Corrected atomic limit in the local-density approximation and the electronic structure of d impurities in Rb

Molecular electronic junction transport: some pathways and some ideas

When a single molecule, or a collection of molecules, is placed between two electrodes and voltage is applied, one has a molecular transport junction. We discuss such junctions, their properties, their description, and some of their applications. The discussion is qualitative rather than quantitative, and focuses on mechanism, structure/function relations, regimes and mechanisms of transport, some molecular regularities, and some substantial challenges facing the field. Because there are many regimes and mechanisms in transport junctions, we will discuss time scales, geometries, and inelastic scattering methods for trying to determine the properties of molecules within these junctions. Finally, we discuss some device applications, some outstanding problems, and some future directions.

Optimized effective potential model for the double perovskites Sr₂ - xYxVMoO₆ and Sr₂ - xYxVTcO₆

In an attempt to explore half-metallic properties of the double perovskites Sr(2 - x)Y(x)VMoO(6) and Sr(2 - x)Y(x)VTcO(6), we construct an effective low-energy model, which describes the behavior of the t(2g) states of these compounds. All parameters of such a model are derived rigorously on the basis of first-principles electronic structure calculations. In order to solve this model, we employ the optimized effective potential method and treat the correlation interactions in the random phase approximation. Although correlation interactions considerably reduce the intraatomic exchange splitting in comparison with the Hartree-Fock approach, this splitting still substantially exceeds the typical values obtained in the local-spin-density approximation (LSDA), which alters many predictions based on the LSDA. Our main results are summarized as follows. (i) All ferromagnetic states are expected to be half-metallic. However, their energies are generally higher than those of the ferrimagnetic ordering between V and Mo/Tc sites (except Sr(2)VMoO(6)). (ii) All ferrimagnetic states are metallic (except fully insulating Y(2)VTcO(6)) and no half-metallic antiferromagnetism has been found. (iii) Moreover, many of the ferrimagnetic structures appear to be unstable with respect to the spin-spiral alignment. Thus, the true magnetic ground state of these systems is expected to be more complex. In addition, we discuss several methodological issues related to nonuniqueness of the effective potential for the half-metallic and magnetic insulating states.

High-throughput combinatorial database of electronic band structures for inorganic scintillator materials

For the purpose of creating a database of electronic structures of all the known inorganic compounds, we have developed a computational framework based on high-throughput ab initio calculations (AFLOW) and an online repository (www.aflowlib.org). In this article, we report the first step of this task: the calculation of band structures for 7439 compounds intended for the research of scintillator materials for γ-ray radiation detection. Data-mining is performed to select the candidates from 193,456 compounds compiled in the Inorganic Crystal Structure Database. Light yield and scintillation nonproportionality are predicted based on semiempirical band gaps and effective masses. We present a list of materials, potentially bright and proportional, and focus on those exhibiting small effective masses and effective mass ratios.

Vacancy-induced magnetism in BaTiO3(001) thin films based on density functional theory

The origin of magnetism induced by vacancies on BaTiO(3)(001) surfaces is investigated systematically by first-principles calculations within density-functional theory. The calculated results show that O vacancy is responsible for the magnetism of the BaO-terminated surface and the magnetism of the TiO(2)-terminated surface is induced by Ti vacancy. For the BaO-terminated surface, the magnetism mainly arises from the unpaired electrons that are localized in the O vacancy basin. In contrast, for the TiO(2)-terminated surface, the magnetism mainly originates from the partially occupied O-2p states of the first nearest neighbor O atoms surrounding the Ti vacancy. These results suggest the possibility of implementing magneto-electric coupling in conventional ferroelectric materials.

Band selection and disentanglement using maximally localized Wannier functions: the cases of Co impurities in bulk copper and the Cu(111) surface

We have adapted the maximally localized Wannier function approach of Souza et al (2002 Phys. Rev. B 65 035109) to the density functional theory based SIESTA code (Soler et al 2002 J. Phys.: Condens. Mater. 14 2745) and applied it to the study of Co substitutional impurities in bulk copper as well as to the Cu(111) surface. In the Co impurity case, we have reduced the problem to the Co d-electrons and the Cu sp-band, permitting us to obtain an Anderson-like Hamiltonian from well defined density functional parameters in a fully orthonormal basis set. In order to test the quality of the Wannier approach to surfaces, we have studied the electronic structure of the Cu(111) surface by again transforming the density functional problem into the Wannier representation. An excellent description of the Shockley surface state is attained, permitting us to be confident in the application of this method to future studies of magnetic adsorbates in the presence of an extended surface state.

Structural and electronic properties of lutecia from first principles

The structural and electronic properties of lutecia (C-type Lu(2)O(3)) have been investigated using the projected augmented wave (PAW) method based on the periodic density functional theory (DFT). Two models for the localized Lu 4f electrons have been employed, in which the f electrons are treated as a part of the inner core and as valence electrons, respectively. With the former model, the Perdew-Burke-Ernzerhof (PBE) calculations yield a crystal structure in good agreement with experiments, while with the latter model, the PBE+U results show that the optimum U(eff) parameter value is dependent on the property investigated. The variation of structural properties with respect to the model used and the U(eff) value chosen has been rationalized in terms of the repulsive interaction between Lu 4f and O 2p electrons owing to the insufficient self-interaction cancelation associated with the localized f electrons in the DFT functional. Based on the calculated results, a practical scheme is proposed for the calculation of Lu(2)O(3) and the related materials in cases where the f electronic properties are relevant.

A comparative study on the LDA + U and hybrid functional methods on the description of the electronic structure of YTiO3 under high pressure

The electronic structures of YTiO3 under pressure have been studied with LDA + U (local density approximation + Hubbard parameter) and hybrid functional methods. From matching the experimental band gaps, the Hubbard U and hybrid functional mixing parameters were determined. It is found that both parameters vary with the pressure. Analysis of the electronic structures indicates that the description of the chemical bonding is also dependent on the method of choice.

Orbital orderings and optical conductivity of SrRuO(3) and CaRuO(3): first-principles studies

The Jahn-Teller (JT) distortion induced orbital order and optical conductivity in SrRuO(3) and CaRuO(3) are investigated by first-principles calculations. The total energy and optical conductivity of all the spin ordering states of SrRuO(3) and CaRuO(3) are calculated in the LDA+U scheme with U(eff) = 2.5 eV. The down-spin t(2g) of Ru show antiferromagnetic-like orbital order in the a-b plane. We observe a d-d transition peak at an energy of about 1.0 eV in the calculated optical conductivity and analyze the reason for it not being observed in previous experiments.

Electronic structure of pyrochlore Cd(2)Re(2)O(7)

Detailed band structure calculations have been performed for Cd(2)Re(2)O(7) in high-, middle- and low-temperature (T) phases. The calculations are based on the observed lattice structures from x-ray diffraction measurements. The spin-orbit interaction is incorporated self-consistently in both the generalized gradient approximation (GGA) and the GGA plus Hubbard U (GGA+U) approaches. It is found that the on-site U has negligible effects on the Re 5d band structures; therefore both the GGA and GGA+U Re 5d band energies agree well with the observed O K-edge x-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) spectrum, whereas the Cd 4d band energy observed from photoemission spectroscopy can only be correctly reproduced by GGA+U calculations, indicating the relatively itinerant Re 5d and localized Cd 4d electrons. On the other hand, the spin-orbit coupling gives rise to nontrivial spin and orbital magnetic moments for the middle- T phase. Most unexpectedly, we found that the low- T phase exhibits quasi-two-dimensional Fermi surfaces. The calculated carrier numbers for the three phases are, at least qualitatively, consistent with the measured Hall coefficient.

Magnetic interactions in equi-atomic rare-earth intermetallic alloys RScGe (R = Ce, Pr, Nd and Gd) studied by time differential perturbed angular correlation spectroscopy and ab initio calculations

Applying the time differential perturbed angular correlation (TDPAC) technique we have measured electric and magnetic hyperfine fields of the (111)Cd impurity in equi-atomic rare-earth intermetallic alloys RScGe (R = Ce, Pr and Gd) showing antiferro- and ferromagnetism with unusually high ordering temperatures. The Cd nuclei occupying the Sc site show high magnetic hyperfine fields with saturation values B(hf)(0) = 21 kG, 45 kG and 189 kG in CeScGe, PrScGe and GdScGe, respectively. By comparing the results with the hyperfine field data of Cd in rare-earth metals and estimations from the RKKY model, we find evidence for the presence of additional spin density at the probe nucleus, possibly due to spin polarization of Sc d band electrons. The principal electric field gradient component V(zz) in CeScGe, PrScGe and GdScGe has been determined to be 5.3 × 10(21) V m(-2), 5.5 × 10(21) V m(-2) and 5.6 × 10(21) V m(-2), respectively. Supplementing the experimental measurements, we have carried out ab initio calculations for pure and Cd-doped RScGe compounds with R = Ce, Pr, Nd and Gd using the full potential linearized augmented plane wave (FLAPW) method based on density functional theory (DFT). From the total energies calculated with and without spin polarization we find ferrimagnetic ground states for CeScGe and PrScGe while NdScGe and GdScGe are ferromagnetic. In addition, we find a sizable magnetic moment at the Sc site, increasing from ≈0.10 μ(B) in CeScGe to ≈0.3 μ(B) in GdScGe, confirming the spin polarization of Sc d band electrons. The calculated electric field gradient and magnetic hyperfine fields of the Cd impurity closely agree with the experimental values. We believe spin polarization of Sc 3d band electrons, strongly hybridized with spin polarized 5d band electrons of the rare-earth, enables a long range Ruderman-Kittel-Kasuya-Yosida (RKKY) interaction between RE 4f moments which in turn leads to high magnetic ordering temperatures in RScGe compounds.

Simulation of heme using DFT + U: a step toward accurate spin-state energetics

We investigate the DFT + U approach as a viable solution to describe the low-lying states of ligated and unligated iron heme complexes. Besides their central role in organometallic chemistry, these compounds represent a paradigmatic case where LDA, GGA, and common hybrid functionals fail to reproduce the experimental magnetic splittings. In particular, the imidazole pentacoordinated heme is incorrectly described as a triplet by all usual DFT flavors. In this study, we show that a U parameter close to 4 eV leads to spin transitions and molecular geometries in quantitative agreement with experiments and that DFT + U represents an appealing tool in the description of iron porphyrin complexes, at a much reduced cost compared to correlated quantum-chemistry methods. The possibility of obtaining the U parameter from first principles is explored through a self-consistent linear-response formulation. We find that this approach, which proved to be successful in other iron systems, produces in this case some overestimation with respect to the optimal values of U.

Correlation and nuclear distortion effects of Cr-substituted ZnSe

There is a great deal of interest in the effect of the correlation and effect of the atomic distortion in materials with a metallic intermediate band. This band, situated within the semiconductor band gaps, would be split, thus creating two bands, a full one below the Fermi energy and an empty one above it, i.e., a metal-insulator transition. This basic electronic band structure corresponds to intermediate band materials and is characteristic of transparent-conducting oxides, up and down converters, and intermediate band solar cells. A sufficiently high density of Cr in ZnSe substituting the Zn atoms leads to a microscopic intermediate band, in which these effects will be analyzed. A Hubbard term has been included to improve the description of the many-body effect. This term modifies the bandwidth of the intermediate band, the Fermi energy, and breaks the orbital-occupation degeneracy. From the results, the intermediate band is not split within the range of Hubbard term values analyzed and for Cr substituting Zn from 0.463% to 3.125% of Cr atomic concentration.

Orbital ordering and Jahn-Teller distortion in Perovskite ruthenate SrRuO3

Local density approximation plus on-site Coulomb interaction U band structure calculations reveal that SrRuO3 exhibits a half-metallic ground state with an integer spin moment of 2.0 microB/SrRuO3. An associated tilting 4dt2g orbital ordering on a Ru sublattice is observed under the on-site Coulomb interaction U in the presence of lattice distortion. This finding unravels the on-site Coulomb correlation as the driving force of the 4d orbital ordering and Jahn-Teller distortion as well as of the half-metallic ground state.

Optoelectronic properties analysis of Ti-substituted GaP

A study using first principles of the electronic and optical properties of materials derived from a GaP host semiconductor where one Ti atom is substituted for one of the eight P atoms is presented. This material has a metallic intermediate band sandwiched between the valence and conduction bands of the host semiconductor for 0 < or = U < or = 8 eV where U is the Hubbard parameter. The potential of these materials is that when they are used as an absorber of photons in solar cells, the efficiency is increased significantly with respect to that of the host semiconductor. The results show that the main contribution to the intermediate band is the Ti atom and that this material can absorb photons of lower energy than that of the host semiconductor. The efficiency is increased with respect to that of the host semiconductor mainly because of the absorption from the intermediate to conduction band. As U increases, the contribution of the Ti-d orbitals to the intermediate band varies, increasing the d(z2) character at the bottom of the intermediate band.

Electronic structure of strongly correlated systems emerging from combining path-integral renormalization group with the density-functional approach

A new scheme of first-principles computation for strongly correlated electron systems is proposed. This scheme starts from the local-density approximation (LDA) at high-energy band structure, while the low-energy effective Hamiltonian is constructed by a downfolding procedure using combinations of the constrained-LDA and the GW method. The obtained low-energy Hamiltonian is solved by the path-integral renormalization-group method, where spatial and dynamical fluctuations are fully considered. An application to Sr2VO4 shows that the scheme is powerful in agreement with experimental results. It further predicts a nontrivial orbital-stripe order.

Density-functional calculation of CeO2 surfaces and prediction of effects of oxygen partial pressure and temperature on stabilities

We have used density-functional theory to investigate (111), (110), (210), (211), (100), and (310) surfaces of ceria (CeO2). Compared with previous interatomic-potential-based studies, our calculations reported a slightly different relative stability ordering and significantly lower surface energies for the stoichiometric surfaces. Using a defect model, the surface stabilities were evaluated as functions of oxygen partial pressure and temperature. Our investigations were restricted to ideal surface terminations, without considering defect formation on those surfaces. We found that at 300 K, the stoichiometric (111) has the lowest free energy for a wide range of oxygen partial pressures up to 1 atm, and only at ultrahigh vacuum does the Ce-terminated (111) becomes the most stable one. The transition point for the Ce-terminated (111) surfaces moves to higher oxygen partial pressures when temperature increases. To improve the prediction of electron density of states, we used the local-density approximation plus U(J) correction method to correct the on-site Coulomb correlation and exchange interaction due to the strongly localized Ce-4f electrons. The optimal parameter combination of U = 7 eV and J = 0.7 eV was found to improve the O 2p-Ce 4f gap without much degradation of ground-state bulk properties or the O 2p-Ce 5d gap. The bulk and surface electronic structures were then analyzed based on the improved density of states.

Quantum versus Jahn-Teller orbital physics in YVO3 and LaVO3

We argue that the large Jahn-Teller (JT) distortions in YVO3 and LaVO3 should suppress the quantum orbital fluctuation. The unusual magnetic properties can be well explained based on local density approximation + Hubbard U calculations using experimental structures, in terms of the JT orbital. The observed splitting of the spin-wave dispersions for YVO3 in a C-type antiferromagnetic state is attributed to the inequivalent VO2 layers in the crystal structure, instead of the "orbital-Peierls state." Alternative stacking of ab-plane exchange couplings produces the c-axis spin-wave splitting; thus, the spin system is highly three dimensional rather than quasi-one-dimensional. Similar splitting is also predicted for LaVO3, although it is weak.

Origin of the giant magnetic moments of Fe impurities on and in Cs films

We have explored the origin of the observed giant magnetic moments ( approximately 7&mgr;(B)) of Fe impurities on the surface and in the bulk of Cs films, using the relativistic local-spin-density-approximation method. We have found that Fe impurities in Cs behave differently from those in noble metals or in Pd. Whereas the induced spin polarization of Cs atoms is negligible, the Fe ion itself is a source of the giant magnetic moment. The 3d electrons of Fe in Cs are localized as the 4f electrons in rare-earth ions so that the orbital magnetic moment becomes as large as the spin magnetic moment. The calculated total magnetic moment M = 6.43&mgr;(B) is close to the experimentally observed value.