Atoms In Sublattice Research Articles

An idealized model for the crystal structure of intermetallic compounds isostructural with Mg3Cr2Al18

ABSTRACT Mg3Cr2Al18 (abbreviated in this report as MCA) is the parent phase for a large class of intermetallic compounds that belong to the cubic crystal space group, Fd 3 ¯ m . The purpose of this paper is to introduce an ideal, unrelaxed crystal structure for compounds isostructural with MCA. There are five distinct atomic sublattices in MCA compounds, which can be denoted, A, B, C, D, and E. With this, a general description for MCA structures can be written as A 1 8 a B 2 16 c C 2 16 d D 6 48 f E 12 96 g , where the superscripts represent the Wyckoff special equipoints associated with the various sublattices in MCA, and the subscripts indicate the contributions of each sublattice to the stoichiometry of one formula unit in an any given MCA-structured compound. Sublattices D and E are where deviations from ideality occur in real, MCA-like compounds. This paper examines MCA bond lengths, nearest-neighbour polyhedral arrangements, 3-D sublattice crystal structures, 2-D atom tessellation patterns, and crystal chemical effects associated with atomic relaxations on the D and E sublattices. The ideal MCA crystal structure developed in this report provides an appropriate initial structure for use as input to crystal structure refinements of diffraction data for MCA-like phases being examined experimentally, or as input for computational, atomistic simulations of the structures of such compounds.

Stable room-temperature ferromagnetism and gate-tunable quantum anomalous Hall effect of two-dimensional 5d transition-metal trihalide OsX3 (X = Cl, Br, I) monolayers.

5d transition-metal compounds are usually not expected to exhibit distinct magnetic ordering owing to their substantial binding energy associated with 5d electrons. In this study, we demonstrate that two-dimensional (2D) 5d transition-metal Os trihalide OsX3 monolayers can exhibit room-temperature ferromagnetism and quantum anomalous Hall effect (QAHE) by utilizing density functional theory and Monte Carlo simulation. Our calculation results of coexisting Raman and infrared activities of lattice vibration reveal the structural stability of 2D OsX3 (X = Cl, Br, I) and structural instability of 2D OsX3 (X = F). Furthermore, all 2D OsX3 trihalides (X = Cl, Br, I) are half-metals, and their ferromagnetism remains stable under ambient temperature, where 2D OsCl3 and OsBr3 have an in-plane easy axis while 2D OsI3 has an out-of-plane easy axis. Notably, when spin-orbit coupling is included, the gate-tunable QAHE could emerge in ferromagnetic 2D OsI3, while 2D OsCl3 and OsBr3 are topologically trivial. Additionally, the magnon bands of 2D OsX3 (X = Cl, Br, I) possess two spin-wave branches with dispersion similar to that of the Dirac cone in the electronic structure of graphene, which are attributed to the unique ferromagnetic honeycomb sublattice of osmium atoms.

When topology meets geometry: topological motifs and uniformity of atomic sublattices in inorganic crystals

We have analyzed topological motifs of whole crystal structures and unconnected non-metal sublattices in 967 borides, 721 carbides, 899 nitrides and 927 silicides of metals within the periodic net model....

Unlocking AlN Piezoelectric Performance with Earth‐Abundant Dopants

AbstractThe increasing demand for high‐performance piezoelectric materials and toxicity and thermal stability issues of the widely used lead zirconate titanates (PZT) have spurred a search for better alternatives in electronic devices. In comparison to PZT, group III nitrides such as aluminum nitride (AlN), are only weakly piezoelectric, but doping AlN with scandium (Sc) improves the piezoelectric response by nearly 500%. Relative to PZT, doped‐AlN piezoelectric materials are advantageous because they are far more compatible with complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor (CMOS) materials, and they maintain both piezoelectric and thermodynamic stability up to very high temperatures. Unfortunately, rare‐earth metals are notoriously expensive, and fabricating stable films with rare‐earth dopants is also challenging, limiting their use in industrial applications. In this work, ab initio calculations are combined with targeted fabrication and experimentation to identify alternative earth‐abundant dopants for AlN from the periodic table d‐block. Amongst the 23 elements screened, it is found that group IVB metals, titanium, zirconium, and hafnium induce large piezoelectric enhancements comparable to Sc. This improvement is traced to shifts in the atomic sublattice structure and changes in the local charge states. In demonstrating a highly accessible and affordable path for technological adaptation of AlN‐based piezoelectrics, this work provides the foundation for sustainable, next‐generation electronics.

Orbital contribution to the regulation of the spin-valley coupling in antiferromagnetic monolayer MnPTe3

In addition to the ferromagnetic materials with inversion symmetry breaking, the symmetric antiferromagnetic materials also exhibit intrinsic valley splitting due to the spin-valley coupling. Using first-principles calculations, we investigated the manipulation of valley splitting of antiferromagnetic monolayer ${\mathrm{MnPTe}}_{3}$ via biaxial strain. It is shown that two ${\mathrm{MnPTe}}_{3}$ monolayers with different structures are both stable antiferromagnetic semiconductors, and exhibit valley splitting between $K$ and ${K}^{\ensuremath{'}}$. The spin-valley coupling strength can be greatly tuned by in-plane strain, which is due to the changes of orbital composition of electronic state and the different contribution of two sublattice atoms. The proportions of $d$ orbitals of Mn atoms determine the orbital angular momentum of the electronic state, and the different contribution of different sublattices results in the change of Berry curvature at $K$ and ${K}^{\ensuremath{'}}$ points. The combination of two factors leads to the same changes of valley splitting and the proportion of the ${d}_{xz}$, ${d}_{yz}$ orbitals. These results of are some significance for the design of materials with greater valley splitting and the understanding of its mechanism.

New two-dimensional flat band materials: B3C11O6 and B3C15O6.

Recently, there has been growing interest in the field of flat-band physics due to its attractive properties and wide range of practical applications. In this study, we introduce two novel two-dimensional monolayers, namely B3C11O6 and B3C15O6, which exhibit a flat band near the Fermi level. These monolayers have been found to be energetically favorable, dynamically stable, and thermodynamically stable based on formation energies, phonon spectra, and molecular dynamics simulations. The nearly flat band (NFB) in B3C11O6 arises from the extended kagome sublattice of carbon atoms. Due to the strong interaction between carbon atoms beyond their nearest neighbors, the bandwidth of the initial flat band is extended to approximately 0.5 eV. Nevertheless, there is still a prominent peak in the density of states near the Fermi level. On the other hand, the NFB in B3C15O6 originates from the localized states of the carbon five-ring structure, which forms a distorted kagome lattice. The presence and characteristics of the NFB strongly depend on the interactions between next-nearest neighbors. Interestingly, the partially occupied NFB in B3C11O6 leads to spin splitting, resulting in a transformation of the system into a ferromagnetic metal. Our research not only presents two types of lattices capable of hosting flat bands or NFBs, but also provides two monolayers that can be employed to investigate various intriguing quantum phases.

Sequence and Characteristics of Atomic Ordering in Ni2Mn1-xCuxGa Ferromagnetic Shape Memory Alloys.

Post-quench atomic reordering processes undergone by Ni2Mn1-xCuxGa alloys have been characterized in detail. The obtained results corroborate the hypothesis that proposes an atomic ordering process additional to the B2↔L21 one, consisting of the relocation in the Mn sublattice of Cu atoms misplaced by quench in the Ni sublattice. In addition, the results suggest that the ordering of the Cu atoms and the L21 ordering can occur in different sequences depending on the starting state of order. The analysis of the saturation magnetization validates the occurrence of two types of atomic movements; the values corresponding to different post-quench stages have been compared with those calculated for different atomic configurations, supporting the relocation mechanism of Cu atoms as the most plausible mechanism. The effect of the quenching temperature on the reordering processes has been also studied, and an assessment of the degree of quenched disorder is provided, suggesting the existence of an order-disorder transition associated with Cu atoms ordering. Finally, the effect of the Cu amount has been analyzed, confirming that a greater amount of Cu intensifies the process associated to ordering of Cu atoms, which takes place even in martensite.

Peierls Instability of the Lieb Lattice

It is shown that the energy of the electron system in the two-dimensional Lieb lattice decreases owing to displacements of the edge atoms from the lattice sites along the edges. This decrease in the electron energy gives rise to soft phonon modes, anharmonic phonons, and to a lattice instability. Under certain conditions, the decrease in the electron energy can exceed the increase in the elastic energy of the ion lattice, and the total energy as a function of the displacements of edge atoms takes the form of a double-well potential. As a result, in the case of a pronounced instability, a partially ordered sublattice of edge atoms arises with the number of equilibrium positions twice as large as the number of atoms. The quantum tunneling of edge atoms between equilibrium positions results in the formation of quantum tunneling modes. The possible experimental manifestations of such instability and the extension of the model under study to the three-dimensional lattices are discussed.

Nonadiabatic Born Effective Charges in Metals and the Drude Weight.

In insulators, Born effective charges describe the electrical polarization induced by the displacement of individual atomic sublattices. Such a physical property is at first sight irrelevant for metals and doped semiconductors, where the macroscopic polarization is ill defined. Here we show that, in clean conductors, going beyond the adiabatic approximation results in nonadiabatic Born effective charges that are well defined in the low-frequency limit. In addition, we find that the sublattice sum of the nonadiabatic Born effective charges does not vanish as it does in the insulating case, but instead is proportional to the Drude weight. We demonstrate these formal results with density functional perturbation theory calculations of Al and electron-doped SnS_{2} and SrTiO_{3}.

Realizing Kagome Band Structure in Two-Dimensional Kagome Surface States of RV_{6}Sn_{6} (R=Gd, Ho).

We report angle resolved photoemission experiments on a newly discovered family of kagome metals RV_{6}Sn_{6} (R=Gd, Ho). Intrinsic bulk states and surface states of the vanadium kagome layer are differentiated from those of other atomic sublattices by the real-space resolution of the measurements with a small beam spot. Characteristic Dirac cone, saddle point, and flat bands of the kagome lattice are observed. Our results establish the two-dimensional (2D) kagome surface states as a new platform to investigate the intrinsic kagome physics.

The Role of Different Alkali Metals in the A15Tl27 Type Structure and the Synthesis and X-ray Structure Analysis of a New Substitutional Variant Cs14.53Tl28.4.

Alkali metal thallides have been known since the report of E. Zintl on NaTl in 1932. Subsequently, binary and ternary thallides of alkali metals have been characterized. At an alkali metal proportion of approximately 33% (A:Tl~1:2, A = alkali metal), three different unique type structures are reported: K49Tl108, Rb17Tl41 and A15Tl27 (A = Rb, Cs). Whereas Rb17Tl41 and K49Tl108 feature a three-dimensional sublattice of Tl atoms, the A15Tl27 structure type includes isolated Tl11 clusters as well as two-dimensional Tl-layers. This unique arrangement is only known so far when the heavier alkali metals Rb and Cs are included. In our contribution, we present single-crystal X-ray structure analyses of new ternary and quaternary compounds of the A15Tl27 type structure, which include different amounts of potassium. The crystal structures allow for the discussion of the favored alkali metal for each of the four Wyckoff positions and clearly demonstrate alkali metal dependent site preferences. Thereby, the compound Cs2.27K12.73Tl27 unambiguously proves the possibility of a potassium-rich A15Tl27 phase, even though a small amount of cesium appears to be needed for the stabilization of the latter structure type. Furthermore, we also present two compounds that show an embedding of Tl instead of alkali metal into the two-dimensional substructure, being equivalent to the formal oxidation of the latter. Cs14.53Tl28.4 represents the binary compound with the so far largest proportion of incorporated Tl in the structure type A15Tl27.

Diffraction based identification of an elusive FCC phase in carbo-oxidized titanium

A face-centered cubic (FCC) phase formed during the carbo-oxidation of hexagonal close-packed (HCP) α-Titanium at 600 to 700 °C. The FCC crystal structure was confirmed using transmission electron diffraction, X-ray diffraction and high angle annular dark field scanning transmission electron microscopy. The a lattice parameter for the FCC resulting from the three methods was consistent with FCC sublattice of titanium atoms in δ-TiH 2-x . The FCC phase is hypothesized to form partly due to hydrogen pick-up, the stress state in the foil caused by the mismatch between body centered cubic iron-stabilized β-Titanium and HCP α-Titanium and the tensile stress present in front of the oxygen concentration profile. A transformation of α-Titanium into δ-TiH 2-x is accomplished by introducing Shockley partial dislocations on every 2nd closest paced plane, resulting in an orientation relation that has previously been observed for thermally induced FCC γ-Ti. The TiH 2-x phase was shown to decompose upon vacuum annealing at 500 °C. • The different methods gave an a lattice parameter of ca. 0.44 nm for the FCC phase, which was consistent with δ-TiH 2-x . • The orientation relationship from TEM was determined as {1¯11¯} FCC ||{0002} HCP , indicating thermally promoted FCC phase. • High vacuum annealing removed the “FCC” phase (XRD) proving that it was indeed δ-TiH 2-x. • δ-TiH 2-x was made by SP dislocations promoted by hydrogen ingress during carbo-oxidation and the specimen stress state.

Magnetic order in Mn excess Ni-Mn-Ga Heusler alloy single crystal probed by ferromagnetic resonance

Magnetic order and its changes upon martensitic transition are investigated in non-stochiometric Ni50Mn28Ga22 single crystal exhibiting magnetic shape memory effect by ferromagnetic resonance. The resonance is measured with magnetic field applied in plane along two 〈100〉 perpendicular directions in the flat rectangular sample. While for one field direction the spectrum can be explained by the standard ferromagnetic resonance, for the other the spectrum suggests the two sublattice model of ferrimagnetic resonance. Magnetic anisotropy of martensite, determined from the resonance fields, well corresponds with the magnetocrystalline anisotropy obtained by the static methods. On transition to the austenite phase magnetic anisotropy disappears while exchange resonance mode derived from the two sublattice model persists. The position of the modes indicates that the minority sublattice of excess Mn atoms is only weakly antiferromagnetically coupled with the majority sublattice of Mn atoms in the ordinary sites. The effective exchange field HE = 5.5 Ms, where Ms is spontaneous magnetization, is about three orders smaller than the values found for ordinary ferrimagnets.

Local electronic structure rearrangements and strong anharmonicity in YH3 under pressures up to 180\u2009GPa

The discovery of superconductivity above 250 K at high pressure in LaH10 and the prediction of overcoming the room temperature threshold for superconductivity in YH10 urge for a better understanding of hydrogen interaction mechanisms with the heavy atom sublattice in metal hydrides under high pressure at the atomic scale. Here we use locally sensitive X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy (XAFS) to get insight into the nature of phase transitions and the rearrangements of local electronic and crystal structure in archetypal metal hydride YH3 under pressure up to 180 GPa. The combination of the experimental methods allowed us to implement a multiscale length study of YH3: XAFS (short-range), Raman scattering (medium-range) and XRD (long-range). XANES data evidence a strong effect of hydrogen on the density of 4d yttrium states that increases with pressure and EXAFS data evidence a strong anharmonicity, manifested as yttrium atom vibrations in a double-well potential.

Quasi-one dimensional magnetic interactions in the three-dimensional hyper-honeycomb framework [(C2H5)3NH]2Cu2(C2O4)3.

The Cu(ii) ions in [(C2H5)3NH]2Cu2(C2O4)3 form a hyperhoneycomb lattice and show no indication of long-range magnetic order down to 60 mK. It has therefore been suggested that [(C2H5)3NH]2Cu2(C2O4)3 is a three dimensional quantum spin liquid. We construct a tight-binding model of [(C2H5)3NH]2Cu2(C2O4)3 from Wannier orbital overlaps. Including interactions within the Jahn-Teller distorted Cu-centered eg Wannier orbitals leads to a highly anisotropic effective Heisenberg model. We show that this anisotropy arrises from interference between different superexchange pathways. This demonstrates that when two (or more) orbitals contribute to the localised spin superexchange can be significantly richer than in the textbook single orbital case. The hyper-honeycomb lattice contains two symmetry distinct sublattices of Cu atoms arranged in coupled chains. We show that one sublattice is strongly dimerized, the other forms isotropic antiferromagnetic chains. Integrating out the strongest (intradimer) exchange interactions leaves extremely weakly coupled Heisenberg chains.

Imaging of nearly flat band induced atomic-scale negative differential conductivity in ABC -stacked trilayer graphene

Despite recent transport studies of ABC-stacked multilayer graphene systems revealed various unusual quantum phenomena which arise from the nearly flat electronic bands, their quantum tunneling properties have rarely been addressed. Here we investigate the local tunneling characteristics of a gapped ABC-stacked trilayer graphene (TLG) and report the experimental observation of the nearly flat band induced atomic-site-dependent negative differential conductivity (NDC, characterized by a current drop with increasing voltage) via scanning tunneling spectroscopy (STS) measurements. We show that strong NDC emerges in the gap region next to a sharp STS peak induced by the very flat low-energy dispersion of ABC TLG. The NDC is found to mainly reside on one atomic sublattice of the surface layer due to the strong sublattice and layer localization of the nearly flat bands. The observed NDC behavior is explained by the tunnel-diode mechanism, namely, the coexistence of a sharp flat-dispersion STS peak in which tunneling is strongly enhanced and a subsequent gap region in which tunneling is forbidden. Furthermore, we also find that a local defect could effectively switch off the NDC over a large spatial range. Our result highlights a quantum tunneling effect unique to the graphene-based nearly flat band system and expands the potential application scope of ABC TLG.

Design and Synthesis of a Single-Layer Ferromagnetic Metal–Organic Framework with Topological Nontrivial Gaps

We report on the design and synthesis of a two-dimensional metal–organic framework Fe3(HITP)2 which comprises of a Kagome sublattice of Fe atoms. Density-functional theory calculations reveal that ...

Collective All-Carbon Magnetism in Triangulene Dimers.

Triangular zigzag nanographenes, such as triangulene and its π‐extended homologues, have received widespread attention as organic nanomagnets for molecular spintronics, and may serve as building blocks for high‐spin networks with long‐range magnetic order, which are of immense fundamental and technological relevance. As a first step towards these lines, we present the on‐surface synthesis and a proof‐of‐principle experimental study of magnetism in covalently bonded triangulene dimers. On‐surface reactions of rationally designed precursor molecules on Au(111) lead to the selective formation of triangulene dimers in which the triangulene units are either directly connected through their minority sublattice atoms, or are separated via a 1,4‐phenylene spacer. The chemical structures of the dimers have been characterized by bond‐resolved scanning tunneling microscopy. Scanning tunneling spectroscopy and inelastic electron tunneling spectroscopy measurements reveal collective singlet–triplet spin excitations in the dimers, demonstrating efficient intertriangulene magnetic coupling.

Collective All‐Carbon Magnetism in Triangulene Dimers**

AbstractTriangular zigzag nanographenes, such as triangulene and its π‐extended homologues, have received widespread attention as organic nanomagnets for molecular spintronics, and may serve as building blocks for high‐spin networks with long‐range magnetic order, which are of immense fundamental and technological relevance. As a first step towards these lines, we present the on‐surface synthesis and a proof‐of‐principle experimental study of magnetism in covalently bonded triangulene dimers. On‐surface reactions of rationally designed precursor molecules on Au(111) lead to the selective formation of triangulene dimers in which the triangulene units are either directly connected through their minority sublattice atoms, or are separated via a 1,4‐phenylene spacer. The chemical structures of the dimers have been characterized by bond‐resolved scanning tunneling microscopy. Scanning tunneling spectroscopy and inelastic electron tunneling spectroscopy measurements reveal collective singlet–triplet spin excitations in the dimers, demonstrating efficient intertriangulene magnetic coupling.

Novel mechanism for weak magnetization with high Curie temperature observed in H-adsorption on graphene

To elucidate the physics associated with the magnetism observed in nominally nonmagnetic materials containing only sp-electrons, we have developed an extreme model to simulate the adsorption of H (in a straight-line form) on graphene. Our first principles calculations for the model result in a ferromagnetic ground state at a high temperature with a magnetic moment of one Bohr magneton per H atom. The removal of p z-orbitals from sublattice B of graphene introduces p z-vacancies. The p z-vacancy-induced states are created not because of the variations in interatomic interactions but because of the p z-orbital imbalance between two sublattices (A and B) of the conjugated p z-orbital network. Therefore, some critical requirements should be satisfied to create these states (denoted as ) to avoid further imbalances and to minimally affect the conjugated p z-orbital network. The requirements for the creation of can be given as follows: (1) consists of p z-orbitals of only the atoms in sublattice A, (2) the spatial wavefunction of is antisymmetric, and (3) in principle, extends over the entire crystal without decaying, unless other p z-vacancies are encountered. Both the origin of spin polarization and the magnetic ordering of the model can be attributed to the aforementioned requirements.