Density functional calculations were performed to systematically study a series of finite and infinite cluster-assembled silicon nanotubes (SiNTs). One-dimensional SiNTs can be prepared by proper assembly of hydrogenated cage-like silicon clusters to form semiconductors with a large band gap, and their electronic properties can be accurately tuned by transition metal doping in the center of the tubes. Specifically, doping with Fe made the SiNTs metallic and magnetic materials. More interestingly, a metal to half-metal transition was observed with increasing tube radius in Fe-doped SiNTs, which demonstrates that SiNTs doped with magnetic elements may find important applications in spintronics.
We propose an ab-initio combination of the Linear Muffin-Tin Orbital and the Recursion Methods to study the effect of extended Stone-Wales defects in single layer Carbon nanotubes. We have successfully applied this to zigzag and armchair tubes. The methodology involves no intrinsic mean-field like assumptions or external parameter fitting. As defects proliferate, the low density of states near the Fermi levels of the pristine tubes is filled with defect states. The increase of DOS at the Fermi level leads to enhanced conduction, which indicates enhanced metallicity due to SW defects in the nan…
The structural, electronic, and optical properties of metal (Si, Ge, Sn, and Pb) mono- and co-doped anatase TiO$_{2}$ nanotubes are investigated, in order to elucidate their potential for photocatalytic applications. It is found that Si doped TiO$_{2}$ nanotubes are more stable than those doped with Ge, Sn, or Pb. All dopants lower the band gap, except the (Ge, Sn) co-doped structure, the decrease depending on the concentration and the type of dopant. Correspondingly, a redshift in the optical properties for all kinds of dopings is obtained. Even though a Pb mono- and co-doped TiO$_{2}$ nanotu…
Ab initio study of edge effect on relative motion of walls in carbon nanotubes
采用van der Waals修正的密度泛函理论，计算了具有长内壁和短外壁的双壁纳米管（DWNTs）的壁间相互作用能.如果至少有一个壁是手性的，那么在亚纳米尺度下，势能释放的大小和形状对短壁长度和边缘的原子结构的变化非常敏感。开始相对运动的短壁和温度之间的过渡扩散和自由运动的短壁发生所需的阈值力进行估计。的边缘也示出提供了相当大的贡献的障碍相称的非手性壁的相对旋转。对于这样的壁，定向熔化的温度，即从旋转扩散到自由相对旋转的交叉，估计。生产纳米管为基础的螺栓/螺母对和纳米轴承的可能性进行了讨论。
Insights into the need for ab-initio calculations to accurately predict the optical properties of metallic carbon nanotubes based on experimental confrontation
We use density functional computations to study the size effects on the structural, electronic, magnetic, and optical properties of (5,0) finite carbon nanotubes (FCNT), with length in the range of 4-44 Å. It is found that the structural and electronic properties of (5,0) FCNTs, in the ground state, converge at a length of about 30 Å, while the excited state properties exhibit long-range edge effects. We discuss that curvature effects govern the electronic structure of short (5,0) FCNTs and enhance energy gap of these systems, in contrast to the known trend in the periodic limit. It is seen th…
We have synthesized boron nitride nanotubes (BNNTs) in an arc in presence of boron and nitrogen species only, without transition metals. We find that BNNTs are often attached to pure boron nanoparticles, suggesting that root-growth is a likely mechanism for their formation. To gain further insight into this process we have studied key mechanisms for root growth of BNNTs on the surface of a liquid boron droplet by ab initio molecular dynamics simulations. We find that nitrogen atoms reside predominantly on the droplet surface where they organize to form boron nitride islands below 2400 K. To mi…
Electronic applications of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) require the deposition of dielectric films on the tubes while conserving their excellent electronic properties. In our density functional theory study we use the trimethylaluminum (TMA) atomic layer deposition (ALD) as a model process for a CNT-functionalization. Since this functionalization relies on the presence of OH-groups, the CNTs are exposed to a water or oxygen pre-treatment. We show that only CNTs with a single-vacancy defect are able to react with H$_{2}$O or O$_{2}$. Further, the defect is preferably saturated by oxygen. This leaves…
Capillary and van der Waals forces cause nanotubes to deform or even collapse under metal contacts. Using ab-initio bandstructure calculations, we find that these deformations reduce the bandgap by as much as 30\%, while fully collapsed nanotubes become metallic. Moreover degeneracy lifting, due to the broken axial symmetry and wavefunctions mismatch between the fully collapsed and the round portions of a CNT, leads to a three times higher contact resistance. The latter we demonstrate by contact resistance calculations within the tight-binding approach.
Static dielectric response and Born effective charge of BN nanotubes from {\it ab initio} finite electric field calculations
用有限电场方法对BN纳米管（BN-NTs）的全静态介电响应和Born有效电荷进行了{\it Ab initio}研究。据发现，离子的贡献的BN-NTs的静态介电响应是实质性的，也是一个明显的手性依赖的振荡叠加在纵向电极化率和管直径（$D$）之间的线性关系，作为一个薄的介电圆柱壳。相比之下，BN-NT的横向介电响应类似于直径为$D+4$·$ $的薄（非理想）导电圆柱壳的行为，其中内部电场的屏蔽因子为2。玻恩有效电荷的中等主分量$Z_y^*$对应于与BN-NT表面相切的横向原子位移，具有明显的$D$依赖性（但与手性无关），而大的纵向分量$Z_z^*$表现出明显的手性依赖性（但几乎与$D$无关），这表明了表征BN-NT的直径和手性的强有力的方法。
The interactions between carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and metal adatoms as well as metal contacts are studied by means of ab initio electronic structure calculations. We show that the electronic properties of a semiconducting (8,4) CNT can be modified by small amounts of Pd adatoms. Such a decoration conserves the piezoelectric properties of the CNT. Besides the electronic influence, the stability of a single adatom, which is of big importance for future technology applications, is investigated as well. We find only small energy barriers for the diffusion of a Pd adatom on the CNT surface. Thus, si…
We formulate and implement Helical DFT -- a self-consistent first principles simulation method for nanostructures with helical symmetries. Such materials are well represented in all of nanotechnology, chemistry and biology, and are expected to be associated with unprecedented material properties. We rigorously demonstrate the existence and completeness of special solutions to the single electron problem for helical nanostructures, called helical Bloch waves. We describe how the Kohn-Sham Density Functional Theory equations for a helical nanostructure can be reduced to a fundamental domain with…
We use an ab-initio approach to design and study a novel two-dimensional material - a planar array of carbon nanotubes separated by an optimal distance defined by the van der Waals interaction. We show that the energy spectrum for an array of quasi-metallic nanotubes is described by a strongly anisotropic hyperbolic dispersion and formulate a model low-energy Hamiltonian for its semi-analytical treatment. Periodic-potential-induced lifting of the valley degeneracy for an array of zigzag narrow-gap nanotubes leads to the band gap collapse. In contrast, the band gap is opened in an array of gapl…
We theoretically investigate the influence of defect-induced long-range deformations in carbon nanotubes on their electronic transport properties. To this end we perform numerical ab-initio calculations using a density-functional-based tight-binding (DFTB) model for various tubes with vacancies. The geometry optimization leads to a change of the atomic positions. There is a strong reconstruction of the atoms near the defect (called "distortion") and there is an additional long-range deformation. The impact of both structural features on the conductance is systematically investigated. We compar…
We calculate the torsional moduli of single-walled transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) nanotubes using ab initio density functional theory (DFT). Specifically, considering forty-five select TMD nanotubes, we perform symmetry-adapted DFT calculations to calculate the torsional moduli for the armchair and zigzag variants of these materials in the low-twist regime and at practically relevant diameters. We find that the torsional moduli follow the trend: MS$_2$ $>$ MSe$_2$ $>$ MTe$_2$. In addition, the moduli display a power law dependence on diameter, with the scaling generally close to cubic, …
Electronic structure of silicon-based nanostructures
我们已经开发了一个统一的紧束缚哈密顿量，可以解释最近提出的硅基纳米结构，即硅石墨烯片和硅纳米管的电子性质。我们考虑的$sp^3s^*$和$sp^{3}$模型的第一和第二最近的邻居，分别。我们的结果表明，这里考虑的Si石墨烯样片是金属或零间隙半导体，并且相应的Si纳米管遵循所谓的Hamada规则[Phys. Rev. Lett. { \bf 68}，1579 1992]。与最近的{ \it ab initio}计算进行了比较。
