Energetics, Structure, and Electron Detachment Spectra of Calcium and Zinc Neutral and Anion Clusters: A Density Functional Theory Study

Ca n neutral clusters: a two-step G 0 W 0 and DFT benchmark

Electronic and structural properties of calcium clusters with a varying size range of 2-20 atoms are studied using a two-step scheme within the GW and density functional theory (DFT) with generalized gradient approximation (GGA). The GGA overestimates the binding energies, optimized geometries, electron affinities, and ionization potentials reported in the benchmark. The ground-state structure geometry and binding energy were obtained from the DFT for the ground-state structure of each cluster. The binding energy of the neutral clusters of the calcium series follows an increasing trend, except for a few stable even and odd clusters. The electronic properties of the calcium cluster were studied with an all-electron FHI-aims code. In the G 0 W 0 calculation, the magic cluster Ca10 has relatively high ionization potential and low electron affinity. The obtained ionization potentials from the G 0 W 0 @PBE calculation showed that the larger cluster has less variation, whereas the electron affinities of the series have an increasing trend. The ionization potentials from the G 0 W 0 benchmark for the calcium cluster series have not yet been described in the literature.

Investigating structural and electronic properties of neutral zinc clusters: a G0W0 and G0W0Г0(1) benchmark

The structural and electronic properties of zinc clusters (Znn) for a size range of n = 2-15 are studied using density functional theory. The particle swarm optimization algorithm is employed to search the structure and to determine the ground-state structure of the neutral Zn clusters. The structural motifs are optimized using the density functional theory approach to ensure that the structures are fully relaxed. Results are compared with the literature to validate the accuracy of the prediction method. The binding energy per cluster is obtained and compared with the reported literature to study the stability of these structures. We further assess the electronic properties, including the ionization potential, using the all-electron FHI-aims code employing G0W0 calculations, and the G0W0Г0(1) correction for a few smaller clusters, which provides a better estimation of the ionization potential compared to other methods.

Density functional theory for transition metals and transition metal chemistry

We introduce density functional theory and review recent progress in its application to transition metal chemistry. Topics covered include local, meta, hybrid, hybrid meta, and range-separated functionals, band theory, software, validation tests, and applications to spin states, magnetic exchange coupling, spectra, structure, reactivity, and catalysis, including molecules, clusters, nanoparticles, surfaces, and solids.