55- and Ag55- exhibit highly degenerate states. This is a direct consequence of their icosahedral symmetry, as is confirmed by density functional theory calculations. Neighboring sizes exhibit perturbed electronic structures, as they are formed by removal or addition of atoms to the icosahedron and therefore have lower symmetries. Gold clusters in the same size range show completely different spectra with almost no degeneracy, which indicates that they have structures of much lower symmetry. This behavior is related to strong relativistic bonding effects in gold, as demonstrated by ab initio calculations for Au55-.

Half-metallicity in the ferrimagnet [MnII(enH)(H2O)][CrIII(CN)6]·H2O: Ab initio study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, N.; Yao, K. L.; Zhong, G. H.; Ching, W. Y.

2013-03-01

The density-functional theory (DFT) within the full potential linearized augmented plane wave (FPLAPW) method is applied to study the two-dimensional achiral soft ferrimagnet [MnII(enH)(H2O)][CrIII(CN)6]·H2O. The phase stability, electronic structure, magnetic and conducting properties are investigated. Our results reveal that the compound has a stable ferrimagnetic ground state in good agreement with the experiment. From the spin density distribution, the spin magnetic moment of the compound is mainly from Cr3+ and Mn2+ ions with small contributions from the oxygen, nitrogen and carbon ions. The calculated electronic band structure predicts the compound to be a half-metal with the spin magnetic moment of 1.000 μB per molecule.

Ab initio study of (Fe, Ni) doped GaAs: Magnetic, electronic properties and Faraday rotation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sbai, Y.; Ait Raiss, A.; Bahmad, L.; Benyoussef, A.

2017-06-01

The interesting diluted magnetic semiconductor (DMS), Gallium Arsenide (GaAs), was doped with the transition metals magnetic impurities: iron (Fe) and Nickel (Ni), in one hand to study the magnetic and magneto-optical properties of the material Ga(Fe, Ni) As, in the other hand to investigate the effect of the doping on the properties of this material, the calculations were performed within the spin polarized density functional theory (DFT) and generalized gradient approximation (GGA) with AKAI KKR-CPA method, the density of states (DOS) for different doping concentrations were calculated, giving the electronical properties, as well as the magnetic state and magnetic states energy, also the effect of these magnetic impurities on the Faraday rotation as magneto-optical property. Furthermore, we found the stable magnetic state for our doped material GaAs.

Ab initio theory of point defects in oxide materials: structure, properties, chemical reactivity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pacchioni, Gianfranco

2000-05-01

Point defects play a fundamental role in determining the physical and chemical properties of inorganic materials. This holds not only for the bulk properties but also for the surface of oxides where several kinds of point defects exist and exhibit a rich and complex chemistry. A particularly important defect in oxides is the oxygen vacancy. Depending on the electronic structure of the material the nature of oxygen vacancies changes dramatically. In this article we provide a rationalization of the very different electronic structure of neutral and charged oxygen vacancies in SiO 2 and MgO, two oxide materials with completely different electronic structure (from very ionic, MgO, to largely covalent, SiO 2). We used methods of ab initio quantum chemistry, from density functional theory (DFT) to configuration interaction (CI), to determine the ground and excited state properties of these defects. The theoretical results are combined with recent spectroscopic measurements. A series of observable properties has been determined in this way: defect formation energies, hyperfine interactions in electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectra of paramagnetic centers, optical spectra, surface chemical reactivity. The interplay between experimental and theoretical information allows one to unambiguously identify the structure of oxygen vacancies in these binary oxides and on their surfaces.

Insufficient Hartree–Fock Exchange in Hybrid DFT Functionals Produces Bent Alkynyl Radical Structures

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Oyeyemi, Victor B.; Keith, John A.; Pavone, Michele

2012-01-11

Density functional theory (DFT) is often used to determine the electronic and geometric structures of molecules. While studying alkynyl radicals, we discovered that DFT exchange-correlation (XC) functionals containing less than ~22% Hartree–Fock (HF) exchange led to qualitatively different structures than those predicted from ab initio HF and post-HF calculations or DFT XCs containing 25% or more HF exchange. We attribute this discrepancy to rehybridization at the radical center due to electron delocalization across the triple bonds of the alkynyl groups, which itself is an artifact of self-interaction and delocalization errors. Inclusion of sufficient exact exchange reduces these errors and suppressesmore » this erroneous delocalization; we find that a threshold amount is needed for accurate structure determinations. Finally, below this threshold, significant errors in predicted alkyne thermochemistry emerge as a consequence.« less

Vanadium impurity effects on optical properties of Ti3N2 mono-layer: An ab-initio study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Babaeipour, Manuchehr; Eslam, Farzaneh Ghafari; Boochani, Arash; Nezafat, Negin Beryani

2018-06-01

The present work is investigated the effect of vanadium impurity on electronic and optical properties of Ti3N2 monolayer by using density function theory (DFT) implemented in Wien2k code. In order to study optical properties in two polarization directions of photons, namely E||x and E||z, dielectric function, absorption coefficient, optical conductivity, refraction index, extinction index, reflectivity, and energy loss function of Ti3N2 and Ti3N2-V monolayer have been evaluated within GGA (PBE) approximation. Although, Ti3N2 monolayer is a good infrared reflector and can be used as an infrared mirror, introducing V atom in the infrared area will decrease optical conductivity because optical conductivity of a pure form of a material is higher than its doped form.

Exploring N-Rich Phases in Li(x)N(y) Clusters for Hydrogen Storage at Nanoscale.

PubMed

Bhattacharya, Amrita; Bhattacharya, Saswata

2015-09-17

We have performed cascade genetic algorithm and ab initio atomistic thermodynamics under the framework of first-principles-based hybrid density functional theory to study the (meta-)stability of a wide range of Li(x)N(y) clusters. We found that hybrid xc-functional is essential to address this problem as a local/semilocal functional simply fails even to predict a qualitative prediction. Most importantly, we find that though in bulk lithium nitride, the Li-rich phase, that is, Li3N, is the stable stoichiometry; in small Li(x)N(y) clusters, N-rich phases are more stable at thermodynamic equilibrium. We further show that these N-rich clusters are promising hydrogen storage material because of their easy adsorption and desorption ability at respectively low (≤300 K) and moderately high temperature (≥600 K).

Ab Initio and Analytic Intermolecular Potentials for Ar-CF₄

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Vayner, Grigoriy; Alexeev, Yuri; Wang, Jiangping

2006-03-09

Ab initio calculations at the CCSD(T) level of theory are performed to characterize the Ar + CF ₄ intermolecular potential. Extensive calculations, with and without a correction for basis set superposition error (BSSE), are performed with the cc-pVTZ basis set. Additional calculations are performed with other correlation consistent (cc) basis sets to extrapolate the Ar---CF₄potential energy minimum to the complete basis set (CBS) limit. Both the size of the basis set and BSSE have substantial effects on the Ar + CF₄ potential. Calculations with the cc-pVTZ basis set and without a BSSE correction, appear to give a good representation ofmore » the potential at the CBS limit and with a BSSE correction. In addition, MP2 theory is found to give potential energies in very good agreement with those determined by the much higher level CCSD(T) theory. Two analytic potential energy functions were determined for Ar + CF₄by fitting the cc-pVTZ calculations both with and without a BSSE correction. These analytic functions were written as a sum of two body potentials and excellent fits to the ab initio potentials were obtained by representing each two body interaction as a Buckingham potential.« less

Tuning spin transport properties and molecular magnetoresistance through contact geometry

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ulman, Kanchan; Narasimhan, Shobhana; Sheikh Saqr Laboratory, ICMS, Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Bangalore 560064

2014-01-28

Molecular spintronics seeks to unite the advantages of using organic molecules as nanoelectronic components, with the benefits of using spin as an additional degree of freedom. For technological applications, an important quantity is the molecular magnetoresistance. In this work, we show that this parameter is very sensitive to the contact geometry. To demonstrate this, we perform ab initio calculations, combining the non-equilibrium Green's function method with density functional theory, on a dithienylethene molecule placed between spin-polarized nickel leads of varying geometries. We find that, in general, the magnetoresistance is significantly higher when the contact is made to sharp tips thanmore » to flat surfaces. Interestingly, this holds true for both resonant and tunneling conduction regimes, i.e., when the molecule is in its “closed” and “open” conformations, respectively. We find that changing the lead geometry can increase the magnetoresistance by up to a factor of ∼5. We also introduce a simple model that, despite requiring minimal computational time, can recapture our ab initio results for the behavior of magnetoresistance as a function of bias voltage. This model requires as its input only the density of states on the anchoring atoms, at zero bias voltage. We also find that the non-resonant conductance in the open conformation of the molecule is significantly impacted by the lead geometry. As a result, the ratio of the current in the closed and open conformations can also be tuned by varying the geometry of the leads, and increased by ∼400%.« less

Yttrium aluminium garnet under pressure: Structural, elastic, and vibrational properties from ab initio studies

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Monteseguro, V.; Rodríguez-Hernández, P.; Muñoz, A., E-mail: amunoz@ull.es

The structural, elastic, and vibrational properties of yttrium aluminum garnet Y{sub 3}Al{sub 5}O{sub 12} are studied under high pressure by ab initio calculations in the framework of the density functional theory. The calculated ground state properties are in good agreement with the available experimental data. Pressure dependences of bond length and bulk moduli of the constituent polyhedra are reported. The evolution of the elastic constants and the major elastic properties, Young and shear modulus, Poisson's ratios, and Zener anisotropy ratio, are described. The mechanical stability is analyzed, on the light of “Born generalized stability criteria,” showing that the garnet ismore » mechanically unstable above 116 GPa. Symmetries, frequencies, and pressure coefficients of the Raman-active modes are discussed on the basis of the calculated total and partial phonon density of states, which reflect the dynamical contribution of each atom. The relations between the phonon modes of Y{sub 3}Al{sub 5}O{sub 12} and the internal and external molecular modes of the different polyhedra are discussed. Infrared-active modes, as well as the silent modes, and their pressure dependence are also investigated. No dynamical instabilities were found below 116 GPa.« less

Mechanical and magneto-opto-electronic investigation of transition metal based fluoro-perovskites: An ab-initio DFT study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Erum, Nazia; Azhar Iqbal, Muhammad

2017-09-01

Detailed ab-initio calculations are performed to investigate structural, elastic, mechanical, magneto-electronic and optical properties of the KXF3 (X = V, Fe, Co, Ni) fluoro-perovskites using Full Potential Linearized Augmented Plane Wave (FP-LAPW) method within the framework of density functional theory (DFT). The calculated structural parameters by DFT and analytical methods are found consistent with the experimental results. From the elastic and mechanical properties, it can be inferred that these compounds are elastically stable and anisotropic while KCoF3 is harder than rest of the compounds. Furthermore, thermal behavior of these compounds is analyzed by calculating Debye temperature (θD). The calculated spin dependent magneto-electronic properties in these compounds reveal that exchange splitting is dominated by N-3d orbital. The stable magnetic phase optimizations verify the experimental observations at low temperature. Type of chemical bonding is analyzed with the help of variations in electron density difference distribution that is induced due to changes of the second cation. The linear optical properties are also discussed in terms of optical spectra. The present methodology represents an influential approach to calculate the whole set of mechanical and magneto-opto-electronic parameters, which would support to understand various physical phenomena and empower device engineers for implementing these materials in spintronic applications.

Physical properties of molybdenum monoboride: Ab-initio study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rajpoot, Priyanka; Rastogi, Anugya; Verma, U. P.

2018-02-01

The Ab initio investigations on structural, electronic, optical and thermal properties of MoB have been reported using full potential linearised-augmented plane wave method within the framework of density functional theory. The exchange and correlation potentials were calculated using the Perdew-Burke-Ernzerhof-Sol generalised gradient approximation. The calculated equilibrium lattice constants and cell volume are in excellent agreement with the experimental results as compared to the available theoretical data. Electronic band structure shows that MoB is metallic in nature. From the partial densities of states of MoB it has been found that major contribution on the Fermi level is due to Mo-4d states. Among the reported optical parameters the large value of reflectivity at low energy shows that MoB can be used as a coating material in IR region. Maximum absorption in extreme UV region shows that it can be used in production of electricity through solar power in space vehicles. Various thermal properties have been calculated in a wide temperature range at high pressures. Change in thermal expansion coefficient with respect to temperature shows that anharmonic effect in MoB is very weak at high temperature. The optical and thermal properties of MoB are presented for the first time in this work.

Ab Initio Modeling of Structure and Properties of Single and Mixed Alkali Silicate Glasses.

PubMed

Baral, Khagendra; Li, Aize; Ching, Wai-Yim

2017-10-12

A density functional theory (DFT)-based ab initio molecular dynamics (AIMD) has been applied to simulate models of single and mixed alkali silicate glasses with two different molar concentrations of alkali oxides. The structural environments and spatial distributions of alkali ions in the 10 simulated models with 20% and 30% of Li, Na, K and equal proportions of Li-Na and Na-K are studied in detail for subtle variations among the models. Quantum mechanical calculations of electronic structures, interatomic bonding, and mechanical and optical properties are carried out for each of the models, and the results are compared with available experimental observation and other simulations. The calculated results are in good agreement with the experimental data. We have used the novel concept of using the total bond order density (TBOD), a quantum mechanical metric, to characterize internal cohesion in these glass models. The mixed alkali effect (MAE) is visible in the bulk mechanical properties but not obvious in other physical properties studied in this paper. We show that Li doping deviates from expected trend due to the much stronger Li-O bonding than those of Na and K doping. The approach used in this study is in contrast with current studies in alkali-doped silicate glasses based only on geometric characterizations.

Ab Initio Theory of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Shifts in Metals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

D'Avezac, Mayeul; Marzari, Nicola; Mauri, Francesco

2005-03-01

A comprehensive approach for the first-principles determination of all-electron NMR shifts in metallic systems is presented. Our formulation is based on a combination of density-functional perturbation theory and all-electron wavefunction reconstruction, starting from periodic-boundary calculations in the pseudopotential approximation. The orbital contribution to the NMR shift (the chemical shift) is obtained by combining the gauge-including projector augmented-wave approach (GIPAW), originally developed for the case of insulatorsootnotetextC. J. Pickard, Francesco Mauri, Phys. Rev. B, 63, 245101(2001), with the extension of linear-response theory to the case of metallic systemsootnotetextS. de Gironcoli, Phys. Rev. B, 51, 6773(1995). The spin contribution (the Knight shift) is obtained as a response to a finite uniform magnetic field, and through reconstructing the hyperfine interaction between the electron-spin density and the nuclear spins with the projector augmented-wave method (PAWootnotetextC. G. Van de Walle, P. E. Blöchl, Phys. Rev. B, 47, 4244(1993)). Our method is validated with applications to the case of the homogeneous electron gas and of simple metals. (Work supported by MURI grant DAAD 19-03-1-0169 and MIT-France)

Projected Hybrid Orbitals: A General QM/MM Method

PubMed Central

2015-01-01

A projected hybrid orbital (PHO) method was described to model the covalent boundary in a hybrid quantum mechanical and molecular mechanical (QM/MM) system. The PHO approach can be used in ab initio wave function theory and in density functional theory with any basis set without introducing system-dependent parameters. In this method, a secondary basis set on the boundary atom is introduced to formulate a set of hybrid atomic orbtials. The primary basis set on the boundary atom used for the QM subsystem is projected onto the secondary basis to yield a representation that provides a good approximation to the electron-withdrawing power of the primary basis set to balance electronic interactions between QM and MM subsystems. The PHO method has been tested on a range of molecules and properties. Comparison with results obtained from QM calculations on the entire system shows that the present PHO method is a robust and balanced QM/MM scheme that preserves the structural and electronic properties of the QM region. PMID:25317748

The electronic structure of lithium metagallate.

PubMed

Johnson, N W; McLeod, J A; Moewes, A

2011-11-09

Herein we present a study of the electronic structure of lithium metagallate (LiGaO(2)), a material of interest in the field of optoelectronics. We use soft x-ray spectroscopy to probe the electronic structure of both the valence and conduction bands and compare our measurements to ab initio density functional theory calculations. We use several different exchange-correlation functionals, but find that no single theoretical approach used herein accurately quantifies both the band gap and the Ga 3d(10) states in LiGaO(2). We derive a band gap of 5.6 eV, and characterize electron hybridization in both the valence and conduction bands. Our study of the x-ray spectra may prove useful in analysing spectra from more complicated LiGaO(2) heterostructures. © 2011 IOP Publishing Ltd

Bands dispersion and charge transfer in β-BeH2

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Trivedi, D. K.; Galav, K. L.; Joshi, K. B.

2018-04-01

Predictive capabilities of ab-initio method are utilised to explore bands dispersion and charge transfer in β-BeH2. Investigations are carried out using the linear combination of atomic orbitals method at the level of density functional theory. The crystal structure and related parameters are settled by coupling total energy calculations with the Murnaghan equation of state. Electronic bands dispersion from PBE-GGA is reported. The PBE-GGA, and PBE0 hybrid functional, show that β-BeH2 is a direct gap semiconductor with 1.18 and 2.40 eV band gap. The band gap slowly decreases with pressure and beyond l00 GPa overlap of conduction and valence bands at the r point is observed. Charge transfer is studied by means of Mullikan population analysis.

Strain-engineering of Janus SiC monolayer functionalized with H and F atoms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Drissi, L. B.; Sadki, K.; Kourra, M.-H.; Bousmina, M.

2018-05-01

Based on ab initio density functional theory calculations, the structural, electronic, mechanical, acoustic, thermodynamic, and piezoelectric properties of (F,H) Janus SiC monolayers are studied. The new set of derivatives shows buckled structures and different band gap values. Under strain, the buckling changes and the structures pass from semiconducting to metallic. The elastic limits and the metastable regions are determined. The Young's modulus and Poisson ratio reveal stronger behavior for the modified conformers with respect to graphene. The values of the Debye temperature make the new materials suitable for thermal application. Moreover, all the conformers show in-plane and out-of-plane piezoelectric responses comparable with known two-dimensional materials. If engineered, such piezoelectric Janus structures may be promising materials for various nanoelectromechanical applications.

Density-functional approach to the three-body dispersion interaction based on the exchange dipole moment

PubMed Central

Proynov, Emil; Liu, Fenglai; Gan, Zhengting; Wang, Matthew; Kong, Jing

2015-01-01

We implement and compute the density functional nonadditive three-body dispersion interaction using a combination of Tang-Karplus formalism and the exchange-dipole moment model of Becke and Johnson. The computation of the C9 dispersion coefficients is done in a non-empirical fashion. The obtained C9 values of a series of noble atom triplets agree well with highly accurate values in the literature. We also calculate the C9 values for a series of benzene trimers and find a good agreement with high-level ab initio values reported recently in the literature. For the question of damping of the three-body dispersion at short distances, we propose two damping schemes and optimize them based on the benzene trimers data, and the fitted analytic potentials of He3 and Ar3 trimers fitted to the results of high-level wavefunction theories available from the literature. Both damping schemes respond well to the optimization of two parameters. PMID:26328836

Ab initio simulation study of defect assisted Zener tunneling in GaAs diode

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lu, Juan; Fan, Zhi-Qiang; Gong, Jian; Jiang, Xiang-Wei

2017-06-01

The band to band tunneling of defective GaAs nano-junction is studied by using the non-equilibrium Green's function formalism with density functional theory. Aiming at performance improvement, two types of defect-induced transport behaviors are reported in this work. By examining the partial density of states of the system, we find the substitutional defect OAs that locates in the middle of tunneling region will introduce band-gap states, which can be used as stepping stones to increase the tunneling current nearly 3 times higher at large bias voltage (Vb≥0.3V). Another type of defects SeAs and VGa (Ga vacancy) create donor and acceptor states at the edge of conduction band (CB) and valence band (VB)respectively, which can change the band bending of the junction as well as increase the tunneling field obtaining a 1.5 times higher ON current. This provides an effective defect engineering approach for next generation TFET device design.

Density-functional approach to the three-body dispersion interaction based on the exchange dipole moment

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Proynov, Emil; Wang, Matthew; Kong, Jing, E-mail: jing.kong@mtsu.edu

We implement and compute the density functional nonadditive three-body dispersion interaction using a combination of Tang-Karplus formalism and the exchange-dipole moment model of Becke and Johnson. The computation of the C{sub 9} dispersion coefficients is done in a non-empirical fashion. The obtained C{sub 9} values of a series of noble atom triplets agree well with highly accurate values in the literature. We also calculate the C{sub 9} values for a series of benzene trimers and find a good agreement with high-level ab initio values reported recently in the literature. For the question of damping of the three-body dispersion at shortmore » distances, we propose two damping schemes and optimize them based on the benzene trimers data, and the fitted analytic potentials of He{sub 3} and Ar{sub 3} trimers fitted to the results of high-level wavefunction theories available from the literature. Both damping schemes respond well to the optimization of two parameters.« less

Structure and Stability of GeAu{sub n}, n = 1-10 clusters: A Density Functional Study

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Priyanka,; Dharamvir, Keya; Sharma, Hitesh

2011-12-12

The structures of Germanium doped gold clusters GeAu{sub n} (n = 1-10) have been investigated using ab initio calculations based on density functional theory (DFT). We have obtained ground state geometries of GeAu{sub n} clusters and have it compared with Silicon doped gold clusters and pure gold clusters. The ground state geometries of the GeAu{sub n} clusters show patterns similar to silicon doped gold clusters except for n = 5, 6 and 9. The introduction of germanium atom increases the binding energy of gold clusters. The binding energy per atom of germanium doped cluster is smaller than the corresponding siliconmore » doped gold cluster. The HUMO-LOMO gap for Au{sub n}Ge clusters have been found to vary between 0.46 eV-2.09 eV. The mullikan charge analysis indicates that charge of order of 0.1e always transfers from germanium atom to gold atom.« less

Electronic couplings for molecular charge transfer: Benchmarking CDFT, FODFT, and FODFTB against high-level ab initio calculations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kubas, Adam; Hoffmann, Felix; Heck, Alexander; Oberhofer, Harald; Elstner, Marcus; Blumberger, Jochen

2014-03-01

We introduce a database (HAB11) of electronic coupling matrix elements (Hab) for electron transfer in 11 π-conjugated organic homo-dimer cations. High-level ab inito calculations at the multireference configuration interaction MRCI+Q level of theory, n-electron valence state perturbation theory NEVPT2, and (spin-component scaled) approximate coupled cluster model (SCS)-CC2 are reported for this database to assess the performance of three DFT methods of decreasing computational cost, including constrained density functional theory (CDFT), fragment-orbital DFT (FODFT), and self-consistent charge density functional tight-binding (FODFTB). We find that the CDFT approach in combination with a modified PBE functional containing 50% Hartree-Fock exchange gives best results for absolute Hab values (mean relative unsigned error = 5.3%) and exponential distance decay constants β (4.3%). CDFT in combination with pure PBE overestimates couplings by 38.7% due to a too diffuse excess charge distribution, whereas the economic FODFT and highly cost-effective FODFTB methods underestimate couplings by 37.6% and 42.4%, respectively, due to neglect of interaction between donor and acceptor. The errors are systematic, however, and can be significantly reduced by applying a uniform scaling factor for each method. Applications to dimers outside the database, specifically rotated thiophene dimers and larger acenes up to pentacene, suggests that the same scaling procedure significantly improves the FODFT and FODFTB results for larger π-conjugated systems relevant to organic semiconductors and DNA.

DFT and AIM study of the protonation of nitrous acid and the pKa of nitrous acidium ion.

PubMed

Crugeiras, Juan; Ríos, Ana; Maskill, Howard

2011-11-10

The gas phase and aqueous thermochemistry, NMR chemical shifts, and the topology of chemical bonding of nitrous acid (HONO) and nitrous acidium ion (H(2)ONO(+)) have been investigated by ab initio methods using density functional theory. By the same methods, the dissociation of H(2)ONO(+) to give the nitrosonium ion (NO(+)) and water has also been investigated. We have used Becke's hybrid functional (B3LYP), and geometry optimizations were performed with the 6-311++G(d,p) basis set. In addition, highly accurate ab initio composite methods (G3 and CBS-Q) were used. Solvation energies were calculated using the conductor-like polarizable continuum model, CPCM, at the B3LYP/6-311++G(d,p) level of theory, with the UAKS cavity model. The pK(a) value of H(2)ONO(+) was calculated using two different schemes: the direct method and the proton exchange method. The calculated pK(a) values at different levels of theory range from -9.4 to -15.6, showing that H(2)ONO(+) is a strong acid (i.e., HONO is only a weak base). The equilibrium constant, K(R), for protonation of nitrous acid followed by dissociation to give NO(+) and H(2)O has also been calculated using the same methodologies. The pK(R) value calculated by the G3 and CBS-QB3 methods is in best (and satisfactory) agreement with experimental results, which allows us to narrow down the likely value of the pK(a) of H(2)ONO(+) to about -10, a value appreciably more acidic than literature values.

The appropriateness of density-functional theory for the calculation of molecular electronics properties.

PubMed

Reimers, Jeffrey R; Cai, Zheng-Li; Bilić, Ante; Hush, Noel S

2003-12-01

As molecular electronics advances, efficient and reliable computation procedures are required for the simulation of the atomic structures of actual devices, as well as for the prediction of their electronic properties. Density-functional theory (DFT) has had widespread success throughout chemistry and solid-state physics, and it offers the possibility of fulfilling these roles. In its modern form it is an empirically parameterized approach that cannot be extended toward exact solutions in a prescribed way, ab initio. Thus, it is essential that the weaknesses of the method be identified and likely shortcomings anticipated in advance. We consider four known systematic failures of modern DFT: dispersion, charge transfer, extended pi conjugation, and bond cleavage. Their ramifications for molecular electronics applications are outlined and we suggest that great care is required when using modern DFT to partition charge flow across electrode-molecule junctions, screen applied electric fields, position molecular orbitals with respect to electrode Fermi energies, and in evaluating the distance dependence of through-molecule conductivity. The causes of these difficulties are traced to errors inherent in the types of density functionals in common use, associated with their inability to treat very long-range electron correlation effects. Heuristic enhancements of modern DFT designed to eliminate individual problems are outlined, as are three new schemes that each represent significant departures from modern DFT implementations designed to provide a priori improvements in at least one and possible all problem areas. Finally, fully semiempirical schemes based on both Hartree-Fock and Kohn-Sham theory are described that, in the short term, offer the means to avoid the inherent problems of modern DFT and, in the long term, offer competitive accuracy at dramatically reduced computational costs.

Differences Between a Single- and a Double-Folding Nucleus-^{9}Be Optical Potential

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bonaccorso, A.; Carstoiu, F.; Charity, R. J.; Kumar, R.; Salvioni, G.

2016-05-01

We have recently constructed two very successful n-^9Be optical potentials (Bonaccorso and Charity in Phys Rev C89:024619, 2014). One by the Dispersive Optical Model (DOM) method and the other (AB) fully phenomenological. The two potentials have strong surface terms in common for both the real and the imaginary parts. This feature makes them particularly suitable to build a single-folded (light-) nucleus-^9Be optical potential by using ab-initio projectile densities such as those obtained with the VMC method (Wiringa http://www.phy.anl.gov/theory/research/density/). On the other hand, a VMC density together with experimental nucleon-nucleon cross-sections can be used also to obtain a neutron and/or proton-^9Be imaginary folding potential. We will use here an ab-initio VMC density (Wiringa http://www.phy.anl.gov/theory/research/density/) to obtain both a n-^9Be single-folded potential and a nucleus-nucleus double-folded potential. In this work we report on the cases of ^8B, ^8Li and ^8C projectiles. Our approach could be the basis for a systematic study of optical potentials for light exotic nuclei scattering on such light targets. Some of the projectiles studied are cores of other exotic nuclei for which neutron knockout has been used to extract spectroscopic information. For those cases, our study will serve to make a quantitative assessment of the core-target part of the reaction description, in particular its localization.

Structural electronic and mechanical properties of YM2 (M=Mn, Fe, Co) laves phase compounds: First principle calculations analyzed with datamining approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Saidi, F.; Sebaa, N.; Mahmoudi, A.; Aourag, H.; Merad, G.; Dergal, M.

2018-06-01

We performed first-principle calculations to investigate structural, phase stability, electronic and mechanical properties for the Laves phases YM2 (M = Mn, Fe, Co) with C15, C14 and C36 structures. We used the density functional theory within the framework of both pseudo-potentials and plane wave basis using VASP (Vienna Ab Initio Software Package). The calculated equilibrium structural parameters are in accordance with available theoretical values. Mechanical properties were calculated, discussed, and analyzed with data mining approach in terms of structure stability. The results reveal that YCo2 is harder than YFe2 and YMn2.

Theoretical study on strain induced variations in electronic properties of 2H-MoS{sub 2} bilayer sheets

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Dong, Liang; Dongare, Avinash M., E-mail: dongare@uconn.edu; Namburu, Raju R.

2014-02-03

The strain dependence of the electronic properties of bilayer sheets of 2H-MoS{sub 2} is studied using ab initio simulations based on density functional theory. An indirect band gap for bilayer MoS{sub 2} is observed for all variations of strain along the basal plane. Several transitions for the indirect band gap are observed for various strains for the bilayer structure. The variation of the band gap and the carrier effective masses for the holes and the electrons for the bilayer MoS{sub 2} structure under conditions of uniaxial strain, biaxial strain, as well as uniaxial stress is investigated.

Prediction of a new class of half-metallic ferromagnets from first principles [A new class of half-metallic ferromagnets from first principles

DOE PAGES

Griffin, Sinead M.; Neaton, Jeffrey B.

2017-09-12

Half-metallic ferromagnetism (HMFM) occurs rarely in materials and yet offers great potential for spintronic devices. Recent experiments suggest a class of compounds with the `ThCrmore » $$_{2}$$Si$$_{2}$$' (122) structure -- isostructural and containing elements common with Fe pnictide-based superconductors -- can exhibit HMFM. Here we use $ab$ $initio$ density-functional theory calculations to understand the onset of half-metallicity in this family of materials and explain the appearance of ferromagnetism at a quantum critical point. We also predict new candidate materials with HMFM and high Curie temperatures through A-site alloying.« less

Observation of high magnetocrystalline anisotropy on Co doping in rare earth free Fe2P magnetic material

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thakur, Jyoti; Singh, Om Pal; Tomar, Monika; Gupta, Vinay; Kashyap, Manish K.

2018-04-01

ab-initio investigation of magnetocrystalline anisotropy energy (MAE) for Fe2P and CoFeP using density functional theory based full-potential linear augmented plane wave (FPLAPW) is reported. CoFeP alloy exhibits large magnetic moment 13.28 µB and enhanced anisotropy energy reaching as high as 1326 µeV/f.u. This energy is nearly doubled as compared to its parent Fe2P alloy, making this system a promising candidate for a rare earth free permanent magnet. Substituitng Co at Fe-3f site in Fe2P helps in stabilizing the new structure and further improves the magnetic properties.

Ab-initio thermodynamic and elastic properties of AlNi and AlNi3 intermetallic compounds

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yalameha, Shahram; Vaez, Aminollah

2018-04-01

In this paper, thermodynamic and elastic properties of the AlNi and AlNi3 were investigated using density functional theory (DFT). The full-potential linearized augmented plane-wave (APW) in the framework of the generalized gradient approximation as used as implemented in the Wien2k package. The temperature dependence of thermal expansion coefficient, bulk modulus and heat capacity in a wide range of temperature (0-1600 K) were investigated. The calculated elastic properties of the compounds show that both intermetallic compounds of AlNi and AlNi3 have surprisingly negative Poisson’s ratio (NPR). The results were compared with other experimental and computational data.

Metallic → Semiconducting transitions in HX(X=F, Br, Cl) adsorbed (5,5) and (7,7) carbon nanotubes: DFT study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Srivastava, Reena; Shrivastava, Sadhana; Srivastava, Anurag

2018-05-01

The edge sensitivity of two different chirality (5,5) and (7,7) armchair carbon nanotubes towards toxic hydrogen halides (HF, HBr and HCl) has been analyzed by using density functional theory based ab-initio approach. The edge sensitivity has been discussed in terms of the variations in the electronic band structure of (5,5) and (7,7) carbon nanotube. The observation shows metallic to semiconducting phase transition in HF and HBr adsorbed (5,5) CNT, whereas for HCl adsorbed, it is more metallic. Whereas HBr and HCl adsorbed (7,7) CNT confirms metallic→semiconducting transition and shows diameter dependence of properties of CNTs.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Birkhan, J.; Miorelli, M.; Bacca, S.

The electric dipole strength distribution in 48Ca between 5 and 25 MeV has been determined at RCNP, Osaka, from proton inelastic scattering experiments at forward angles. Combined with photoabsorption data at higher excitation energy, this enables the rst extraction of the electric dipole polarizability D( 48Ca) = 2:07(22) fm 3. Remarkably, the dipole response of 48Ca is found to be very similar to that of 40Ca, consistent with a small neutron skin in 48Ca. The experimental results are in good agreement with ab initio calculations based on chiral e ective eld theory interactions and with state-of-the-art density-functional calculations, implying amore » neutron skin in 48Ca of 0:14 - 0:20 fm.« less

Ab initio simulations of the dynamic ion structure factor of warm dense lithium

DOE PAGES

Witte, B. B. L.; Shihab, M.; Glenzer, S. H.; ...

2017-04-06

Here, we present molecular dynamics simulations based on finite-temperature density functional theory that determine self-consistently the dynamic ion structure factor and the electronic form factor in lithium. Our comprehensive data set allows for the calculation of the dispersion relation for collective excitations, the calculation of the sound velocity, and the determination of the ion feature from the total electronic form factor and the ion structure factor. The results are compared with available experimental x-ray and neutron scattering data. Good agreement is found for both the liquid metal and warm dense matter domain. Finally, we study the impact of possible targetmore » inhomogeneities on x-ray scattering spectra.« less

Ab initio simulations of the dynamic ion structure factor of warm dense lithium

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Witte, B. B. L.; Shihab, M.; Glenzer, S. H.

Here, we present molecular dynamics simulations based on finite-temperature density functional theory that determine self-consistently the dynamic ion structure factor and the electronic form factor in lithium. Our comprehensive data set allows for the calculation of the dispersion relation for collective excitations, the calculation of the sound velocity, and the determination of the ion feature from the total electronic form factor and the ion structure factor. The results are compared with available experimental x-ray and neutron scattering data. Good agreement is found for both the liquid metal and warm dense matter domain. Finally, we study the impact of possible targetmore » inhomogeneities on x-ray scattering spectra.« less

Stability and migration of large oxygen clusters in UO(2+x): density functional theory calculations.

PubMed

Andersson, D A; Espinosa-Faller, F J; Uberuaga, B P; Conradson, S D

2012-06-21

Using ab initio molecular dynamics simulations and nudged elastic band calculations we examine the finite temperature stability, transition pathways, and migration mechanisms of large oxygen clusters in UO(2+x). Here we specifically consider the recently proposed split quad-interstitial and cuboctahedral oxygen clusters. It is shown that isolated cuboctahedral clusters may transform into more stable configurations that are closely linked to the split quad-interstitial. The split quad-interstitial is stable with respect to single interstitials occupying the empty octahedral holes of the UO(2) lattice. In order to better understand discrepancies between theory and experiments, the simulated atomic pair distribution functions for the split quad-interstitial structures are analyzed with respect to the distribution function for U(4)O(9) previously obtained from neutron diffraction data. Our nudged elastic band calculations suggest that the split quad-interstitial may migrate by translating one of its constituent di-interstitial clusters via a barrier that is lower than the corresponding barrier for individual interstitials, but higher than the barrier for the most stable di-interstitial cluster.

Ab initio theory of spin-orbit coupling for quantum bits in diamond exhibiting dynamic Jahn-Teller effect

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gali, Adam; Thiering, Gergő

Dopants in solids are promising candidates for implementations of quantum bits for quantum computing. In particular, the high-spin negatively charged nitrogen-vacancy defect (NV) in diamond has become a leading contender in solid-state quantum information processing. The initialization and readout of the spin is based on the spin-selective decay of the photo-excited electron to the ground state which is mediated by spin-orbit coupling between excited states states and phonons. Generally, the spin-orbit coupling plays a crucial role in the optical spinpolarization and readout of NV quantum bit (qubit) and alike. Strong electron-phonon coupling in dynamic Jahn-Teller (DJT) systems can substantially influence the effective strength of spin-orbit coupling. Here we show by ab initio supercell density functional theory (DFT) calculations that the intrinsic spin-orbit coupling is strongly damped by DJT effect in the triplet excited state that has a consequence on the rate of non-radiative decay. This theory is applied to the ground state of silicon-vacancy (SiV) and germanium-vacancy (GeV) centers in their negatively charged state that can also act like qubits. We show that the intrinsic spin-orbit coupling in SiV and GeV centers is in the 100 GHz region, in contrast to the NV center of 10 GHz region. Our results provide deep insight in the nature of SiV and GeV qubits in diamond. EU FP7 DIADEMS project (Contract No. 611143).

Ab initio optical potentials and nucleon scattering on medium mass nuclei

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Idini, A.; Barbieri, C.; Navrátil, P.

2018-03-01

We show first results for the elastic scattering of neutrons off oxygen and calcium isotopes obtained from ab initio optical potentials. The potential is derived using self-consistent Green’s function theory (SCGF) with the saturating chiral interaction NNLOsat. Calculations are compared to available scattering data and show that it is possible to reproduce low energy scattering observables in medium mass nuclei from first principles.

Molecular structure and spectroscopic characterization of Carbamazepine with experimental techniques and DFT quantum chemical calculations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Suhasini, M.; Sailatha, E.; Gunasekaran, S.; Ramkumaar, G. R.

2015-04-01

A systematic vibrational spectroscopic assignment and analysis of Carbamazepine has been carried out by using FT-IR, FT-Raman and UV spectral data. The vibrational analysis were aided by electronic structure calculations - ab initio (RHF) and hybrid density functional methods (B3LYP) performed with standard basis set 6-31G(d,p). Molecular equilibrium geometries, electronic energies, natural bond order analysis, harmonic vibrational frequencies and IR intensities have been computed. A detailed interpretation of the vibrational spectra of the molecule has been made on the basis of the calculated Potential Energy Distribution (PED) by VEDA program. UV-visible spectrum of the compound was also recorded and the electronic properties, such as HOMO and LUMO energies and λmax were determined by HF/6-311++G(d,p) Time-Dependent method. The thermodynamic functions of the title molecule were also performed using the RHF and DFT methods. The restricted Hartree-Fock and density functional theory-based nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) calculation procedure was also performed, and it was used for assigning the 13C and 1H NMR chemical shifts of Carbamazepine.

Tuning the Electronic Properties, Effective Mass and Carrier Mobility of MoS2 Monolayer by Strain Engineering: First-Principle Calculations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Phuc, Huynh V.; Hieu, Nguyen N.; Hoi, Bui D.; Hieu, Nguyen V.; Thu, Tran V.; Hung, Nguyen M.; Ilyasov, Victor V.; Poklonski, Nikolai A.; Nguyen, Chuong V.

2018-01-01

In this paper, we studied the electronic properties, effective masses, and carrier mobility of monolayer MoS_2 using density functional theory calculations. The carrier mobility was considered by means of ab initio calculations using the Boltzmann transport equation coupled with deformation potential theory. The effects of mechanical biaxial strain on the electronic properties, effective mass, and carrier mobility of monolayer MoS_2 were also investigated. It is demonstrated that the electronic properties, such as band structure and density of state, of monolayer MoS_2 are very sensitive to biaxial strain, leading to a direct-indirect transition in semiconductor monolayer MoS_2. Moreover, we found that the carrier mobility and effective mass can be enhanced significantly by biaxial strain and by lowering temperature. The electron mobility increases over 12 times with a biaxial strain of 10%, while the carrier mobility gradually decreases with increasing temperature. These results are very useful for the future nanotechnology, and they make monolayer MoS_2 a promising candidate for application in nanoelectronic and optoelectronic devices.

Optical properties of highly compressed polystyrene: An ab initio study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hu, S. X.; Collins, L. A.; Colgan, J. P.; Goncharov, V. N.; Kilcrease, D. P.

2017-10-01

Using all-electron density functional theory, we have performed an ab initio study on x-ray absorption spectra of highly compressed polystyrene (CH). We found that the K -edge shifts in strongly coupled, degenerate polystyrene cannot be explained by existing continuum-lowering models adopted in traditional plasma physics. To gain insights into the K -edge shift in warm, dense CH, we have developed a model designated as "single mixture in a box" (SMIAB), which incorporates both the lowering of the continuum and the rising of the Fermi surface resulting from high compression. This simple SMIAB model correctly predicts the K -edge shift of carbon in highly compressed CH in good agreement with results from quantum molecular dynamics (QMD) calculations. Traditional opacity models failed to give the proper K -edge shifts as the CH density increased. Based on QMD calculations, we have established a first-principles opacity table (FPOT) for CH in a wide range of densities and temperatures [ρ =0.1 -100 g /c m3 and T =2000 -1 000 000 K ]. The FPOT gives much higher Rosseland mean opacity compared to the cold-opacity-patched astrophysics opacity table for warm, dense CH and favorably compares to the newly improved Los Alamos atomic model for moderately compressed CH (ρCH≤10 g /c m3 ), but remains a factor of 2 to 3 higher at extremely high densities (ρCH≥50 g /c m3 ). We anticipate the established FPOT of CH will find important applications to reliable designs of high-energy-density experiments. Moreover, the understanding of K -edge shifting revealed in this study could provide guides for improving the traditional opacity models to properly handle the strongly coupled and degenerate conditions.

Optical properties of highly compressed polystyrene: An ab initio study

DOE PAGES

Hu, S. X.; Collins, L. A.; Colgan, J. P.; ...

2017-10-16

Using all-electron density functional theory, we have performed an ab initio study on x ray absorption spectra of highly compressed polystyrene (CH). Here, we found that the K-edge shifts in strongly coupled, degenerate polystyrene cannot be explained by existing continuum-lowering models adopted in traditional plasma physics. To gain insights into the K edge shift in warm, dense CH, we have developed a model designated as “single-mixture-in-a-box” (SMIAB), which incorporates both the lowering of continuum and the rising of Fermi surface resulting from high compression. This simple SMIAB model correctly predicts the K-edge shift of carbon in highly compressed CH inmore » good agreement with results from quantum-molecular-dynamics (QMD) calculations. Traditional opacity models failed to give the proper K-edge shifts as the CH density increased. Based on QMD calculations, we have established a first-principles opacity table (FPOT) for CH in a wide range of densities and temperatures [p = 0.1 to 100 g/cm 3 and T = 2000 to 1,000,000 K]. The FPOT gives much higher Rosseland mean opacity compared to the cold-opacity–patched astrophysics opacity table for warm, dense CH and favorably compares to the newly improved Los Alamos ATOMIC model for moderately compressed CH (pCH ≤10 g/cm 3) but remains a factor of 2 to 3 higher at extremely high densities (pCH ≥ 50 g/cm 3). We anticipate the established FPOT of CH will find important applications to reliable designs of high-energy-density experiments. Moreover, the understanding of K-edge shifting revealed in this study could provide guides for improving the traditional opacity models to properly handle the strongly coupled and degenerate conditions.« less

Optical properties of highly compressed polystyrene: An ab initio study

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hu, S. X.; Collins, L. A.; Colgan, J. P.

Using all-electron density functional theory, we have performed an ab initio study on x ray absorption spectra of highly compressed polystyrene (CH). Here, we found that the K-edge shifts in strongly coupled, degenerate polystyrene cannot be explained by existing continuum-lowering models adopted in traditional plasma physics. To gain insights into the K edge shift in warm, dense CH, we have developed a model designated as “single-mixture-in-a-box” (SMIAB), which incorporates both the lowering of continuum and the rising of Fermi surface resulting from high compression. This simple SMIAB model correctly predicts the K-edge shift of carbon in highly compressed CH inmore » good agreement with results from quantum-molecular-dynamics (QMD) calculations. Traditional opacity models failed to give the proper K-edge shifts as the CH density increased. Based on QMD calculations, we have established a first-principles opacity table (FPOT) for CH in a wide range of densities and temperatures [p = 0.1 to 100 g/cm 3 and T = 2000 to 1,000,000 K]. The FPOT gives much higher Rosseland mean opacity compared to the cold-opacity–patched astrophysics opacity table for warm, dense CH and favorably compares to the newly improved Los Alamos ATOMIC model for moderately compressed CH (pCH ≤10 g/cm 3) but remains a factor of 2 to 3 higher at extremely high densities (pCH ≥ 50 g/cm 3). We anticipate the established FPOT of CH will find important applications to reliable designs of high-energy-density experiments. Moreover, the understanding of K-edge shifting revealed in this study could provide guides for improving the traditional opacity models to properly handle the strongly coupled and degenerate conditions.« less

Covalency and the metal-insulator transition in titanate and vanadate perovskites

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dang, Hung T.; Millis, Andrew J.; Marianetti, Chris A.

2014-04-01

A combination of density functional and dynamical mean-field theory is applied to the perovskites SrVO3, LaTiO3, and LaVO3. We show that DFT + DMFT in conjunction with the standard fully localized-limit (FLL) double-counting predicts that LaTiO3 and LaVO3 are metals even though experimentally they are correlation-driven ("Mott") insulators. In addition, the FLL double counting implies a splitting between oxygen p and transition metal d levels, which differs from experiment. Introducing into the theory an ad hoc double counting correction, which reproduces the experimentally measured insulating gap leads also to a p-d splitting consistent with experiment if the on-site interaction U is chosen in a relatively narrow range (˜6±1 eV). The results indicate that these early transition metal oxides will serve as critical test for the formulation of a general ab initio theory of correlated electron metals.

New insights into thermal decomposition of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon oxyradicals.

PubMed

Liu, Peng; Lin, He; Yang, Yang; Shao, Can; Gu, Chen; Huang, Zhen

2014-12-04

Thermal decompositions of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) oxyradicals on various surface sites including five-membered ring, free-edge, zigzag, and armchair have been systematically investigated by using ab initio density functional theory B3LYP/6-311+G(d,p) basis set. The calculation based on Hückel theory indicates that PAHs (3H-cydopenta[a]anthracene oxyradical) with oxyradicals on a five-membered ring site have high chemical reactivity. The rate coefficients of PAH oxyradical decomposition were evaluated by using Rice-Ramsperger-Kassel-Marcus theory and solving the master equations in the temperature range of 1500-2500 K and the pressure range of 0.1-10 atm. The kinetic calculations revealed that the rate coefficients of PAH oxyradical decomposition are temperature-, pressure-, and surface site-dependent, and the oxyradical on a five-membered ring is easier to decompose than that on a six-membered ring. Four-membered rings were found in decomposition of the five-membered ring, and a new reaction channel of PAH evolution involving four-membered rings is recommended.

Quantum mechanical force field for hydrogen fluoride with explicit electronic polarization.

PubMed

Mazack, Michael J M; Gao, Jiali

2014-05-28

The explicit polarization (X-Pol) theory is a fragment-based quantum chemical method that explicitly models the internal electronic polarization and intermolecular interactions of a chemical system. X-Pol theory provides a framework to construct a quantum mechanical force field, which we have extended to liquid hydrogen fluoride (HF) in this work. The parameterization, called XPHF, is built upon the same formalism introduced for the XP3P model of liquid water, which is based on the polarized molecular orbital (PMO) semiempirical quantum chemistry method and the dipole-preserving polarization consistent point charge model. We introduce a fluorine parameter set for PMO, and find good agreement for various gas-phase results of small HF clusters compared to experiments and ab initio calculations at the M06-2X/MG3S level of theory. In addition, the XPHF model shows reasonable agreement with experiments for a variety of structural and thermodynamic properties in the liquid state, including radial distribution functions, interaction energies, diffusion coefficients, and densities at various state points.

Semiempirical Quantum Mechanical Methods for Noncovalent Interactions for Chemical and Biochemical Applications

PubMed Central

2016-01-01

Semiempirical (SE) methods can be derived from either Hartree–Fock or density functional theory by applying systematic approximations, leading to efficient computational schemes that are several orders of magnitude faster than ab initio calculations. Such numerical efficiency, in combination with modern computational facilities and linear scaling algorithms, allows application of SE methods to very large molecular systems with extensive conformational sampling. To reliably model the structure, dynamics, and reactivity of biological and other soft matter systems, however, good accuracy for the description of noncovalent interactions is required. In this review, we analyze popular SE approaches in terms of their ability to model noncovalent interactions, especially in the context of describing biomolecules, water solution, and organic materials. We discuss the most significant errors and proposed correction schemes, and we review their performance using standard test sets of molecular systems for quantum chemical methods and several recent applications. The general goal is to highlight both the value and limitations of SE methods and stimulate further developments that allow them to effectively complement ab initio methods in the analysis of complex molecular systems. PMID:27074247

Ab initio study of point defects near stacking faults in 3C-SiC

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Xi, Jianqi; Liu, Bin; Zhang, Yanwen

Interactions between point defects and stacking faults in 3C-SiC are studied using an ab initio method based on density functional theory. The results show that the discontinuity of the stacking sequence considerably affects the configurations and behavior of intrinsic defects, especially in the case of silicon interstitials. The existence of an intrinsic stacking fault (missing a C-Si bilayer) shortens the distance between the tetrahedral-center site and its second-nearest-neighboring silicon layer, making the tetrahedral silicon interstitial unstable. Instead of a tetrahedral configuration with four C neighbors, a pyramid-like interstitial structure with a defect state within the band gap becomes a stablemore » configuration. In addition, orientation rotation occurs in the split interstitials that has diverse effects on the energy landscape of silicon and carbon split interstitials in the stacking fault region. Moreover, our analyses of ionic relaxation and electronic structure of vacancies show that the built-in strain field, owing to the existence of the stacking fault, makes the local environment around vacancies more complex than that in the bulk.« less

Ab initio study of point defects near stacking faults in 3C-SiC

DOE PAGES

Xi, Jianqi; Liu, Bin; Zhang, Yanwen; ...

2016-07-02

Interactions between point defects and stacking faults in 3C-SiC are studied using an ab initio method based on density functional theory. The results show that the discontinuity of the stacking sequence considerably affects the configurations and behavior of intrinsic defects, especially in the case of silicon interstitials. The existence of an intrinsic stacking fault (missing a C-Si bilayer) shortens the distance between the tetrahedral-center site and its second-nearest-neighboring silicon layer, making the tetrahedral silicon interstitial unstable. Instead of a tetrahedral configuration with four C neighbors, a pyramid-like interstitial structure with a defect state within the band gap becomes a stablemore » configuration. In addition, orientation rotation occurs in the split interstitials that has diverse effects on the energy landscape of silicon and carbon split interstitials in the stacking fault region. Moreover, our analyses of ionic relaxation and electronic structure of vacancies show that the built-in strain field, owing to the existence of the stacking fault, makes the local environment around vacancies more complex than that in the bulk.« less

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Starrett, C. E.; Saumon, D.

Here, we present an approximation for calculating the equation of state (EOS) of warm and hot dense matter that is built on the previously published pseudoatom molecular dynamics (PAMD) model of dense plasmas [Starrett et al., Phys. Rev. E 91, 013104 (2015)]. And while the EOS calculation with PAMD was previously limited to orbital-free density functional theory (DFT), the new approximation presented here allows a Kohn-Sham DFT treatment of the electrons. The resulting EOS thus includes a quantum mechanical treatment of the electrons with a self-consistent model of the ionic structure, while remaining tractable at high temperatures. The method ismore » validated by comparisons with pressures from ab initio simulations of Be, Al, Si, and Fe. The EOS in the Thomas-Fermi approximation shows remarkable thermodynamic consistency over a wide range of temperatures for aluminum. We also calculate the principal Hugoniots of aluminum and silicon up to 500 eV. We find that the ionic structure of the plasma has a modest effect that peaks at temperatures of a few eV and that the features arising from the electronic structure agree well with ab initio simulations.« less

Electronic, magnetic properties and phase diagrams of system with Fe4N compound: An ab initio calculations and Monte Carlo study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Masrour, R.; Jabar, A.; Hlil, E. K.

2018-05-01

Self-consistent ab initio calculations, based on Density Functional Theory (DFT) approach and using Full potential Linear Augmented Plane Wave (FLAPW) method, are performed to investigate the electronic and magnetic properties of the Fe4N compound. Polarized spin and spin-orbit coupling are included in calculations within the framework of the ferromagnetic state between Fe(I) and Fe(II) in Fe4N compound. We have used the obtained data from abinitio calculations as an input in Monte Carlo simulation to calculate the magnetic properties of this compounds such as the ground state phase diagrams, total and partial magnetization of Fe(I) and Fe(II) as well as the transition temperatures are computed. The variation of magnetization with the crystal field are also studied. The magnetic hysteresis cycle of the same Fe4N compound are determined for different values of temperatures and crystal field values. The two-step hysteresis loop are evidenced, which is typical for Fe4N structure. The ferromagnetic and superparamagnetic phase is observed as well.

Ab initio molecular dynamics of the reaction of quercetin with superoxide radical

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lespade, Laure

2016-08-01

Superoxide plays an important role in biology but in unregulated concentrations it is implicated in a lot of diseases such as cancer or atherosclerosis. Antioxidants like flavonoids are abundant in plant and are good scavengers of superoxide radical. The modeling of superoxide scavenging by flavonoids from the diet still remains a challenge. In this study, ab initio molecular dynamics of the reaction of the flavonoid quercetin toward superoxide radical has been carried out using Car-Parrinello density functional theory. The study has proven different reactant solvation by modifying the number of water molecules surrounding superoxide. The reaction consists in the gift of a hydrogen atom of one of the hydroxyl groups of quercetin to the radical. When it occurs, it is relatively fast, lower than 100 fs. Calculations show that it depends largely on the environment of the hydroxyl group giving its hydrogen atom, the geometry of the first water layer and the presence of a certain number of water molecules in the second layer, indicating a great influence of the solvent on the reactivity.

Plasmons in quasi-two-dimensional metals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

da Jornada, Felipe H.; Xian, Lede; Sen, H. Sener; Rubio, Angel; Louie, Steven G.

We employ ab initio density-functional theory (DFT) and GW calculations to understand and predict the plasmon dispersion in quasi-two-dimensional (quasi-2D) metals. We show that, unlike what is found in idealized 2D electron gases, plasmons are virtually dispersionless in real quasi-2D metals for a wide range of excitation wave vectors that are experimentally accessible. We further develop a simpler model that captures this plasmon dispersion in quasi-2D metals and which depends on a single parameter: the characteristic screening length due to interband transitions. Our ab initio calculations further predict that monolayer metallic transition metal dichalcogenides are excellent candidates to explore these dispersionless (flat) plasmons: having large excitation energy that is away from the Landau damping regions makes them ideal systems to support long-lived, spatially-localized 2D plasmons which are highly tunable with substrate. This work is supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Basic Energy Sciences, Materials Sciences and Engineering Division; the National Science Foundation; the European Research Council project (ERC-2015-AdG-694097), and the AFOSR Grant No. FA2386-15-1-0006 AOARD 144088.

Ab Initio Molecular Dynamics and Lattice Dynamics-Based Force Field for Modeling Hexagonal Boron Nitride in Mechanical and Interfacial Applications.

PubMed

Govind Rajan, Ananth; Strano, Michael S; Blankschtein, Daniel

2018-04-05

Hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) is an up-and-coming two-dimensional material, with applications in electronic devices, tribology, and separation membranes. Herein, we utilize density-functional-theory-based ab initio molecular dynamics (MD) simulations and lattice dynamics calculations to develop a classical force field (FF) for modeling hBN. The FF predicts the crystal structure, elastic constants, and phonon dispersion relation of hBN with good accuracy and exhibits remarkable agreement with the interlayer binding energy predicted by random phase approximation calculations. We demonstrate the importance of including Coulombic interactions but excluding 1-4 intrasheet interactions to obtain the correct phonon dispersion relation. We find that improper dihedrals do not modify the bulk mechanical properties and the extent of thermal vibrations in hBN, although they impact its flexural rigidity. Combining the FF with the accurate TIP4P/Ice water model yields excellent agreement with interaction energies predicted by quantum Monte Carlo calculations. Our FF should enable an accurate description of hBN interfaces in classical MD simulations.

Absolute configuration in 4-alkyl- and 4-aryl-3,4-dihydro-2(1H)-pyrimidones: a combined theoretical and experimental investigation.

PubMed

Uray, G; Verdino, P; Belaj, F; Kappe, C O; Fabian, W M

2001-10-05

Structural features (orientation of the carboxyl group, ring puckering), electronic absorption, and circular dichroism spectra of 4-alkyl- and 4-aryl-dihydropyrimidones 1-5 are calculated by semiempirical (AM1, INDO/S), ab initio (HF/6-31G, CIS/6-31G, RPA/6-31G), and density functional theory (B3LYP/6-31G) methods. These calculations allow an assignment of the absolute configuration by comparison of simulated and experimental CD spectra. Although the ab initio methods greatly overestimate electronic transition energies, the general appearance of the experimental CD spectra is quite nicely reproduced by these calculations. Thus, comparison of experimental with calculated CD spectra is a reliable tool for the assignment of the absolute configuration. For 4-methyl derivatives 1, the first enantiopure DHPM examples with no additional aromatic substituent, the stereochemistry at C4 provided by the theoretical results is confirmed by X-ray structure determination of the diastereomeric salt 6. Additional support is the consistent HPLC elution order found for all investigated DHPMs on a cellulose-derived chiral stationary phase.

Electronic structure of the alkyne-bridged dicobalt hexacarbonyl complex Co(2) micro-C(2)H(2) (CO)(6): evidence for singlet diradical character and implications for metal-metal bonding.

PubMed

Platts, James A; Evans, Gareth J S; Coogan, Michael P; Overgaard, Jacob

2007-08-06

A series of ab initio calculations are presented on the alkyne-bridged dicobalt hexacarbonyl cluster Co2 micro-C2H2 (CO)6, indicating that this compound has substantial multireference character, which we interpret as evidence of singlet diradical behavior. As a result, standard theoretical methods such as restricted Hartree-Fock (RHF) or Kohn-Sham (RKS) density functional theory cannot properly describe this compound. We have therefore used complete active space (CAS) methods to explore the bonding in and spectroscopic properties of Co2 micro-C2H2 (CO)6. CAS methods identify significant population of a Co-Co antibonding orbital, along with Co-pi* back-bonding, and a relatively large singlet-triplet energy splitting. Analysis of the electron density and related quantities, such as energy densities and atomic overlaps, indicates a small but significant amount of covalent bonding between cobalt centers.

Ab initio calculation of the deprotonation constants of an atomistically defined nanometer-sized, aluminium hydroxide oligomer

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wander, Matthew C. F.; Shuford, Kevin L.; Rustad, James R.

Aluminium possesses significant and diverse chemistry. Numerous compounds have been defined, and the elucidation of their chemistry is of significant geochemical interest. In this paper, a brucite-like, eight-aluminium aqueous cluster is modelled with density functional theory to identify its primary site of deprotonation and the associated pK(a) constant using both explicit (a full first solvent shell) and implicit solvent. Two methods for calculating the pK(a) are compared. We found that a bond density approach is better than a direct energy calculation for ions with large charge and high symmetry. The terminal aluminium atoms have equatorial ligated waters that in solventmore » have one long O-H bond. This site is more reactive than any of the other protons on the particle. Insights into the experimental crystal structure and Bader's Atoms in Molecules density analysis are presented as routes to reduce the computational time required for the identification of protonation sites.« less

Ab initio calculation of the potential bubble nucleus 34Si

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Duguet, T.; Somà, V.; Lecluse, S.; Barbieri, C.; Navrátil, P.

2017-03-01

Background: The possibility that an unconventional depletion (referred to as a "bubble") occurs in the center of the charge density distribution of certain nuclei due to a purely quantum mechanical effect has attracted theoretical and experimental attention in recent years. Based on a mean-field rationale, a correlation between the occurrence of such a semibubble and an anomalously weak splitting between low angular-momentum spin-orbit partners has been further conjectured. Energy density functional and valence-space shell model calculations have been performed to identify and characterize the best candidates, among which 34Si appears as a particularly interesting case. While the experimental determination of the charge density distribution of the unstable 34Si is currently out of reach, (d ,p ) experiments on this nucleus have been performed recently to test the correlation between the presence of a bubble and an anomalously weak 1 /2--3 /2- splitting in the spectrum of 35Si as compared to 37S. Purpose: We study the potential bubble structure of 34Si on the basis of the state-of-the-art ab initio self-consistent Green's function many-body method. Methods: We perform the first ab initio calculations of 34Si and 36S. In addition to binding energies, the first observables of interest are the charge density distribution and the charge root-mean-square radius for which experimental data exist in 36S. The next observable of interest is the low-lying spectroscopy of 35Si and 37S obtained from (d ,p ) experiments along with the spectroscopy of 33Al and 35P obtained from knock-out experiments. The interpretation in terms of the evolution of the underlying shell structure is also provided. The study is repeated using several chiral effective field theory Hamiltonians as a way to test the robustness of the results with respect to input internucleon interactions. The convergence of the results with respect to the truncation of the many-body expansion, i.e., with respect to the many-body correlations included in the calculation, is studied in detail. We eventually compare our predictions to state-of-the-art multireference energy density functional and shell model calculations. Results: The prediction regarding the (non)existence of the bubble structure in 34Si varies significantly with the nuclear Hamiltonian used. However, demanding that the experimental charge density distribution and the root-mean-square radius of 36S be well reproduced, along with 34Si and 36S binding energies, only leaves the NNLOsat Hamiltonian as a serious candidate to perform this prediction. In this context, a bubble structure, whose fingerprint should be visible in an electron scattering experiment of 34Si, is predicted. Furthermore, a clear correlation is established between the occurrence of the bubble structure and the weakening of the 1 /2--3 /2- splitting in the spectrum of 35Si as compared to 37S. Conclusions: The occurrence of a bubble structure in the charge distribution of 34Si is convincingly established on the basis of state-of-the-art ab initio calculations. This prediction will have to be reexamined in the future when improved chiral nuclear Hamiltonians are constructed. On the experimental side, present results act as a strong motivation to measure the charge density distribution of 34Si in future electron scattering experiments on unstable nuclei. In the meantime, it is of interest to perform one-neutron removal on 34Si and 36S in order to further test our theoretical spectral strength distributions over a wide energy range.

Single-ion 4f element magnetism: an ab-initio look at Ln(COT)2(-).

PubMed

Gendron, Frédéric; Pritchard, Benjamin; Bolvin, Hélène; Autschbach, Jochen

2015-12-14

The electron densities associated with the Ln 4f shell, and spin and orbital magnetizations ('magnetic moment densities'), are investigated for the Ln(COT)2(-) series. The densities are obtained from ab-initio calculations including spin-orbit coupling. For Ln = Ce, Pr the magnetizations are also derived from crystal field models and shown to agree with the ab-initio results. Analysis of magnetizations from ab-initio calculations may be useful in assisting research on single molecule magnets.

A barrier-free atomic radical-molecule reaction: N (2D) NO2 (2A1) mechanistic study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zuo, Ming-Hui; Liu, Hui-Ling; Huang, Xu-Ri; Zhan, Jin-Hui; Sun, Chia-Chung

The reaction of N (2D) radical with NO2 molecule has been studied theoretically using density functional theory and ab initio quantum chemistry method. Singlet electronic state [N2O2] potential energy surfaces (PES) are calculated at the CCSD(T)/aug-cc-pVDZ//B3LYP/6-311+G(d) + ZPE and G3B3 levels of theory. All the involved transition states for generation of (2NO) and (O2 + N2) lie much lower than the reactants. Thus, the novel reaction N + NO2 can proceed effectively even at low temperatures and it is expected to play a role in both combustion and interstellar processes. On the basis of the analysis of the kinetics of all pathways through which the reactions proceed, we expect that the competitive power of reaction pathways may vary with experimental conditions for the title reaction.

Optimized nested Markov chain Monte Carlo sampling: theory

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Coe, Joshua D; Shaw, M Sam; Sewell, Thomas D

2009-01-01

Metropolis Monte Carlo sampling of a reference potential is used to build a Markov chain in the isothermal-isobaric ensemble. At the endpoints of the chain, the energy is reevaluated at a different level of approximation (the 'full' energy) and a composite move encompassing all of the intervening steps is accepted on the basis of a modified Metropolis criterion. By manipulating the thermodynamic variables characterizing the reference system we maximize the average acceptance probability of composite moves, lengthening significantly the random walk made between consecutive evaluations of the full energy at a fixed acceptance probability. This provides maximally decorrelated samples ofmore » the full potential, thereby lowering the total number required to build ensemble averages of a given variance. The efficiency of the method is illustrated using model potentials appropriate to molecular fluids at high pressure. Implications for ab initio or density functional theory (DFT) treatment are discussed.« less

Unified picture of the doping dependence of superconducting transition temperatures in alkali metal/ammonia intercalated FeSe

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guterding, Daniel; Jeschke, Harald; Hirschfeld, Peter; Valenti, Roser

2015-03-01

We present a theoretical investigation of alkali metal/ammonia intercalated iron selenide. Using ab-initio density functional theory we unravel how charge doping and dimensionality of the electronic structure can be controlled through the chemical composition of the intercalated molecules. Within random phase approximation spin fluctuation theory we analyze the impact of intercalation on the superconducting pairing strength. We find that high Tc is to be expected away from perfect nesting. While experimental studies have focused on the intercalation of larger molecules in the spacer layer so far, we argue that no higher Tc can be achieved this way. This work was supported by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft under Grant No. SPP 1458, the National Science Foundation under Grant No. PHY11-25915 and the Department of Energy under Grant No. DE-FG02-05ER46236.

Theoretical calculations of high-pressure phases of NiF2: An ab initio constant-pressure study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kürkçü, Cihan; Merdan, Ziya; Öztürk, Hülya

2016-12-01

We have studied the structural properties of the antiferromagnetic NiF2 tetragonal structure with P42/ mnm symmetry using density functional theory (DFT) under rapid hydrostatic pressure up to 400 GPa. For the exchange correlation energy we used the local density approximation (LDA) of Ceperley and Alder (CA). Two phase transformations are successfully observed through the simulations. The structures of XF2-type compounds crystallize in rutile-type structure. NiF2 undergoes phase transformations from the tetragonal rutile-type structure with space group P42/ mnm to orthorhombic CaCl2-type structure with space group Pnnm and from this orthorhombic phase to monoclinic structure with space group C2/ m at 152 GPa and 360 GPa, respectively. These phase changes are also studied by total energy and enthalpy calculations. According to these calculations, we perdict these phase transformations at about 1.85 and 30 GPa.

Thermodynamic and mechanical properties of TiC from ab initio calculation

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Dang, D. Y.; Fan, J. L.; Gong, H. R., E-mail: gonghr@csu.edu.cn

2014-07-21

The temperature-dependent thermodynamic and mechanical properties of TiC are systematically investigated by means of a combination of density-functional theory, quasi-harmonic approximation, and thermal electronic excitation. It is found that the quasi-harmonic Debye model should be pertinent to reflect thermodynamic properties of TiC, and the elastic properties of TiC decease almost linearly with the increase of temperature. Calculations also reveal that TiC possesses a pronounced directional pseudogap across the Fermi level, mainly due to the strong hybridization of Ti 3d and C 2p states. Moreover, the strong covalent bonding of TiC would be enhanced (reduced) with the decrease (increase) of temperature,more » while the change of volume (temperature) should have negligible effect on density of states at the Fermi level. The calculated results agree well with experimental observations in the literature.« less

Investigation of electronic and magnetic properties of FeS: First principle and Monte Carlo simulations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bouachraoui, Rachid; El Hachimi, Abdel Ghafour; Ziat, Younes; Bahmad, Lahoucine; Tahiri, Najim

2018-06-01

Electronic and magnetic properties of hexagonal Iron (II) Sulfide (hexagonal FeS) have been investigated by combining the Density functional theory (DFT) and Monte Carlo simulations (MCS). This compound is constituted by magnetic hexagonal lattice occupied by Fe2+ with spin state (S = 2). Based on ab initio method, we calculated the exchange coupling JFe-Fe between two magnetic atoms Fe-Fe in different directions. Also phase transitions, magnetic stability and magnetizations have been investigated in the framework of Monte Carlo simulations. Within this method, a second phase transition is observed at the Néel temperature TN = 450 K. This finding in good agreement with the reported data in the literature. The effect of the applied different parameters showed how can these parameters affect the critical temperature of this system. Moreover, we studied the density of states and found that the hexagonal FeS will be a promoting material for spintronic applications.