Initio Calculations Research Articles

Tin disulfide with bright near-IR luminescence centers obtained at high pressures

In this work, the high-pressure and high-temperature (HPHT) method was applied to obtain crystalline tin disulfide (${\mathrm{SnS}}_{2}$). The synthesis was performed in a sulfur-tin-carbon growth system by placing the reaction mixture of sulfur and tin in a graphite capsule. The synthesized ${\mathrm{SnS}}_{2}$ demonstrated to be a highly crystalline $2H$-polytypic form suitable for mechanical exfoliation of atomically thin films. The crystals reveal strong near-IR photoluminescence attributed to a new luminescence center in ${\mathrm{SnS}}_{2}$. At 5 K, this center is characterized by a narrow zero-phonon line at 885 nm and phonon sideband whose structure is governed by ${\mathrm{SnS}}_{2}$ phonon density of states. Based on $\mathit{ab}$ initio calculations, the center is attributed to carbon in the tin sublattice. The side product of the HPHT synthesis is the diamond phase containing optically active tin-vacancy centers (${\mathrm{SnV}}^{\ensuremath{-}}$).

New insight into the substituent effects on the hydrolytic deamination of saturated and unsaturated cytosine

AbstractAb initio calculations were carried out to understand the effect of electron donating groups (EDG) and electron withdrawing groups (EWG) at the C5 position of cytosine (Cyt) and saturated cytosine (H2Cyt) of the deamination reaction. Geometries of the reactants, transition states, intermediates, and products were fully optimized at the B3LYP/6‐31G(d,p) level in the gas phase as this level of theory has been found to agree very well with G3 theories. Activation energies, enthalpies, and Gibbs energies of activation along with the thermodynamic properties (ΔE, ΔH, and ΔG) of each reaction were calculated. A plot of the Gibbs energies of activation (ΔG‡) for C5 substituted Cyt and H2Cyt against the Hammett σ‐constants reveal a good linear relationship. In general, both EDG and EWG substituents at the C5 position in Cyt results in higher ΔG‡ and lower σ values compared to those of H2Cyt deamination reactions. C5 alkyl substituents (H, CH3, CH2CH3, CH2CH2CH3) increase ΔG‡ values for Cyt, while the same substituents decrease ΔG‡ values for H2Cyt which is likely due to steric effects. However, the Hammett σ‐constants were found to decrease at the C5 position of cytosine (Cyt) and saturated cytosine (H2Cyt) on the deamination reaction. Both ΔG‡ and σ values decrease for the substituents Cl and Br in the Cyt reaction, while ΔG‡ values increase and σ decrease in the H2Cyt reaction. This may be due to high polarizability of bromine which results in a greater stabilization of the transition state in the case of bromine compared to chlorine. Regardless of the substituent at C5, the positive charge on C4 is greater in the TS compared to the reactant complex for both the Cyt and H2Cyt. Moreover, as the charges on C4 in the TS increase compared to reactant, ΔG‡ also increase for the C5 alkyl substituents (H, CH3, CH2CH3, CH2CH2CH3) in Cyt, while ΔG‡ decrease in H2Cyt. In addition, analysis of the frontier MO energies for the transition state structures shows that there is a correlation between the energy of the HOMO–LUMO gap and activation energies.

Mechanistic insights into photochromic 3H-naphthopyran showing strong photocoloration

3,3-Diphenylbenzo[f]chromene (1) represents an important architectural platform for photochromic systems. Since the practical utility of such chromophores is largely dependent upon the kinetics of coloration and decoloration, elucidating the mechanistic details of these processes is of great value. Toward this end, we studied the photochromic reaction of (3-(2-methoxyphenyl)-3-phenyl-3H-benzo[f]chromene (2) by both time-resolved UV–vis and mid-IR spectroscopies. We found that irradiation of 2 at 365 nm generates long-lived colored transoid-cis isomers with lifetimes of 17.1 s and 17.5 min (at 21 °C) and even longer-lived transoid-trans isomers with a lifetime of 16 h. These experimental results were supplemented with ab initio ground-state and excited-state calculations, and the resulting theoretical interpretation may be useful for the design of new photochromic systems with optimized photofunctionality.

Unconventional excitonic states with phonon sidebands in layered silicon diphosphide

Complex correlated states emerging from many-body interactions between quasiparticles (electrons, excitons and phonons) are at the core of condensed matter physics and material science. In low-dimensional materials, quantum confinement affects the electronic, and subsequently, optical properties for these correlated states. Here, by combining photoluminescence, optical reflection measurements and ab initio theoretical calculations, we demonstrate an unconventional excitonic state and its bound phonon sideband in layered silicon diphosphide (SiP2), where the bound electron–hole pair is composed of electrons confined within one-dimensional phosphorus–phosphorus chains and holes extended in two-dimensional SiP2 layers. The excitonic state and emergent phonon sideband show linear dichroism and large energy redshifts with increasing temperature. Our ab initio many-body calculations confirm that the observed phonon sideband results from the correlated interaction between excitons and optical phonons. With these results, we propose layered SiP2 as a platform for the study of excitonic physics and many-particle effects.

Electronic Band Structures of the Possible Topological Insulator Pb2BiBrO6 and Pb2SeTeO6 Double Perovskite: An Ab Initio Study

Using the frameworks of density functional theory, we found a new class of three-dimensional (3D) topological insulators (TIs) in Pb2BiBrO6 and Pb2SeTeO6 double perovskites. Our ab initio theoretical calculations show that Pb2BiBrO6 and Pb2SeTeO6 are Z2 nontrivial, and their bandgaps are 0.390 eV and 0.181 eV, respectively. The topology comes from two mechanisms. Firstly, the band inversion occurs at Γ point in the absence of spin-orbit interactions and secondly, the bandgap is induced by the SOC. This results in a larger bandgap for this new class of topological insulators than conventional TI. In Pb2BiBrO6 double perovskites, our slab calculations confirm that the topology-protected surface metallic bands come from the BiBrO4 surface which means that one can build a transport device using Pb2BiBrO6 double perovskites with a PbO layer as an outmost protection layer. The mechanical stabilities such as bulk, shear, Young’s moduli, Poisson’s and Pugh’s ratio, longitudinal, transverse, and average sound velocity, together with Debye temperature are also studied. Our results show that these Pb2AA’O6 (A = Sb and Bi; A’ = Br and I) and Pb2SeTeO6 are mechanically stable.

A benchmark dataset for Hydrogen Combustion

The generation of reference data for deep learning models is challenging for reactive systems, and more so for combustion reactions due to the extreme conditions that create radical species and alternative spin states during the combustion process. Here, we extend intrinsic reaction coordinate (IRC) calculations with ab initio MD simulations and normal mode displacement calculations to more extensively cover the potential energy surface for 19 reaction channels for hydrogen combustion. A total of ∼290,000 potential energies and ∼1,270,000 nuclear force vectors are evaluated with a high quality range-separated hybrid density functional, ωB97X-V, to construct the reference data set, including transition state ensembles, for the deep learning models to study hydrogen combustion reaction.

Ab initio thermal expansion and thermoelastic properties of ringwoodite (<i>γ</i>-Mg<sub>2</sub>SiO<sub>4</sub>) at mantle transition zone conditions

Abstract. Thermal convection in the Earth's mantle is driven by lateral variations in temperature and density, which are substantially controlled by the local volume thermal expansion of the constituent mineral phases. Ringwoodite is a major component of the lower mantle transition zone, but its thermal expansivity and thermoelastic properties are still affected by large uncertainties. Ambient thermal expansion coefficient (αV0​​​​​​​), for instance, can vary as much as 100 % according to different experimental investigations available from the literature. In this work, we perform ab initio density functional theory calculations of vibrational properties of spinel-structured Mg2SiO4 ringwoodite in order to provide reliable thermophysical data up to mantle transition zone conditions. Temperature- and pressure-dependent thermal expansivity has been obtained by phonon dispersion calculations in the framework of quasi-harmonic approximation (QHA) up to 25 GPa and 2000 K. Theoretical analysis of vibrational spectra reveals that accurate prediction of IR and silent modes, along with their relative mode Grüneisen parameters, is crucial to define thermal expansivity. A six-parameter analytical function is able to reproduce ab initio values fairly well in the whole investigated P–T range, i.e., αV(P,T)=(1.6033×10-5+8.839×10-9T+11.586×10-3T-1-6.055T-2+804.31T-3) ×exp⁡(-2.52×10-2P), with temperature in kelvin and pressure in gigapascal. Ab initio static and isothermal bulk moduli have been derived for ringwoodite along with their P, T and cross derivatives, i.e., K0 = 184.3 GPa, KT,300 K = 176.6 GPa, K0′ = 4.13, KT,300K′ = 4.16, ∂KT∂TP = −0.0233 GPa K−1 and ∂2KT∂P∂T0=1.0×10-4 K−1. Computed thermal expansivity and thermoelastic properties support the evidence that QHA performs remarkably well for Mg2SiO4 ringwoodite up to mantle transition zone temperatures. Since volume thermal expansion of ringwoodite is strongly pressure-dependent and its pressure dependence becomes more marked with the increasing temperature, internally consistent assessments and empirical extrapolation of thermoelastic data to deep mantle conditions should be taken with care to avoid inaccurate or spurious predictions in phase equilibrium and mantle convection numerical modeling.

Mechanical and heat transport properties of Ti[formula omitted]Zr[formula omitted]NiSn half-Heuslers: A molecular dynamic simulation study using ab initio-based interaction potentials

We have developed an interatomic potential tailored to represent in the range of temperatures between 100 K and 1300 K interactions among the different species composing Ti1−xZrxNiSn half-Heusler alloys over the whole range of x. To obtain the potential we considered an embedded atomic model (EAM). The EAM potential was parametrized throughout the fitting to structural formation energies, forces, and stresses produced by ab−initio calculations in selected Ti1−xZrxNiSn structures. With the help of the potential, we study two fundamental aspects of Ti1−xZrxNiSn half-Heuslers by molecular dynamics. The first is related to the heat carried by the lattice vibrations. The second aspect considers the mechanical strength as measured by the Young’s modulus. The simulations agree well with the experimental results for regular ternary half-Heuslers and alloy compositions. For instance, we found that lattice heat conductivity is always larger in ZrNiSn than in TiNiSn, and that ZrNiSn shows the highest Young’s modulus. From the results we can derive strategies for developing new nanostructured materials with improved properties for thermoelectric applications. Quite remarkably, the lattice thermal conductivity is reduced by almost a half in Ti1−xZrxNiSn layered structures. The methodology that we describe here is of great importance since it offers the possibility to improve the design of materials for thermal management devices.

The Jahn-Teller and pseudo-Jahn-Teller effects in the propyne radical cation.

The Jahn-Teller (JT) and pseudo-Jahn-Teller (PJT) effects in the X̃2E, Ã2E and B̃2A1 electronic states of the propyne radical cation are investigated with the aid of ab initio quantum chemistry calculations and first principles quantum dynamics simulations. For the latter, both time-independent and time-dependent quantum mechanical methods are employed. Standard vibronic coupling theory is used to construct a symmetry consistent vibronic Hamiltonian in a diabatic electronic basis. Taylor series expansion of the elements of the diabatic electronic Hamiltonian is carried out and the parameters that appear in the expansion are derived from the ab initio calculated adiabatic electronic energies. It is found that the JT effect is weak in the X̃2E state as compared to that in the Ã2E state. Because of large energy separation, the PJT coupling among the JT-split components of the X̃2E state with the neighboring states is also very weak. However, the PJT coupling of the B̃2A1 state with the JT split components of the Ã2E state has some impact on the dynamics in the coupled Ã2E-B̃2A1 electronic states. The vibronic spectrum of each of these states is calculated and compared with the experimental results. The nonradiative internal conversion dynamics of excited cationic states is examined. Interesting comparison is made with the JT and PJT coupling effects in the nuclear dynamics of the X̃2E-Ã2E-B̃2B2 electronic states of the isomeric allene radical cation.

Computational characterization of nanosystems

Nanosystems play an important role in many applications. Due to their complexity, it is challenging to accurately characterize their structure and properties. An important means to reach such a goal is computational simulation, which is grounded on ab initio electronic structure calculations. Low scaling and accurate electronic-structure algorithms have been developed in recent years. Especially, the efficiency of hybrid density functional calculations for periodic systems has been significantly improved. With electronic structure information, simulation methods can be developed to directly obtain experimentally comparable data. For example, scanning tunneling microscopy images can be effectively simulated with advanced algorithms. When the system we are interested in is strongly coupled to environment, such as the Kondo effect, solving the hierarchical equations of motion turns out to be an effective way of computational characterization. Furthermore, the first principles simulation on the excited state dynamics rapidly emerges in recent years, and nonadiabatic molecular dynamics method plays an important role. For nanosystem involved chemical processes, such as graphene growth, multiscale simulation methods should be developed to characterize their atomic details. In this review, we review some recent progresses in methodology development for computational characterization of nanosystems. Advanced algorithms and software are essential for us to better understand of the nanoworld.

The effects of alkaline-earth-metal-element doping on the thermoelectric properties of β-Zn4Sb3

The effects of alkaline-earth metal elements Ca, Sr, and Ba on the electronic structure and thermoelectric properties of β-Zn4Sb3 were investigated by performing self-consistent ab initio electronic structure calculations within density functional theory and solving the Boltzmann transport equations within the relaxation time approximation. The results demonstrate that these alkaline-earth metal elements with s orbitals could introduce giant sharp resonant peaks in the electronic density of states (DOS) near the host valence band maximum in energy. And these deliberately engineered DOS peaks result in a sharp increase of the room-temperature Seebeck coefficient of β-Zn4Sb3 by a factor of nearly 8/9/19, respectively. Additionally, with the simultaneous increase of conductivity and decline of carrier thermal conductivity upon Ca/Sr/Ba doping, potentially, at least, 10/4/2-fold increase in optimizing power factor, and 14/12/8-fold increase in thermoelectric figure of merit of β-Zn4Sb3 at room temperature are achieved. And their corresponding optimal Fermi levels are all located near the host valence band maximum.

The Electronic Structural and Defect-Induced Absorption Properties of a Ca2B10O14F6 Crystal

Comprehensive ab initio electronic structure calculations were performed for a newly developed deep-ultraviolet (DUV) non-linear optical (NLO) crystal Ca2B10O14F6 (CBOF) using the first principle method. Fifteen point defects including interstitial, vacancy, antisite, Frenkel, and Schottky of Ca, O, F, and B atoms in CBOF were thoroughly investigated as well as their effects on the optical absorption properties. Their formation energies and the equilibrium concentrations were also calculated by ab initio total energy calculations. The growth morphology was quantitatively analyzed using the Hartman–Perdok approach. The formation energy of interstitial F (Fi) and antisite defect OF were calculated to be approximately 0.33 eV and 0.83 eV, suggesting that they might be the dominant defects in the CBOF material. The absorption centers might be induced by the O and F vacancies (VF, VO), interstitial B and O (Oi, Bi), and the antisite defect O substitute of F (OF), which might be responsible for lowering the damage threshold of CBOF. The ionic conductivity might be increased by the Ca vacancy (Vca), and, therefore, the laser-induced damage threshold decreases.

Stereomutation in Tetracoordinate Centers via Stabilization of Planar Tetracoordinated Systems

The quest for stabilizing planar forms of tetracoordinate carbon started five decades ago and intends to achieve interconversion between [R]- and [S]-stereoisomers without breaking covalent bonds. Several strategies are successful in making the planar tetracoordinate form a minimum on its potential energy surface. However, the first examples of systems where stereomutation is possible were reported only recently. In this study, the possibility of neutral and dications of simple hydrocarbons (cyclopentane, cyclopentene, spiropentane, and spiropentadiene) and their counterparts with the central carbon atom replaced by elements from groups 13, 14, and 15 are explored using ab initio MP2 calculations. The energy difference between the tetrahedral and planar forms decreases from row II to row III or IV substituents. Additionally, aromaticity involving the delocalization of the lone pair on the central atom appears to help in further stabilizing the planar form compared to the tetrahedral form, especially for the row II substituents. We identified 11 systems where the tetrahedral state is a minimum on the potential energy surface, and the planar form is a transition state corresponding to stereomutation. Interestingly, the planar structures of three systems were found to be minimum, and the corresponding tetrahedral states were transition states. The energy profiles corresponding to such transitions involving both planar and tetrahedral states without the breaking of covalent bonds were examined. The systems showcased in this study and research in this direction are expected to realize molecules that experimentally exhibit stereomutation.

Visualizing designer quantum states in stable macrocycle quantum corrals

Creating atomically precise quantum architectures with high digital fidelity and desired quantum states is an important goal in a new era of quantum technology. The strategy of creating these quantum nanostructures mainly relies on atom-by-atom, molecule-by-molecule manipulation or molecular assembly through non-covalent interactions, which thus lack sufficient chemical robustness required for on-chip quantum device operation at elevated temperature. Here, we report a bottom-up synthesis of covalently linked organic quantum corrals (OQCs) with atomic precision to induce the formation of topology-controlled quantum resonance states, arising from a collective interference of scattered electron waves inside the quantum nanocavities. Individual OQCs host a series of atomic orbital-like resonance states whose orbital hybridization into artificial homo-diatomic and hetero-diatomic molecular-like resonance states can be constructed in Cassini oval-shaped OQCs with desired topologies corroborated by joint ab initio and analytic calculations. Our studies open up a new avenue to fabricate covalently linked large-sized OQCs with atomic precision to engineer desired quantum states with high chemical robustness and digital fidelity for future practical applications.

Valence tautomerism and recyclisation of type B mesoionic tetrazoles: a computational study

The energy profiles for ring opening of representative type B mesoionic 2,3-diphenyl-1,2,3,4-tetrazolium-5-olates, -thiolates, -aminides and –methylides and for alternative recyclisation pathways are investigated using ab initio MP2 calculations. The energetics of initial ring opening are found to be comparable for all systems, but the tetrazolium-5-olates are anomalous in that no alternative reaction pathway is accessible. The influence of solvent is explored using the polarised continuum model (PCM) method to simulate aqueous solvation. The only significant solvent effect is found to be solvation of the mesoionic precursors. This solvent effect correlates with dipole moment and disfavours initial valence tautomerism both kinetically and thermodynamically.

Wigner SU(4) symmetry, clustering, and the spectrum of ^{12}C

We present lattice calculations of the low-lying spectrum of ^{12}C using a simple nucleon–nucleon interaction that is independent of spin and isospin and therefore invariant under Wigner’s SU(4) symmetry. We find strong signals for all excited states up to sim 15 MeV above the ground state, and explore the structure of each state using a large variety of alpha cluster and harmonic oscillator trial states, projected onto given irreducible representations of the cubic group. We are able to verify earlier findings for the alpha clustering in the Hoyle state and the second 2^+ state of ^{12}C. The success of these calculations to describe the full low-lying energy spectrum using spin-independent interactions suggest that either the spin-orbit interactions are somewhat weak in the ^{12}C system, or the effects of alpha clustering are diminishing their influence. This is in agreement with previous findings from ab initio shell model calculations.

Induced Magnetism in Non-metal Doped CdS Monolayer

The structural, electronic, and magnetic properties of CdS monolayer doped with non-metallic (NM) atoms B, C and N are studied based on ab initio density functional theory calculations within the generalized gradient approximation as revised for solids by Perdew, Burke and Ernzerhof (PBE-sol). The total magnetic moments per supercell of B, C and N-doped CdS monolayer is found to be ~1.0 µB, ~2.0 µB and ~1.0 µB respectively. As the electronegativity of the dopant increases, the local magnetic moment tends to localize and 2p-states of the dopants gradually move towards the valence band maximum of the host CdS. Our study also confirmed that the introduction of impurity atom by substitution of S atom results in half-metallic magnetism. Our investigation concludes that doping of NM element is an efficient way of altering the magnetic and electronic properties in CdS monolayer.

Synthesis, characterization and modeling of stable radical functionalized monothiophenes

The synthesis, characterization and modeling of two oligothiophenes bearing stable radicals are reported. The radical precursors 2,4-dimethyl-6-(6-(thiophen-2-yl)pyridin-2-yl)-1,2,4,5-tetrazinan-3-one (3) and 2,4-dimethyl-6-(6-(thiophen-3-yl)pyridin-2-yl)-1,2,4,5-tetrazinan-3-one (4) were prepared in a good yield (80–90%) by condensation of the appropriate thiophene-pyridine carboxaldehyde and 2,4-dimethylcarbonohydrazide. The oxidation of 3 and 4 using 1,4-benzoquinone in methanol yields radicals 5 and 6 (6-(3-thienyl)-pyridine-2-(1,5-dimethyl-6-oxoverdazyl)), respectively. All these new compounds are stable in air and organic solvents. Radicals 5 and 6 were characterized by EPR and Infrared as evidence by the shift of the carbonyl stretching of the precursors from 1629 cm−1–1660 cm−1 for the corresponding radicals. Ab initio molecular orbital calculations and spin densities were used to ascertain electronic properties of 3–6.

Hidden bulk and surface effects in the spin polarization of the nodal-line semimetal ZrSiTe

In non-magnetic materials the combination of inversion symmetry breaking (ISB) and spin-orbit coupling (SOC) determines the spin polarization of the band structure. However, a local spin polarization can also arise in centrosymmetric crystals containing ISB subunits. This is namely the case for the nodal-line semimetal ZrSiTe where, by combining spin- and angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy with ab initio band structure calculations, we reveal a complex spin polarization. In the bulk, the valence and conduction bands exhibit opposite spin orientations in two spatially separated two-dimensional ZrTe sectors within the unit cell, yielding no net polarization. We also observe spin-polarized surface states that are well separated in energy and momentum from the bulk bands. A layer-by-layer analysis of the spin polarization allows us to unveil the complex evolution of the signal in the bulk states near the surface, thus bringing the intertwined nature of surface and bulk effects to the fore.

Ab initio Monte Carlo simulations of structure and electronic properties of copper-tin clusters

This study investigated the structural and electronic properties of (CuSn)n clusters with n = 1–6 using ab initio Monte Carlo Simulations and density functional theory calculations. Monte Carlo simulations were performed using a large number of initial structures of neutral, cationic, and anionic copper-tin clusters. Their stable structures were determined using B3LYP/def2-TZVP model chemistry and the most stable structures of neutral, cationic, and anionic copper-tin clusters were established. The values of bond angles and bond lengths, atomization energies, second differences of the energies, HOMO-LUMO gaps, Mulliken population analysis, adiabatic ionization potentials, and adiabatic electronic affinities were determined as a function of n.