Density functional analysis of the structural evolution of Gan (n=30–55) clusters and its influence on the melting characteristics

Mapping the Finite-Temperature Behavior of Conformations to Their Potential Energy Barriers: Case Studies on Si6B and Si5B Clusters

Dynamical simulations of molecules and materials have been the route to understand the rearrangement of atoms within them at different temperatures. Born-Oppenheimer molecular dynamical simulations have further helped to comprehend the reaction dynamics at various finite temperatures. We take a case study of Si₆B and Si₅B clusters and demonstrate that their finite-temperature behavior is rather mapped to the potential energy surface. The study further brings forth the fact that an accurate description of the dynamics is rather coupled with the accuracy of the method in defining the potential energy surface. A more precise potential energy surface generated through the coupled cluster method is finally used to identify the most accurate description of the potential energy surface and the interconnected finite-temperature behavior.

Finite temperature behavior of carbon atom-doped silicon clusters: depressed thermal stabilities, coexisting isomers, reversible dynamical pathways and fragmentation channels

BOMD simulations revealed a multifarious thermo-stimuli response (from “solid-state” to reversible dynamics to fragmentation) of experimentally identified SiC mixed clusters at finite temperature.

Stability of cationic silver doped gold clusters and the subshell-closed electronic configuration of AgAu14. J Chem Phys 2020;153:244304. [PMID: 33380086 DOI: 10.1063/5.0033487]

Silver doping is a valuable route to modulate the structural, electronic, and optical properties of gold clusters. We combine photofragmentation experiments with density functional theory calculations to investigate the relative stability of cationic Ag doped Au clusters, AgAu_N-1 ⁺ (N ≤ 40). The mass spectra of the clusters after photofragmentation reveal marked drops in the intensity of AgAu₈ ⁺, AgAu₁₄ ⁺, and AgAu₃₄ ⁺, indicating a higher relative stability of these sizes. This is confirmed by the calculated AgAu_N-1 ⁺ (N ≤ 17) dissociation energies peaking for AgAu₆ ⁺, AgAu₈ ⁺, and AgAu₁₄ ⁺. While the stability of AgAu₆ ⁺ and AgAu₈ ⁺ can be explained by the accepted electronic shell model for metal clusters, density of states analysis shows that the geometry plays an important role in the higher relative stability of AgAu₁₄ ⁺. For this size, there is a degeneracy lifting of the 1D shell, which opens a relatively large HOMO-LUMO gap with a subshell-closed 1S²1P⁴1P²1D⁶ electronic configuration.

Neutral and charged gallium clusters: structures, physical properties and implications for the melting features

We report the putative Global Minimum (GM) structures and electronic properties of Ga(N)(+), Ga(N) and Ga(N)(-) clusters with N = 13-37 atoms, obtained from first-principles density functional theory structural optimizations. The calculations include spin polarization and employ an exchange-correlation functional which accounts for van der Waals dispersion interactions (vdW-DFT). We find a wide diversity of structural motifs within the located GM, including decahedral, polyicosahedral, polytetrahedral and layered structures. The GM structures are also extremely sensitive to the number of electrons in the cluster, so that the structures of neutral and charged clusters differ for most sizes. The main magic numbers (clusters with an enhanced stability) are identified and interpreted in terms of electronic and geometric shell closings. The theoretical results are consistent with experimental abundance mass spectra of Ga(N)(+) and with photoelectron spectra of Ga(N)(-). The size dependence of the latent heats of melting, the shape of the heat capacity peaks, and the temperature dependence of the collision cross-sections, all measured for Ga(N)(+) clusters, are properly interpreted in terms of the calculated cohesive energies, spectra of configurational excitations, and cluster shapes, respectively. The transition from "non-melter" to "magic-melter" behaviour, experimentally observed between Ga(30)(+) and Ga(31)(+), is traced back to a strong geometry change. Finally, the higher-than-bulk melting temperatures of gallium clusters are correlated with a more typically metallic behaviour of the clusters as compared to the bulk, contrary to previous theoretical claims.