It is found that all the zigzag chains except the nonmagnetic (NM) Ni and antiferromagnetic (AF) Fe chains which form a twisted two-legger ladder, look like a corner-sharing triangle ribbon, and have a lower total energy than the corresponding linear chains. All the 3d transition metals in both linear and zigzag structures have a stable or metastable ferromagnetic (FM) state. The electronic spin-polarization at the Fermi level in the FM Sc, V, Mn, Fe, Co and Ni linear chains is close to 90% or above. In the zigzag structure, the AF state is more stable than the FM state only in the Cr chain. It is found that the shape anisotropy energy may be comparable to the electronic one and always prefers the axial magnetization in both the linear and zigzag structures. In the zigzag chains, there is also a pronounced shape anisotropy in the plane perpendicular to the chain axis. Remarkably, the axial magnetic anisotropy in the FM Ni linear chain is gigantic, being ~12 meV/atom. Interestingly, there is a spin-reorientation transition in the FM Fe and Co linear chains when the chains are compressed or elongated. Large orbital magnetic moment is found in the FM Fe, Co and Ni linear chains.
采用广义梯度近似赝势密度泛函电子结构计算方法研究了氧化硅纳米线。研究了无限长的直线型和锯齿型Si-O链。还优化了由三维周期性重复的Si 4 O 8单元组成的线，但发现这种结构具有有限的稳定性。计算了这些氧化硅纳米线的几何形状、电子结构和赫希菲尔德电荷。结果表明，Si-O链是金属链，而锯齿链和Si_4O_8纳米线是绝缘体。
We performed an {\it ab initio} investigation on the properties of rutile tin oxide (SnO$_{x}$) nanowires. We computed the wire properties determining the equilibrium geometries, binding energies and electronic band structures for several wire dimensions and surface facet configurations. The results allowed to establish scaling laws for the structural properties, in terms of the nanowire perimeters. The results also showed that the surface states control most of the electronic properties of the nanowires. Oxygen incorporation in the nanowire surfaces passivated the surface-related electronic s…
We discuss the binding energy E_b of impurities in semiconductors within density functional theory (DFT) and the GW approximation, focusing on donors in nanowires as an example. We show that DFT succeeds in the calculation of E_b from the Kohn-Sham (KS) hamiltonian of the ionized impurity, but fails in the calculation of E_b from the KS hamiltonian of the neutral impurity, as it misses most of the interaction of the bound electron with the surface polarization charges of the donor. We trace this deficiency back to the lack of screened exchange in the present functionals.
In this paper, we study the vulnerability of 5nm node FinFET and nanowire (20nm gate length) and their corresponding SRAM under radiation. Ab initio tools, SRIM, PHITS, and GEANT4, are used to find the Linear Energy Transfer (LET) of neutron and alpha particles in Silicon and Silicon-Germanium. Technology Computer-Aided Design (TCAD) is then used to find the most vulnerable incident location and direction in FinFET, nanowire, and their SRAM. Full 3D TCAD simulation, which allows the study of layout effect in SRAM, is used. It is found that NW is about 2-3 times more robust than FinFET in terms…
Using ab initio calculations based on density-functional theory we have performed a theoretical investigation of substitutional boron and nitrogen impurities in silicon carbide (SiC) nanoribbons. We have considered hydrogen terminated SiC ribbons with zigzag and armchair edges. In both systems we verify that the boron and nitrogen atoms energetically prefer to be localized at the edges of the nanoribbons. However, while boron preferentially substitutes a silicon atom, nitrogen prefers to occupy a carbon site. In addition, our electronic-structure calculations indicate that (i) substitutional b…
Using density functional theory plus Hubbard-U (DFT+U) approach, we find that quasi one-dementation(1D) 3d transition metal(TM) zigzag nanowire can be constructed by TM adsorbed on the surface of graphyne sheet. The results show that the TM exchange coupling of the zigzag nanowire mediated by sp hybridized carbon atoms gives rise to long range ferromagnetic order except for Cr with anti-ferromagnetic order. The magnetic exchange interaction of TM chains follows like-Zener's p_z-d exchange mechanism: the coexistence of out-of plane p_z-d and in-plane p_x-y-d exchange. Finally, by including spin…
We investigate how parameters of the model of semi-infinite graphene based on a graphene nanoribbon under periodic boundary conditions affect the accuracy of ab initio calculations of reactions at graphene edges by the example of the first stage of reconstruction of zigzag graphene edges, formation of a pentagon-heptagon pair. It is shown that to converge properly the results, the nanoribbon should consist of at least 6 zigzag rows and periodic images of the pair along the nanoribbon axis should be separated by at least 6 hexagons. The converged reaction energy and activation barrier for forma…
Edge structures are highly relevant to the electronic, magnetic and catalytic properties of two-dimensional (2D) transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) and their one dimensional (1D) counterpart, i.e., nanoribbons, which should be precisely tailored for the desirable applications. In this work, we report the formation of novel Mo6S6 nanowire (NW) terminated edges in a monolayer molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) via an e-beam irradiation process combined with high temperature heating in a scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM). Atomic structures of NW terminated edges and the dynamic forma…
Using first-principles calculations, we examine the electronic and magnetic properties of partially open zigzag carbon nanotube (CNT) superlattices. It is found that depending on their opening degree, these superlattices can exhibit multiple localized states around the Fermi energy. More importantly, some electronic states confined in some parts of the structure even have special magnetic orderings. We demonstrate that, as a proof of principle, some partially open zigzag CNT superlattices are by themselves giant (100%) magnetoresistive devices. Furthermore, the localized(and spin-polarized) st…
Zinc phosphide, Zn3P2, nanowires constitute prospective building blocks for next generation solar cells due to the combination of suitable optoelectronic properties and an abundance of the constituting elements in the Earths crust. The generation of periodic superstructures along the nanowire axis could provide an additional mechanism to tune their functional properties. Here we present the vapour-liquid-solid growth of zinc phosphide superlattices driven by periodic heterotwins. This uncommon planar defect involves the exchange of Zn by In at the twinning boundary. We find that the zigzag sup…
We investigated the properties of stability and plasticity of silicon nanowires using molecular dynamics simulations. We considered nanowires with <100>, <110> and <112> growth directions with several diameters and surface facet configurations. We found that the wire perimeter, and not the wire diameter, is the meaningful dimensional parameter. As a result, the surface facets play a central role on the nanowire energy, that follows a universal scaling law. Additionally, we have computed the response of a silicon nanowire to external load. The results were compared to available experimental and…
In this work we study the structural stability and electronic properties of the Beryllium sulphide nanowires (NWs) in both zinc blende (ZB) and wurtzite (WZ) phases with triangle and hexagonal cross section, using first principle calculations within plane-wave pseudopotential method. A phenomenological model is used to explain the role of dangling bonds in the stability of the NWs. In contrast to the bulk phase, ZB-NWs with diameter less than 133.3 (angstrom) are found to be less favorable over WZ-NWs, in which the surface dangling bonds (DBs) on the NW facets play an important role to stabili…
Electronic and Magnetic Properties of Mn doped Ge Nanowires
采用{ \it ab initio}全能量密度-泛函理论计算方法，研究了锰掺杂锗纳米线的电子、结构和磁性.纳米线沿[110]方向排列，表面的悬挂键被氢原子饱和。我们观察到，与靠近表面的区域相比，Mn在线的中心处具有较低的形成能。Mn-Mn耦合对于高自旋配置具有较低的能量，除了当它们是第一近邻时。这些结果表明，Ge：Mn纳米线是铁磁准一维系统的潜在候选者。
One well-known argument about one dimensional(1D) system is that 1D phase transition at finite temperature cannot exist, despite this concept depends on conditions such as range of interaction, external fields and periodicity. Therefore 1D systems usually have random fluctuations with intrinsic domain walls arising which naturally bring disorder during transition. Herein we introduce a real 1D system in which artificially created defects can induce a well-defined 1D phase transition. The dynamics of structural reconstructions at graphene zigzag edges are examined by in situ aberration correcte…
Formation of twin boundaries during the growth of semiconductor nanowires is very common. However, the effects of such planar defects on the electronic and optical properties of nanowires are not very well understood. Here, we use a combination of ab initio simulation and experimental techniques to study these effects. Twin boundaries in GaP are shown to act as an atomically-narrow plane of wurtzite phase with a type-I homostructure band alignment. Twin boundaries and stacking faults (wider regions of the wurtzite phase) lead to the introduction of shallow trap states observed in photoluminesc…
Elemental phosphorus nanostructures are notorious for a large number of allotropes, which limits their usefulness as semiconductors. To limit this structural diversity, we synthesize selectively quasi-1D phosphorus nanostructures inside carbon nanotubes (CNTs) that act both as stable templates and nanoreactors. Whereas zigzag phosphorus nanoribbons form preferably in CNTs with an inner diameter exceeding 1.4 nm, a previously unknown square columnar structure of phosphorus is observed to form inside narrower nanotubes. Our findings are supported by electron microscopy and Raman spectroscopy obs…
Here we present a novel approach to control magnetic interactions in atomic-scale nanowires. Our ab initio calculations demonstrate the possibility to tune magnetic properties of Fe nanowires formed on vicinal Cu surfaces. Both intrawire and interwire magnetic exchange parameters are extracted from DFT calculations. This study suggests that the effective interwire magnetic exchange parameters exhibit Ruderman--Kittel--Kasuya--Yosida-like (RKKY) oscillations as a function of Fe interwire separation. The choice of vicinal Cu surface offers possibilities for controlling the magnetic coupling. Fur…
Ab-initio calculations within Density Functional Theory combined with experimental Raman spectra on cluster-beam deposited pure carbon films provide a consistent picture of sp-carbon chains stabilized by sp^3 or sp^2 terminations, the latter being sensitive to torsional strain. This unexplored effect promises many exciting applications since it allows one to modify the conductive states near the Fermi level and to switch on and off the on-chain pi-electron magnetism.
Our predictions, based on density-functional calculations, reveal that surface doping of ZnO nanowires with Bi leads to a linear-in-$k$ splitting of the conduction-band states, through spin-orbit interaction, due to the lowering of the symmetry in the presence of the dopant. This finding implies that spin polarization of the conduction electrons in Bi-doped ZnO nanowires could be controlled with applied electric (as opposed to magnetic) fields, making them candidate materials for spin-orbitronic applications. Our findings also show that the degree of spin splitting could be tuned by adjusting …
We present the results of ab-initio density functional theory based calculations of the stability and reconstruction of zigzag edges in triangular graphene quantum dots. We show that, while the reconstructed pentagon-heptagon zigzag edge structure is more stable in the absence of hydrogen, ideal zigzag edges are energetically favored by hydrogen passivation. Zero-energy band exists in both structures when passivated by hydrogen, however in case of pentagon-heptagon zigzag, this band is found to have stronger dispersion, leading to the loss of net magnetization.
Electric and thermoelectric properties of silicene nanoribbons doped with Al and P impurity atoms are investigated theoretically for both antiparallel and parallel orientations of the edge magnetic moments. In the former case, appropriately arranged impurities can lead to a net magnetic moment and thus also to spin thermoelectric effects. In the latter case, in turn, spin thermoelectric effects also occur in the absence of impurities. Numerical results based on ab-initio calculations show that the spin thermopower can be considerably enhanced by the impurities.
Core-shell nanowires made of Si and Ge can be grown experimentally with excellent control for different sizes of both core and shell. We have studied the structural properties of Si/Ge and Ge/Si core-shell nanowires aligned along the $[110]$ direction, with diameters up to 10.2~nm and varying core to shell ratios, using linear scaling Density Functional Theory (DFT). We show that Vegard's law, which is often used to predict the axial lattice constant, can lead to an error of up to 1\%, underlining the need for a detailed \emph{ab initio} atomistic treatment of the nanowire structure. We analys…
Interplay between structure and magnetism in $Mo_{12} S_9 I_9$ nanowires
我们用从头算密度泛函方法研究了Mo $_{12}$ S $_{9}$ I $_{9}$纳米线的平衡几何构型和电子结构.这些异常稳定的纳米线的骨架由刚性的官能化Mo八面体组成，通过柔性的双稳态硫桥连接。这种结构灵活性转化为几乎没有能源成本的情况下拉伸高达约20%的能力。纳米线从导体转变为窄隙磁性半导体，其结构异构体之一。
Chemisorption is one of the active research areas in carbon materials. The occurrence of the monoatomic carbon chain can be made by surrounding the double walled carbon nanotube and meanwhile worldwide efforts have been made to create the extraction technique for unlashing the carbon chains from the enclosure. Here we report an extensive study of the kink structure in the free standing carbon nanowires. Our Monte Carlo simulation considers the multi-monoatomic carbon chains laterally interacted by the Van der Waal force. Despite the linearity of the carbon nanowires is independent of chain len…
An extraordinary low vacuum barrier height of 2.30 eV has been found on the zigzag-edge of graphene terminated with the secondary amine via the ab initio calculation. This edge structure has a flat band of edge states attached to the gamma point where the transversal kinetic energy is vanishing. We show that the field electron emission is dominated by the flat band. The edge states pin the Fermi level to a constant, leading to an extremely narrow emission energy width. The graphene with such edge is a promising line field electron emitter that can produce highly coherent emission current.
The calculations of electronic transport coefficients and optical properties require a very dense interpolation of the electronic band structure in reciprocal space that is computationally expensive and may have issues with band crossing and degeneracies. Capitalizing on a recently developed pseudo-atomic orbital projection technique, we exploit the exact tight-binding representation of the first principles electronic structure for the purposes of (1) providing an efficient strategy to explore the full band structure $E_n({\bf k})$, (2) computing the momentum operator differentiating directly …
An ab initio calculations have been carried out for examining the curvature effect of small diameter hexagonal boron nanotubes. The considered conformations of boron nanotubes are namely armchair (3,3), zigzag (5,0) and chiral (4,2), and consist of 12, 20, and 56 atoms, respectively. The strain energy is evaluated in order to examine the curvature effect. It is found that the strain energy of hexagonal BNT strongly depends upon the radius, whereas the strain energy of triangular BNTs depends on both radius and chirality.
Using ab initio methods based on the density functional theory, we investigate the segregation and formation energies for various dopants (Si, Be, Zn, Sn), commonly used to obtain p- or ntype conductivity in GaAs and InAs nanowires. The distribution of Au and O atoms, which may be unintentionally incorporated during the wire growth, is also studied. The calculations performed for nanowires of zinc blende and wurtzite structure show that the distribution of most of the impurities depends on the crystal structure of the wires. For example, it is shown that the same growth conditions can lead to …
Zigzag edges of graphene nanostructures host localized electronic states that are predicted to be spin-polarized. However, these edge states are highly susceptible to edge roughness and interaction with a supporting substrate, complicating the study of their intrinsic electronic and magnetic structure. Here, we focus on atomically precise graphene nanoribbons whose two short zigzag edges host exactly one localized electron each. Using the tip of a scanning tunneling microscope, the graphene nanoribbons are transferred from the metallic growth substrate onto insulating islands of NaCl in order …
Systematic ab initio calculations show that the energy gap of boron nitride (BN) nanoribbons (BNNRs) with zigzag or armchair edges can be significantly reduced by a transverse electric field and completely closed at a critical field which decreases with increasing ribbon width. In addition, a distinct gap modulation in the ribbons with zigzag edges is presented when a reversed electric field is applied. In a weak field, the gap reduction of the BNNRs with zigzag edges originates from the field-induced energy level shifts of the spatially separated edge-states, while the gap reduction of the BN…
Molybdenum disulfide nanoribbons with zigzag edges show ferromagnetic and metallic properties based on previous \emph{ab-initio} calculations. The investigation of the role of disorder on the magnetic properties is, however, still lacking due to the computational costs of these methods. In this work we fill this gap by studying the magnetic and electronic properties of several nanometer long MoS$_2$ zigzag nanoribbons using tight-binding and Hubbard Hamiltonians. Our results reveal that proper tight-binding parameters for the edge atoms are crucial to obtain quantitatively the metallic states …
We present an ab-initio investigation of effects of shear strain on band structure and electronic properties of 2D phosphorene. We carried out DFT calculations to determine the shear stress as a function of shear strain and found the monolayer phosphorene has ultimate strength at shear strain 30% and 35% in armchair and zigzag directions, respectively, and it was also found that the monolayer extends in z direction on applying shear strain in both directions. Additionally, we derived band structures of phosphorene along both directions under shear strain and have shown that band gap in phospho…
Using ab-initio calculations based on density functional theory, we investigate the effects of vacancies on the electronic and magnetic properties of zigzag SiC nanoribbons (Z-SiCNR). Single (V_C and V_Si) and double (V_SiV_Si and V_SiV_C) vacancies are observed to induce magnetism in Z-SiCNRs. The presence of a single V_Si does not affect the half-metallic behavior of pristine Z-SiCNRs; however, a single V_C leads to a transition from half-metallic to metallic behavior in Z-SiCNRs due to the edge Si p orbitals and the atoms surrounding the vacancy. The interactions of vacancies with foreign i…
Ab initio calculations are performed to study consecutive reconstruction of a zigzag graphene edge. According to the obtained energy profile along the reaction pathway, the first reconstruction step, formation of the first pentagon-heptagon pair, is the slowest one, while the growth of an already nucleated reconstructed edge domain should occur steadily at a much higher rate. Domains merge into one only in 1/4 of cases when they get in contact, while in the rest of the cases, residual defects are left. Structure, energy and magnetic properties of these defects are studied. It is found that spo…
Molecular nanowires in which a single molecule bonds chemically to two metal electrodes and forms a stable electrically conducting bridge between them have been studied intensively for more than a decade. However the experimental determination of the bonding geometry between the molecule and electrodes has remained elusive. Here we demonstrate by means of ab initio calculations that inelastic tunneling spectroscopy (IETS) can determine these geometries. We identify the bonding geometries at the gold-sulfur interfaces of propanedithiolate molecules bridging gold electrodes that give rise to the…
基于第一性原理方法，我们提出了石墨烯纳米带（GNRs）的带隙作为其宽度的函数的缩放规则。所考虑的GNR在两侧具有氢钝化的扶手椅或锯齿形边缘。这两个品种的丝带示出具有带隙。这不同于简单的紧束缚计算或基于它们的狄拉克方程的解的结果。我们的{ \it ab initio}计算表明，扶手椅形边缘GNRs的能隙起源于量子限制和边缘的关键效应。对于具有锯齿形边缘的GNRs，由于边缘磁化导致的六方晶格上的交错子晶格势而出现间隙。考虑边缘效应，进一步解析地得到了扶手椅形边缘带的富能隙结构。这些结果很好地再现了我们的{ \it ab initio}计算结果。
Second-harmonic generation and linear electro-optical coefficients of BN nanotubes
采用密度泛函理论，在局域密度近似下，对BN纳米管的二阶非线性光学性质进行了系统的{ \it ab initio}研究。采用了高精度的全电位投影增强波法。具体地，计算了大量的单壁锯齿形、扶手椅形和手性BN纳米管（BN-NT）以及双壁锯齿形（12，0）@（20，0）BN纳米管和单壁锯齿形（12，0）BN-NT束的二次谐波产生系数（$χ_{abc}^{(2)}$）和线性电光系数（$r_{abc}$）。重要的是，与碳纳米管不同，锯齿形和手性BN-NT被发现表现出大的二阶非线性光学行为，其中$χ_{abc}^{(2)}$和$r_{abc}$系数比锌尖晶石和纤锌矿结构中的本体BN大多达30倍，这表明BN-NT是用于非线性光学和光电应用的有前途的材料。虽然在双壁BN-NT束中的壁间相互作用被发现显着降低二阶非线性光学系数，在单壁BN-NT束中的壁间相互作用基本上没有影响的非线性光学性质。在单光子和双光子共振方面，BN-NTs的$χ_{abc}^{(2)}(-2ω,ω,ω)$的光谱中的共振特征与线性光学介电函数$ε(ω)$中的特征密切相关。
