First-Principles Study of TiC(111) Surface

Abstract

The structural and electronic properties of TiC(111) surfaces are calculated using the first-principles total-energy plane-wave pseudopotential method based on density functional theory. As a polar surface, (111) surface shows large charge depletion in the upper part of the atoms, while charge accumulation happens in the inferior part of the atoms, interlayer Ti-C chemical bonds are reinforced and the outermost interlayer distances are largely reduced. Meanwhile, the charge accumulation and depletion for Ti-terminated surface is more than that for C-terminated surface on the same position of the two slabs after full relaxation. The surface energy of C-terminated surface is in the range from 7.61 to 9.83 J/m2, much larger than that of Ti-terminated surface from 3.13 to 1.35 J/m2, and the Ti-terminated surface is thermodynamically more favorable over all of the range of (chemical potential of TiC slab). This present work makes a beneficial attempt at exploring TiC surface as an ab initio method for studying possible nucleation mechanism of Aluminum on it.