Structures and optical absorptions of PbSe clusters from ab initio calculations

Abstract

Based on the low-lying structures of (PbSe)n (n = 1-10) clusters identified with a first-principles molecular dynamics approach, two growth patterns with distinct structure and energy evolutions were predicted for the even-n and odd-n clusters, respectively. Moreover, the clusters favor a simple cubic and bulk-like growth pattern, unlike the extensively studied II-VI clusters whose structural diversity has been well established. The overlap between 6p of Pb and 4p of Se makes not only the ordered and bulk-like structures but also a stable building block of (PbSe)4. The high stability of (PbSe)4 is recognized in terms of its binding energy, HOMO-LUMO gap, appearance in the structures of larger-size clusters, as well as its appearance in the fragmentation products of PbSe clusters. The geometrical and electronic structures of the PbSe clusters were further studied within the density functional theory framework including spin-orbital (SO) coupling. We found that SO coupling does not change the relative stability of the clusters but reduces their binding energy significantly. Particularly, the SO effect has a great impact on the UV-vis spectra of the clusters, which were simulated with time-dependent density functional theory at SO level of zeroth-order regular approximation.