Structure dependent quantum confinement effect in hydrogen-terminated nanodiamond clusters

Abstract

Size-dependent quantum confinement effect on electronic structure of hydrogen-terminated carbon nanodiamond (ND) cluster has been investigated at the hybrid density functional theory level. Large scale all-electron calculations have been carried out for ND clusters of 0.76 nm (29 carbons) to 7.3 nm (20 959 carbons) in diameter. It is demonstrated that the quantum confinement effect in these clusters shows strong structural dependence. An important structural factor, describing the ratio between the number of atoms within the inner core and outer shell of the cluster, is identified which dictates the size-dependent behavior of the electronic states. For ND clusters with diameter smaller than 1.5 nm, the core-shell ratio changes fast with the increase in cluster size, and the evolution of electronic properties does not follow conventional quantum confinement models. For ND clusters exceeding the threshold of 1.5 nm in diameter, the change in the core-shell ratio saturates and quantum confinement effect becomes visible. Electronic states within the inner core and surface show different size dependence, but a general formula is proposed and describes their structure dependent quantum confinement effects. This formula provides useful insights into quantum confinement behavior in ND clusters, and thereby leads to important physical property information. The calculated electron effective masses for core and surface states of ND clusters are in very good agreement with the experiments.