First-principles study of the geometrical and electronic structures of InnN2 (n=1–10) clusters

Structural evolution and electronic properties of pure and semiconductor atom doped in clusters: Inn - , Inn Si- , and Inn Ge- (n = 3-16)

The bonding and electronic properties of In_n ^- , In_n Si^- , and In_n Ge^- (n = 3-16) clusters have been computationally investigated. An intensive global search for the ground-state structures of these clusters were conducted using the genetic algorithm coupled with density functional theory (DFT). The ground-state structures of these clusters have been identified through the comparison between simulated photoelectron spectra (PES) of the found lowest-energy isomers and the experimentally measured ones. Doping semiconductor atom (Si or Ge) can significantly change the structures of the In clusters in most sizes, and the dopant prefers to be surrounded by In atoms. There are three structural motifs for In_n X^- (X = Si, Ge, n = 3-16), and the transition occurs at sizes n = 5 and 13. All In_n Si^- and In_n Ge^- share the same configurations and similar electronic properties except for n = 8. Among all above studied clusters, In₁₃ ^- stands out with the largest vertical detachment energy (VDE), HOMO-LUMO gap, (E_b ) and second order energy difference Δ² E due to its closed electronic shell of (1S)² (1P)⁶ (1D)¹⁰ (2S)² (1F)¹⁴ (2P)⁶ . Similarly, the neutral In₁₂ X (X = Si, Ge) clusters are also identified as superatoms but with electronic configuration of (1S)² (1P)⁶ (2S)² (1D)¹⁰ (1F)¹⁴ (2P)⁶ .

Structures, Stabilities, and Electronic Properties of Small-Sized Zr2Si n (n=1–11) Clusters: A Density Functional Study

Ab initio methods based on density functional theory at B3LYP level have been applied in investigating the equilibrium geometries, growth patterns, relative stabilities, and electronic properties of Zr2-doped Si n clusters. The optimisation results shown that the lowest-energy configurations for Zr2Si n clusters do not keep the corresponding silicon framework unchanged, which reflects that the doped Zr atoms dramatically affect the most stable structures of the Si n clusters. By analysing the relative stabilities, it is found that the doping of zirconium atoms reduces the chemical stabilities of silicon host. The Zr2Si4 and Zr2Si7 clusters are the magic numbers. The natural population and natural electronic configuration analyses indicated that the Zr atoms possess positive charge for n=1–6 and negative charge for n=7–11. In addition, the chemical hardness, chemical potential, infrared, and Raman spectra are also discussed.