Atomic and electronic structures of small GaAs clusters

Optical properties of GaAs nanocrystals: influence of an electric field

A study of the electronic and optical properties of the hydrogen-terminated GaAs nanocrystals Ga₆₈As₆₈H₉₆ and Ga₉₂As₈₀H₁₀₈ is presented. In this study, their dielectric functions, refractive indices, and absorption coefficients were calculated using density functional theory (DFT). The influence of a uniform external electric field on the optical properties of the nanocrystals was also explored. The highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) and the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) for each nanocrystal were studied in the absence and the presence of the uniform external electric field. Our results indicate that the HOMO-LUMO gap decreases with increasing electric field strength. The calculated density of states revealed that the main reason for this shrinking gap is an increase in the delocalization of the gallium π-orbitals under the influence of an increasing external electric field. The permanent dipole moment and the polarizability of the nanocrystals under the induced electric field increased with increasing nanocrystal radius. The induced electric field caused a noticeable redshift in the absorption peaks. The electric field also increased the absorption intensity, particularly when the field strength was >0.25 V/Å.

Ab initiofinite field (hyper)polarizability computations on stoichiometric gallium arsenide clusters GanAsn (n=2–9)

We report reliable ab initio finite field (hyper)polarizability values at Hartree-Fock and second order Moller-Plesset perturbation theory (MP2) levels of theory for different geometrical configurations of small gallium arsenide clusters Ga(n)As(n) with n=2-5. We relied on all-electron basis sets and pseudopotentials suitable for (hyper)polarizability calculations. In each case, we used structures that have been established in the literature after we optimized their geometries at B3LYP/cc-pVTZ-PP level of theory. Our results suggest that the first order hyperpolarizability (beta) is much more sensitive to the special geometric features than the second order hyperpolarizability (gamma). For the most stable configurations up to ten atoms the second order hyperpolarizability at MP2 level of theory varies between 15 x 10(4) and 32 x 10(4) e(4)a0 (4)Eh(-3). In addition, we examined the polarizability per atom evolution versus the cluster size for Ga(n)As(n) with n=2-9. Our work extends earlier theoretical studies which were limited to eight atoms and exposes that the polarizability/atom of the most stable stoichiometric configurations up to Ga(9)As(9) continues the monotonic downward trend with increasing size. Lastly, from the methodological point of view, our analysis shows that apart from polarizabilities, augmented pseudopotentials yield reliable first and second hyperpolarizability values as well.

Jahn-Teller distortion geometries and electronic structures of Ga3Ge, GaGe3, and their ions

Computational studies on the geometric, electronic, and spectroscopic properties of electronic states are presented for GaGe3, Ga3Ge, and their ions using the CASSCF and DFT(B3LYP)/CCSD(T)/QCISD(T) techniques. The optimized geometries of electronic states, vibrational frequencies, energy separations, Mulliken populations, ionization energies, electron affinities, binding energies are obtained. The anion photoelectron spectra of GaGe3- and Ga3Ge- are predicted. In addition, the results from the low-lying states of GaGe3 and Ga3Ge are compared with those of GaSi3 and Ga3Si. Results demonstrate that the equilibrium geometries of most electronic states of GaGe3, Ga3Ge, and their ions exhibit Jahn-Teller distortion. It is interesting to find that there is not charge transfer between Ga and Ge atoms upon an electron attachment to the ground states of GaGe3 and Ga3Ge, while the amount of charge transfer between Ga and Ge atoms significantly increases upon an electron ionization from the ground state of Ga3Ge.

Theoretical study of electronic structures and spectroscopic properties of Ga3Sn, GaSn3, and their ions

Ground and excited states of mixed gallium stannide tetramers (Ga3Sn, Ga3Sn+, Ga3Sn-, GaSn3, GaSn3+, and GaSn3-) are investigated employing the complete active space self-consistent-field (CASSCF), density function theory (DFT), and the coupled-cluster single and double substitution (including triple excitations) (CCSD(T)) methods. The ground states of Ga3Sn, Ga3Sn+, and Ga3Sn- are found to be the 2A1, 3B1, and 1A1 states in C2v symmetry with a planar quadrilateral geometry, respectively. The ground states of GaSn3 and GaSn3- is predicted to be the 2A1 and 1A1 states in C2v point group with a planar quadrilateral structure, respectively, while the ground state of GaSn3+ is the 1A1 state with ideal triangular pyramid C3v geometry. Equilibrium geometries, vibrational frequencies, binding energies, electron affinities, ionization energies, and other properties of Ga3Sn and GaSn3 are computed and discussed. The anion photoelectron spectra of Ga3Sn- and GaSn3- are also predicted. It is interesting to find that the amount of charge transfer between Ga and Sn2 atoms in the 1A1 state of GaSn3+ greatly increases upon electron ionization from the 2A1 state of GaSn3, which may be caused by large geometry change. On the other hand, the results of the low-lying states of Ga3Sn and GaSn3 are compared with those of Ga3Si and GaSi3.

A theoretical investigation of hyperpolarizability for small GanAsm (n+m=4–10) clusters

In this paper, the second and third order polarizabilities of small Ga(n)As(m) (n + m=4-10) clusters are systematically investigated using the time dependent density functional theory (TDDFT)6-311+G* combined with the sum-over-states method (SOSTDDFT6-311+G*). For the static second order polarizabilities, the two-level term (beta(vec.2)) makes a significant contribution to the beta(vec) for all considered Ga(n)As(m) clusters except for the Ga3As4 cluster. And, for the static third order polarizabilities, the positive channel (gamma(II)) makes a larger contribution to gamma(tot) than the negative channel (gamma(I)). Similar to the cubic GaAs bulk materials, the small Ga(n)As(m) cluster assembled materials exhibit large second order (1 x 10(-6) esu) and third order susceptibilities (5 x 10(-11) esu). The dynamic behavior of beta(-2omega; omega, omega) and gamma(-3omega; omega, omega, omega) show that the small Ga(n)As(m) cluster will be a good candidate of nonlinear optical materials due to the avoidance of linear resonance photoabsorption.

Electronic states of Ga(3)Si, GaSi(3), and their ions

The equilibrium geometries and electronic states of Ga(3)Si, GaSi(3), and their ions are investigated using the complete active space self-consistent-field (CASSCF) and DFT(B3LYP)/CCSD(T) techniques. The (2)B(1), (3)B(1), and (1)A(1) states in C(2v) symmetry with a planar quadrilateral geometry are found to be the ground states of Ga(3)Si, Ga(3)Si(+), and Ga(3)Si(-), respectively. On the other hand, the ground states of GaSi(3), GaSi(3)(-) are also predicted to undergo Jahn-Teller distortion to the (2)A'' and (1)A' states in C(s) with a distorted triangular pyramid geometry, respectively, whereas that of GaSi(3)(+) is found to be the (1)A(1) state in C(3v) with symmetric triangular pyramid structure. Binding energies, electron affinities, ionization energies of Ga(3)Si and GaSi(3) are computed at the CCSD(T)/QCISD(T) level and discussed.

Spectroscopic properties of gallium arsenide tetramers: Ga2As2, Ga2As2+ and Ga2As2-

Spectroscopic properties of the low-lying electronic states of Ga2As2 and its ions are studied using the complete active-space self-consistent field (CASSCF) and density function theory (DFT) followed by the coupled-cluster single and double substitutions (including triple excitations) (CCSD(T)) calculations. The stability of low-lying electronic states is examined by computing vibrational frequency. The energies of the ground states and a number of excited electronic states have been computed to predict the spectra of Ga2As2 and its ions. The ionization energy, electronic affinity, and atomization energy are estimated at the CCSD(T)/6-311+G(d) level and compared with the available experimental results.