Ultrasoft Pseudopotentials Research Articles

Adsorption grand potential of OH on metal oxide surfaces.

Describing chemical processes at solid-liquid interfaces as a function of a fixed electron chemical potential presents a challenge for electronic structure calculations and is essential for understanding electrochemical phenomena. Grand Canonical Density Functional Theory (GCDFT) allows treating solid-liquid interfaces in such a way that studying the influence of a fixed electron potential arises naturally. In this work, GCDFT is used to compute the adsorption grand potential (AGP), a key parameter for understanding and predicting the behavior of adsorbates on surfaces. We focused on the adsorption of an OH molecule on three metallic surfaces commonly used in electrochemical processes, such as the oxygen evolution reaction (OER). Our study aims to offer insights into how AGP can be used to compare adsorption strengths under different fixed electron chemical potentials, which is crucial for designing efficient electrode materials. By determining the average number of electrons self-consistently under varying chemical potentials, we showed how one can distinguish between electron acquisition and depletion during the adsorption process, offering a deeper understanding of the adsorbate-surface interactions. The approach used in this work employs the Kohn-Sham-Mermin formulation of the Grand Canonical Density Functional Theory. The computations were performed using the periodic open-source density functional theory software, JDFTx, with the Garrity-Bennett-Rabe-Vanderbilt library of ultrasoft pseudopotentials. Calculations were made using truncated Coulomb potentials and the auxiliary Hamiltonian method with the PBE exchange-correlation functional, along with DFT-D2 long-range dispersion corrections. The implicit solvation model CANDLE was used to describe the electrolyte with a 1M concentration.

Stability analysis of SnO2 surfaces using First-Principles computational methods

Abstract This study focuses on investigating the structural and electronic properties of the most stable faces of SnO2 using the Quantum Espresso software. Structural properties were found applying the generalized gradient approximation (GGA-PBE) with ultrasoft pseudopotentials and plane wave basis sets. Methodology involved determining the cutoff of the set of plane waves, selecting appropriate k-points to represent the first Brillouin zone, and optimized the lattice parameters (a and c). Models were generated for each studied surface, with the most optimal being the one with the lowest energy. These results are based on the periodicity of infinite sets of surfaces, increasing the gaps of the vacuum layers. As a result of the calculations, a discrepancy of less than 1% was observed in the lattice parameters compared to previous publications. Furthermore, it was found that the (110) is the most stable surface, in agreement with results published using VASP.

A Novel Sensing Method to Detect Malachite Green Contaminant on Silicon Substrate Using Nonlinear Optics.

We propose a nonlinear-optics-based nanosensor to detect malachite green (MG) contaminants on semiconductor interfaces such as silicon (Si). Applying the simplified bond hyperpolarizability model (SBHM), we simplified the second-harmonic generation (SHG) analysis of an MG-Si(111) surface and were able to validate our model by reproducing experimental rotational anisotropy (RA) SHG experiments. For the first time, density functional theory (DFT) calculations using ultrasoft pseudopotentials were implemented to obtain the molecular configuration and bond vector orientation required by the SBHM to investigate and predict the second-harmonic generation contribution for an MG-Si 001 surface. We show that the SBHM model significantly reduces the number of independent components in the nonlinear tensor of the MG-Si(111) interface, opening up the possibility for real-time and non-destructive contaminant detection at the nanoscale. In addition, we derive an explicit formula for the SHG far field, demonstrating its applicability for various input polarization angles. Finally, an RASHG signal can be enhanced through a simulated photonic crystal cavity up to 4000 times for more sensitivity of detection. Our work can stimulate more exploration using nonlinear optical methods to detect and analyze surface-bound contaminants, which is beneficial for environmental monitoring, especially for mitigating pollution from textile dyes, and underscores the role of nonlinear optics in real-time ambient-condition applications.

A DFT investigation of Li substitution in CsCaY3 (Y[dbnd]F, Cl, Br) having admirable optoelectronic characteristics as a viable candidate for photocatalytic water splitting

In this study we investigated pristine and Li substituted Cs1-xLixCaY3 (YF, Cl, Br) lead free halide perovskite with different concentrations x = 0, 0.11, 0.33, 0.55, 0.77, and 1 using CASTEP under Density functional theory (DFT) has been employed under Perdew Burke Ernzerhof generalized gradient approximation (GGA-PBE) and Ultrasoft pseudo potential (USSP) approaches. Understudy pristine materials have a cubic phase Pm3 m space group. At the same time, doped compositions show a tetragonal phase structure except those in which Li completely swaps out Cs, so both end materials own a cubic nature. Li introduced at the Cs site is more effective than Ca because additional gamma points formed, influencing the electronic formation of pristine CsCaF3, CsCaCl3, and CsCaBr3 minimized band gap from 6.299 to 4.152 eV, 5.261–3.613 eV and 4.338–2.752 eV respectively. All compositions are thermodynamically stable, as suggested by the negative values of the formation energy. For all compositions, the Fermi level resides near the valence band which confirms the p-type behavior of the semiconductors. All of the materials retain the indirect bandgap. The total/partial/elemental density of states calculated has been approximated to provide a full picture of the band structure. Although elastic constants for all compounds, whether cubic or tetragonal, are used to predict mechanical parameters such as bulk modulus, shear modulus, young modulus, Poisson ratio, and Pugh's ratio, materials were first developed to support born stability criteria. From all of the compositions Cs1-xLixCaF3 for x = (0.11, 0.55, 0.77, and 1) and Cs0.23Li0.77CaCl3 are found to be mechanically unstable. All other combinations are stable, whether cubic or tetragonal. We evaluated and contrasted many optical properties like absorption spectra, refractive index, dielectric function, reflectivity, and energy loss function of pristine CsCaY3 (YF, Cl, Br) in comparison with Li substitution concentrations. For both pristine and Li substituted CsCaY3 (YF, Cl, Br) the overall water splitting was explored. All the compositions can be used for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), oxygen evolution reaction (OER), and overall water splitting reactions but Cs0.23Li0.77CaBr3 is a good catalyst among all. It is proposed that the aforementioned materials have a bandgap range suitable for solar cell applications in addition to being lead-free for environmentally conscious applications in photocatalytic activity.

Theoretical study of adsorption of gas (CO, CO2, NH3) by metal (Au, Ag, Cu)-doped single-layer WS2.

The adsorptions of gas (CO, CO2, NH3) by metal (Au, Ag, Cu)-doped single layer WS2 are studied by density functional theory. The doping of metal atoms makes WS2 behave as n-type semiconductors. The final adsorption sites for CO, CO2, and NH3 are close to the atomic sites of the doped metal. The adsorptions of CO and NH3 gases on Cu/WS2, Ag/WS2, and Au/WS2 are dominated by chemisorption. The doped metal atoms enhance the hybridization of the substrate with the gas molecular orbitals, which contributes to the charge transfer and enhances the adsorption of the gas with the material surface. The adsorptions of CO and NH3 on Cu/WS2 and Ag/WS2 allow favorable desorption in a short time after heating. The single-layer Cu/WS2 is proved to have the potential to be used as a reliable recyclable sensor for CO. This work provides a theoretical basis for developing high-performance WS2-based gas sensors. In this paper, the adsorption energy, electronic structure, charge transfer, and recovery time of CO, CO2, and NH3 in the doped system have been investigated based on the CASTEP code of density functional theory. The exchange correlation function used is the Perdew-Burke-Ernzerhof (PBE) generalized gradient approximation (GGA). The TS (Tkatchenko-Scheffler) dispersion correction method was used to involve the effects of van der Waals interaction on the adsorption energies for all adsorption system. The ultrasoft pseudopotentials are chosen and the plane-wave cut-off energies are set to 500eV. The k-point mesh generated by the Monkhorst package scheme is used to perform the numerical integration of the Brillouin zone and 5 × 5 × 1k-point grid is used. The tolerances of total energy convergence, maximum ionic force, ionic displacement, and stress component are 1.0 × 10-5eV/atom, 0.03eV/Å, 0.001Å, and 0.05 GPa, respectively.

The effect of strain effect on WS2 monolayer as a potential delivery carrier for anti-myocardial infarction drug: First-principles study.

Myocardial infarction is one of the major health challenges. It is of great significance to develop potential delivery carriers for new anti-myocardial infarction drugs. In this paper, based on first-principles calculations, monolayer WS2 with excellent photoelectric properties was verified as a carrier for the anti-myocardial infarction drug amiodarone (AMD). Studies have shown that the WS2-adsorbed AMD system (WS2@AMD) maintains structural stability and produces an adsorption energy of-2.12 eV. Mulliken charge analysis shows that electrons are transferred from WS2 atoms to AMD atoms. Among them, C, N and O obtained the maximum values of 0.51,0.37 and 0.56 e electrons, respectively, while H and I lost the maximum values of 0.32 and 0.24 e electrons, respectively. The optical response of WS2 adsorbed AMD system is similar to that of WS2. The light absorption coefficients of the two materials in the near ultraviolet region and the visible region can reach the order of 105 cm-1 and 104 cm-1, and the strain makes the light absorption peak red-shifted. The feasibility of temperature-controlled release mechanism of WS2 as AMD carrier was discussed. This theoretical work helps to improve the performance of two-dimensional nanomaterials and make them better as drug delivery carriers to improve the therapeutic effect of myocardial infarction. These results indicate that the WS2 monolayer has potential applications in the development of drug delivery carriers. In this study, based on first-principles calculations, the CASTEP simulation software package was used to study the structure and properties of materials. The interaction between electrons and ions is considered by using Ultrasoft pseudopotentials. In order to eliminate the spurious interaction between adjacent structures caused by periodic calculations, a vacuum space no less than 18 Å is placed in the vertical direction if necessary. Different functions may produce different density functional calculation results. Due to the low sensitivity of the crystal structure to the calculation details, the PBE functional under the generalized gradient approximation (GGA) was initially used for structural optimization, and the energy cutoff value was set to 500 eV. Grimme 's dispersion correction was used to make the results more accurate. The Brillouin zone (BZ) is sampled by a 7 × 7 × 1 K-point grid to ensure the reliability of the original lattice calculation. The lattice vector and atomic coordinates are relaxed, and the tolerance of each atom is less than 0.01 eV/Å. The energy tolerance at the atomic position is less than 10-7 eV/atom. When calculating the band gap, the HSE06 hybrid functional is used to modify the optimized structure of the PBE functional to obtain more accurate results. Spin-polarized DFT calculations were performed to calculate the electronic structure.

Multi-Doping Exploration of (Sb, Bi and Ba) by First Principles on Ordered Zn–Si–P Compounds as High-Performance Anodes for Next-Generation Li-Ion Batteries

Chalcopyrite ZnSiP2 has emerged as a promising anode material for next generation Li-ion-based batteries due to its high theoretical capacity. First principles multiple-dopant effect computations were made on the structural, electronic, magnetic, and thermodynamic responses for chalcopyrite ZnSiP2(1−x)Sbx, ZnSiP2(1−x)Bix, Zn(1−x)BaxSiP2, and Zn1−xBaxSiP2(1−x)Sbx, using both the norm conserving, ultra-soft pseudopotentials with generalized gradient approximation (GGA+PBE) and the main frame of density functional theory. Lattice coefficient volume, bulk modulus, formation energy, and total energy of host materials were computed and compared with experimental and theoretical results. Energy band gap for the pure chalcopyrite ZnSiP2 system (1.4 eV) matches previous data and validates the accuracy of current calculations as doping concentration (x = 0.6, 0.9, and 0.12) of (Sb, Bi, and Ba) at Zn and P sites increases. The corresponding band gap decreases, resulting in greater enhancement in electronic conductivity. Finally, the phonon dispersion relation, phonon density of states, vibration frequencies of phonon, Gibbs free energy, enthalpy, entropy effect, and Debye temperature (θ D) were estimated to confirm the thermodynamic stability of both pure and doped systems. These investigations are predicted to contribute a deeper sympathy of the doping effects on ZnSiP2, facilitating further advancements in anode materials design for Li-ion batteries.

Impact of SOFC anode carbon deposition and hydrogen adsorption on the cell performance by molecular simulation.

This study primarily investigates the changes in carbon adsorption capacity and hydrogen adsorption capacity on the anode catalyst surface when using methane fuel and mixed gas fuel as the anode fuel for SOFC systems. To reduce the carbon adsorption capacity of the commonly used anode catalyst-nickel-based catalysts-towards hydrocarbon fuels, copper and gold are doped into the nickel-based catalysts to compare the effects on carbon and hydrogen adsorption capacities. Moreover, aside from calculating the carbon and hydrogen adsorption capacities, this project also evaluates the impact of mixed gas effects and doping effects on SOFC performance through the analysis of hydrogen diffusion coefficients and performance polarization curves. The findings reveal a noteworthy enhancement in the diffusion coefficient of syngas within the Au-doped Ni catalyst, showing an improvement of up to 45.46% at 973K. Furthermore, the electrical power generated by syngas in the Au-doped Ni catalyst at 973K demonstrates an increase of up to 12.06%. This study primarily employs DFT to calculate the carbon and hydrogen adsorption energies on methane, utilizing CASTEP for the calculations. During these calculations, the adsorption energy is determined through a three-layer surface approach, in conjunction with the Kohn-Sham equations, combining the Generalized Gradient Approximation and ultrasoft pseudopotentials for TS-search calculations. On the other hand, this project will analyze the diffusion coefficient of hydrogen on the anode catalyst using MD methods combined with the ReaxFF potential field, with GULP being utilized to complete all dynamics calculation theories. Finally, the project will analyze the performance of SOFC cells, incorporating relevant numerical equations with Matlab for numerical analysis.

Influence of shear strain on the electronic properties of monolayers MoS2, WS2, and MoS2/WS2 vdW heterostructure.

This study investigates the dynamic stability of monolayers MoS2, WS2, and MoS2/WS2 van der Waals heterostructures (vdWHs) and the influence of shear strain on their electronic properties. The computational results of the binding energy and phonon dispersion demonstrate the excellent dynamic stability of MoS2/WS2 vdWHs. The MoS2/WS2 vdWH, with a type-II band alignment and an indirect bandgap, reduces electron-hole recombination, enhancing the efficiency and performance of optoelectronic devices. Under shear strain, the bandgap size and type of monolayers MoS2, WS2, and MoS2/WS2 vdWHs were effectively modulated, along with the interlayer charge redistribution in the MoS2/WS2 vdWHs. This work reveals the tunability of the electronic properties of monolayers MoS2, WS2, and MoS2/WS2 vdWHs under shear strain, offering new possibilities and solutions for developing optoelectronic devices, sensors, and related fields. This work employed the CASTEP module within the Materials Studio software package for first-principles calculations. Ultrasoft pseudopotentials were employed during geometry optimizations to account for ion-electron interactions using the GGA-PBE functional for exchange-correlation potentials. The electronic configurations of the S, Mo, and W atoms were chosen as their typical arrangements: (3s2p4), (4s2p6d55s1), and (5s2p6d46s2), respectively. A vacuum layer of 20Å was added to avoid interactions between the atomic layers. A cutoff energy of 500eV was set for structural optimization and self-consistent calculations, with k-point grids of 6 × 6 × 1 and 9 × 9 × 1. During the structural optimization process, the energy convergence criterion was set to 1 × 10-5eV, and the thresholds for interatomic forces and stresses were set to 0.01eV/Å and 0.01 GPa, respectively. Grimmer's DFT-D2 correction accounted for the interlayer vdW interactions in the MoS2/WS2 vdWH, while the phonon dispersion was calculated using the linear response method.

First-principles study of the effects of Li/Na/K doping and point defects on the magnetic and photocatalytic properties of monolayer GaN (0 0 1)

In the experimental preparation of monolayer GaN (0 0 1) by chemical-vapor deposition, H impurities inevitably remain, and the intrinsic defect VGa inevitably forms. In this research, generalized gradient approximation + U plane-wave ultrasoft pseudopotentials are computed using the density-functional theory framework. The effects of Li/Na/K doping and point defect (Hi-VGa) coexistence on the magnetic properties and photocatalytic properties of monolayer GaN (0 0 1) surfaces are investigated. Results show that the monolayer Ga34MN36 (M = Li/Na/K) (0 0 1) surfaces are magnetic, and the source of its magnetism is primarily the itinerant electrons of N2− ions. The monolayer Ga34MHiN36 (0 0 1) surfaces are relatively more stable, and the separation degree of carriers is better than the monolayer Ga34MN36 (0 0 1) surfaces. In particular, the monolayer Ga34LiHiN36 (0 0 1) surface has a large electric-dipole moment, strong carrier activity, strong absorption efficiency, and strong oxidation-reduction properties. Therefore, the monolayer Ga34LiHiN36 (0 0 1) surface is the most suitable photocatalyst.

First-principles study of the effect of doping on the optoelectronic properties of defective monolayers of MoSe2.

In this paper, the structural stability, electronic structure, and optical properties of monolayer MoSe2 doped with C, O, Si, S, and Te atoms, respectively, under defective conditions are investigated based on first principles. It is found that the system is more structurally stable when defecting a single Se atom as compared to defecting a single Mo or two Se atoms. The electronic structure analysis of the system reveals that intrinsic MoSe2 is a direct bandgap semiconductor. The bandgap value of the system decreases with a single Se atom defect and introduces two new impurity energy levels in the conduction band. The defective systems doped with C and Si atoms all exhibit P-type doping. The total density of states of intrinsic MoSe2 is mainly contributed by the Mo-d and Se-p orbitals, and new density of state peaks appears near the conduction band after the defects of Se atoms. The total density of states of the defective system doped by each atom is mainly contributed by Mo-d, Se-p, and the result of the p orbital contribution of each dopant atom. By analyzing the dielectric function of each system, it is found that the intrinsic MoSe2 has the lowest static permittivity and the C-doped defect system has the highest static permittivity, which reaches 21.42. The C- and Si-doped defect systems are the first to start absorbing the light, and the intrinsic MoSe2 absorbs the light later, with its absorption edge starting at 1.25eV. In the visible range, the reflection peaks of the systems move toward the high-energy region and the blue-shift phenomenon occurs. It is hoped that applying modification means to modulate the physical properties of the two-dimensional materials will provide some theoretical basis for broadening the application of monolayer MoSe2 in the field of optoelectronic devices. This study utilizes the first principle computational software package MS8.0 (Materials studio8.0) under density functional theory (DFT). The exchange-correlation potential (GGA-PBE) is described by the Perdew-Burke-Ernzerhof correlation function in CASTEP, and the potential function adopts the ultrasoft pseudopotential in the inverse space formulation. The plane wave truncation energy Ecut is set to 400eV, the K-point is taken as 5 × 5 × 1, and the force convergence criterion is 0.05eV/Å. The convergence accuracy of the total energy of the system is less than 1.0 × 10-5eV/atom, the tolerance shift is less than 0.002Å, and the stress deviation is less than 0.1 GPa. The vacuum layer is taken as 15Å, which is intended to minimize the interlayer force. The vacuum layer was set to 15Å to avoid the effect of layer-to-layer interaction forces in the crystal cell.

Theoretical calculation study on enhancing the sensitivity and optical properties of graphene adsorption of nitrogen dioxide via doping

In order to study the adsorption of NO<sub>2</sub> on pristine graphene and doped graphene (N-doped, Zn-doped, and N-Zn co-doped), we simulate the adsorption process by applying the first-principles plane-wave ultrasoft pseudopotentials of the density-functional theory in this work. The adsorption energy, Mulliken distribution, differential charge density, density of states, and optical properties of NO<sub>2</sub> molecules adsorbed on the graphene surface are calculated. The results show that the doped graphene surface exhibits higher sensitivity to the adsorption of NO<sub>2</sub> compared with the pristine graphene surface, and the order of adsorption energy is as follows: N-Zn co-doped surface > Zn-doped surface > N-doped surface > pristine surface. Pristine graphene surface and N-doped graphene surface have weak interactions with and physical adsorption of NO<sub>2</sub>. Zn-doped graphene surfac and N-Zn co-doped graphene surface form chemical bonds with NO<sub>2</sub> and are chemisorbed. In the visible range, among the three doping modes, the N-Zn co-doped surface is the most effective for improving the optical properties of graphene, with the peak absorption and reflection coefficients improved by about 1.12 and 3.42 times, respectively, compared with pristine graphene. The N-Zn co-doped graphene not only enhances the interaction between the surface and NO<sub>2</sub>, but also improves the optical properties of the material, which provides theoretical support and experimental guidance for NO<sub>2</sub> gas detection and sensing based on graphene substrate.

Effect of shear strain on the electronic and optical properties of Al-doped stanane.

The quasi-metallic properties of stanene limit its prospects in optoelectronic devices. Based on first-principles calculations, a systematic study is conducted on the tuning effects of surface hydrogenation and Al atom doping on the electronic and optical properties of stanene. Surface hydrogenation serves as an ideal way to open the forbidden band of stanene, and Al atom doping further increases hydrogenated stanene (stanane) band gap to 0.460eV. Deformation has a minor impact on the stability of the stanane-Al structure, while shear strain can effectively modulate the band gap engineering of the doped system, reducing the band gap value from 0.460 to 0.170eV. Deformation induces a redshift in the absorption peak and reflectance, also slowing down the rate of decrease in the absorption coefficient, and enhancing the peak value of light reflectance, which is positively correlated with the degree of shear strain. These findings hold promise for expanding the potential application of monolayer stanane in semiconductor devices. All calculations are performed using CASTEP module in Materials Studio based on the density functional theory (DFT). The Perdew-Burke-Ernzerhof (PBE) generalized gradient approximation (GGA) is employed to describe the exchange-correlation energy (Perdew et al., Phys Rev Lett 77(18), 1996). We construct models for both stanene and stanane. The original unit cell of stanene has two Sn atoms, while stanane consists of two Sn atoms and two H atoms, and expand them to a 3 × 3 × 1 supercell with a vacuum layer of 20Å in height to prevent interlayer coupling. After convergence testing, the plane-wave cutoff energy is set to 450eV, and the energy convergence threshold is set to 1 × 10-5eV. The maximum residual stress for each atom is set to 0.01eV/Å. Brillouin zone sampling is performed using a 6 × 6 × 1k-point mesh based on the Monkhorst-Pack method (Monkhorst and Pack, Phys Rev B 13(12), 1976). The k-point accuracy of the density of states and optical properties is 9 × 9 × 1. All calculations are performed using the more advanced OTFG ultrasoft pseudopotential, and structural relaxations are performed using supercells to ensure that the model is fully relaxed. We use the HSE06 functional to calculate the energy band structures of stanane-Al deformed to 0%, 4%, and 8%, resulting in band gap values of 1.465eV, 1.368eV, and 1.016eV, respectively. These values are significantly higher than those obtained using the PBE functional (0.460eV, 0.397eV, and 0.170eV). However, the shapes and trends of the band structures obtained from both PBE and HSE06 calculations are similar. Additionally, the calculation time needed by HSE06 is greatly longer than PBE, which exceeds the capabilities of our computer hardware, and cannot support all subsequent calculations. To investigate the influence of deformations on the variation of band gap values and to conserve computational resources, the subsequent calculations in this study use the PBE functional.

Prediction study of structural, electronic and optical properties of 4C16H10Br2O2 Bis (m-bromobenzoyl) methane crystals

By first-principles calculations with density functional theory and a pseudopotential approach, the structural, electronic, and optical properties of the anhydrous 4C16H10Br2O2 Bis (2-Bromobenzoyl) Methane crystals in Pbnc (N°60) and P21/c (N°14) space group are investigated. All computations are determined by a generalized gradient approximation, local density approximation and an ultra-soft pseudopotential. The calculated equilibrium parameters are in good agreement with their available experimental data. This calculation shows that the GGA/PW91 functional overestimate the lattice constant, unlike the LDA/CA-PZ. The Br–C bond distance of 1.856 (1.902) Å is comparable with experimental value of 1.901 (1.896) Å in Pbnc (P21/c) space groups. The direct band gap nature is obtained for both space groups Pbnc and P21/c, since the maximum of the valence band and the minimum of the conduction band are both situated at the YA center.

Structural, Electronic, Dynamic, and Optical Properties of 2D Monolayer Tungsten Telluride (2H-WTe2) under Small Biaxial Strain Using Density Functional Theory (DFT and DFT + U)

The structural, electronic, vibrational, and optical properties of 2D- 2H-WTe2 monolayer are investigated using density functional theory with respect to a plane wave ultrasoft pseudopotentials (PW-USPPs) in a generalized gradient approximation (GGA) and with the Hubbard potential (GGA + U). The equilibrium state properties such as lattice parameters, unit cell volume, bulk modulus, and its derivative are determined. The band gap values of monolayer 2H-WTe2 are investigated for unstrained, 2% biaxial compression, and biaxial tensile stress using GGA, respectively. The obtained band gap values of 2H-WTe2 with respect to GGA are 1.043, 1.1487, and 0.9439 eV for unstrained, biaxial compression, and tensile strain, respectively. Moreover, the band gap values determined using Hubbard correction (GGA + U) are 1.1089 eV (unstrained), 1.2332 eV (2% biaxial compression), and 0.9945 eV (2% biaxial tensile stress), respectively. The band gap value obtained using Hubbard correction predicts the experimental value more precisely. The projected density of state shows W (3d) orbital is more dominant both in the valence band maximum and conduction band minimum. Moreover, a small amount of tensile or compressive strain is used to tune the band gap of the monolayer without affecting its direct band gap nature. In addition to this, the phonon dispersion and optical properties are discussed for tensile strain, unstrained, and compressive strain, respectively.

Electric field-driven up-and-down motion of the flexible tail of Al13+ cluster system-a nano-scale flipper.

Dynamic metal nanoclusters have become a hot area of research in the field of nanoscience and nanotechnology due to their potential applications in micro devices. One such dynamic cluster is a quasi-planar ground state (GS) Al13+ cluster which exhibits anelectric field driven up and down flipping motion of the flexible tail which oscillates with respect to the mean plane. A Car-Parrinello molecular dynamics (CPMD) simulation has been carried out to understand the nature of dynamics of the cluster. CPMD simulation study reveals that the flexible tail region of the Al13+ isomeric system (two ground states M1, M2 and a transition state TS connecting them) can be engaged in a systematic up down flipping motion by the application of a transverse electric field. A saw tooth electric field of amplitude 5.19V/nm is sufficient to induce the up-and-down flipping oscillation of the cluster, which has an average oscillation frequency of around 20 THz. AIM, NICS and AdNDP analyses also have been carried out to understand the fluxional nature of the cluster from the electronic structural perspective. Electronic structural analysis of selected optimized intermediate states in the presence of transverse electric field has also been analyzed to correlate the electronic structure with the dynamic nature of the cluster. Single-point energies of all intermediate states between two minima of Al13+ clusters connected through a transition state cluster. Optimized geometries of Al13+ clusters in the presence of electric field of different strengths have been carried out by using the Gaussian 03 package. 6-311 + G(d) basis set and B3LYP hybrid density functional have been utilized for these studies. To establish the flipping motion, Car-Parrinello molecular dynamics (CPMD) has been performed using the cp.x module of the Quantum ESPRESSO 6.3.0 program package using the Perdew-Burke-Ernzerhof (PBE) functional, plane-wave basis set and ultrasoft pseudopotentials. ORTEP-3 and POV ray-3.7 software packages have been used for visualization and graphics generation. Atoms in molecule (AIM), Adaptive Natural Density Partitioning (AdNDP) analysis have been carried out using Multiwfn 3.7 program package.

Structural and Thermodynamic Properties of Cu2ZnSnS4 Material: Theoretical Prediction

Abstract The present work aims to investigate the structural and thermodynamic properties of homogenous tetragonal Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) absorber material in Kesterite phase using first-principle calculations based on density functional theory (DFT). This approach requires only knowledge of the atomic species and crystal structure to predict several physical properties of materials. The Quantum Espresso code within the Ultra Soft pseudopotentials (USPP) and the local density approximation (LDA) were used in the calculations. Equilibrium unit cell volumes, bulk modulus, as well as the pressure derivative of the bulk modulus are predicted. In addition, several thermodynamic properties, especially: the Debye’s vibrational energy, the vibrational free energy, the vibrational entropy, and the constant volume heat capacity at different temperatures T of Cu2ZnSnS4 material are calculated and discussed. Our study shows that the vibrational energy, the entropy and the constant volume heat capacity increase with increasing temperature, while the vibrational free energy decreases monotonously with the increase of temperature.

Ab-initio study on structural, magnetic, electronic and optical properties of SrCo1−xAxO3 (A = Fe or Cr, x = 0.125 and 0.25)

Herein, a first-principles study on the structural, electronic, optical and magnetic properties of SrCo[Formula: see text]AxO3 ([Formula: see text] or Cr, [Formula: see text] and 0.25) was conducted. For all calculations, ultrasoft pseudo-potentials plane wave (USPPW) and the generalized gradient approximation (GGA) with the default exchange-correlation parameterization of Perdew–Burke–Ernzerhof (PBE) were employed and with Hubbard correction. The crystal structures of SrCo[Formula: see text]A[Formula: see text]O3 and SrCo[Formula: see text]A[Formula: see text]O3 ([Formula: see text] or Cr) are determined as a supercell of [Formula: see text] cell cubic perovskite structure (Pm-3m) with symmetry space group No. 221. No energy gap was observed at the Fermi level for both SrCo[Formula: see text]Cr[Formula: see text]O3 and SrCo[Formula: see text]Cr[Formula: see text]O3 compounds, indicating their metallic properties. The magnetic moment calculations showed that the doping of Fe into SrCoO3 resulted in a higher net magnetic moment and all materials studied here was ferromagnetic ground states. Dielectric functions indicate the metallic conductivity for all materials studied here. The different values of the real part for materials present that this material has a Drude-like dielectric function behavior.

First-principles study on the magnetism, carrier activity, and carrier lifetime of Ga2O3: Li or Na or K with different valence Ga vacancies and H interstitial

A first-principles study is conducted by using the generalized gradient approximation within the framework of density functional theory, with the plane wave ultrasoft pseudopotential + U method. We investigate the effects of formation energy, magnetism, and photocatalytic performance in Ga30MO48 (VGa0/VGa1−/VGa2−/VGa3−, M = Li or Na or K) and Ga30MHiO48 (VGa0/VGa1−/VGa2−/VGa3−) systems. Results indicate that under O-rich conditions, the formation energy (Ef) is lower, making the systems more stable and easily doped. The Ga30MHiO48 (VGa0/VGa1−/VGa2−/VGa3−) system exhibits a relatively lower Ef than Ga30MO48 (VGa0/VGa1−/VGa2−/VGa3−). The magnetic source of the doping systems is primarily contributed by O1− ions near Ga vacancies. The Ga30KHiO48 (VGa1−) system exhibits good carrier activity, the longest electron–hole lifetime, noticeable light absorption, and strong reduction capability, making it a promising photocatalyst for H2 production.

Investigation of structural, electronic, and optical properties Sc-PTM-O3 (PTM = Al, Ga, In, TI) by ab initio method

This work aims to test the structural, electronic, and optical properties of scandium-based oxide perovskite Sc-PTM-O3 (PTM = Al, Ga, In, TI) materials. PTM represents the post-transion metals. The presented discussion is analyzed by using Generalized Gradient Approximation (GGA) ultra-soft pseudo potential (PBE) exchange correlational functional based on density functional is reported. According to the Born Stability criteria, ScAlO3, ScInO3, ScGaO3, and ScTIO3 are in the cubic phase and stable. The electronic profile shows that materials are half-metallic and have metallic properties. Optical transitions of all four compounds are examined through the hypothetical dielectric relation and are discussed in the energy range of 0–40 eV. Results identified that materials are to be good at absorbing UV light and have narrow band gaps, making them potentially useful in optoelectronics.