We compute and discuss the electronic band structure and excitonic dispersion of hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) in the single layer configuration and in three bulk polymorphs (usual AA' stacking, Bernal AB, and rhombohedral ABC). We focus on the changes in the electronic band structure and the exciton dispersion induced by the atomic configuration and the electron-hole interaction. Calculations are carried out on the level of \textit{ab initio} many-body perturbation theory (GW and Bethe Salpeter equation) and by means of an appropriate tight-binding model. We confirm the change from direct to indirect electronic gap when going from single layer to bulk systems and we give a detailed account of its origin by comparing the effect of different stacking sequences. We emphasize that the inclusion of the electron-hole interaction is crucial for the correct description of the momentum-dependent dispersion of the excitations. It flattens the exciton dispersion with respect to the one obtained from the dispersion of excitations in the independent-particle picture. In the AB stacking this effect is particularly important as the lowest-lying exciton is predicted to be direct despite the indirect electronic band gap.
Boron is a unique element, being the only element, all known polymorphs of which are superhard, and all of its crystal structures are distinct from any other element. The electron-deficient bonding in boron explains its remarkable sensitivity to even small concentrations of impurity atoms and allows boron to form peculiar chemical compounds with very different elements. These complications made the study of boron a great challenge, creating also a unique and instructive chapter in the history of science. Strange though it may sound, the discovery of boron in 1808 was ambiguous, with pure boron…
Both boron nitride (BN) and carbon (C) have sp, sp2 and sp3 hybridization modes, and thus resulting in a variety of BN and C polymorphs with similar structures, such as hexagonal BN (hBN) and graphite, cubic BN (cBN) and diamond. Here, five types of BN polymorph structures were proposed theoretically, inspired by the graphite-diamond hybrid structures discovered in recent experiment. These BN polymorphs with graphite-diamond hybrid structures possessed excellent mechanical properties with combined high hardness and high ductility, and also exhibited various electronic properties such as semi-c…
Boron nitride (BN) is a material with outstanding technological promise because of its exceptional thermochemical stability, structural, electronic and thermal conductivity properties, and extreme hardness. Yet, the relative thermodynamic stability of its most common polymorphs (diamond-like cubic and graphite-like hexagonal) has not been resolved satisfactorily because of the crucial role played by kinetic factors in the formation of BN phases at high temperatures and pressures (experiments), and by competing bonding, electrostatic and many-body dispersion forces in BN cohesion (theory). This…
Despite several first principles studies, the relative stability of BN polymorphs remains controversial. The stable polymorph varies between the cubic (c-BN) and hexagonal (h-BN) depending on the van der Waals (vdW) dispersion approximation used. These studies are unable to explain the main experimental results, c-BN is stable, the relative stability order and the large energy difference between h-BN and c-BN (greater than 150 meV/formula unit). In this study, we introduce contributions from electron-phonon interactions (EPI) to the total energy of BN polymorphs. This clearly establishes c-BN …
Two-dimensional boron monolayer (borophene) stands out from the two-dimensional atomic layered materials due to its structural flexibility, tunable electronic and mechanical properties from a large number of allotropic materials. The stability of pristine borophene polymorphs could possibly be improved via hydrogenation with atomic hydrogen (referred to as borophane). However, the precise adsorption structures and the underlying mechanism are still elusive. Employing first-principles calculations, we demonstrate the optimal configurations of freestanding borophanes and the ones grown on metall…
The typical two-dimensional semiconductors, group \uppercase\expandafter{\romannumeral3A} chalcogenides, have garnered tremendous interest for their outstanding electronic, mechanical, and chemical properties. However, so far, there have been almost no reports on boron monosulfides (BS) binary material. Here, four two-dimensional BS sheets, namely the $α$-, $β$-, $γ$-, and $δ$-BS sheets, are proposed and discussed from $\emph{ab initio}$ calculations. State-of-the-art first-principles calculations reveal all these structures are thermally and dynamically stable, indicating the potential for su…
Here we report the systematic study of solid-state phase transformations between boron polymorphs: α-B12, β-B106, γ-B28, T-B52 and amorphous boron (am-B). It is evident that the Ostwald rule of stages plays an important role during phase transformations not only of amorphous boron, but also of crystalline forms. We have observed the crystallization of tetragonal boron T-B52 from amorphous phase of high purity (99.99%), which, however, cannot be easily distinguished from B50C2 boron compound. Many factors influence the transformations of amorphous phase, and it is possible to observe not only w…
Although Boron nitride (BN) is a well-known compound widely used for engineering and scientific purposes, the phase stability of its polymorphs, one of its most fundamental properties, is still under debate. The ab initio determination of the ground state of the BN polymorphs, such as hexagonal and zinc-blende, is difficult because of the elusive Van der Waals interaction, which plays a decisive role in some of the polymorphs, making quantitative prediction highly challenging. Hence, despite multiple theoretical studies, there has been no consensus on the ground state yet, primarily due to con…
In materials science, it is often assumed that ground state crystal structures predicted by density functional theory are the easiest polymorphs to synthesize. Ternary nitride materials, with many possible metastable polymorphs, provide a rich materials space to study what influences thermodynamic stability and polymorph synthesizability. For example, ZnZrN2 is theoretically predicted at zero Kelvin to have an unusual layered "wurtsalt" ground state crystal structure with compelling optoelectronic properties, but it is unknown whether this structure can be realized experimentally under practic…
The complex crystal chemistry of elemental boron has led to numerous proposed structures with distinctive motifs as well as contradictory findings. Herein, evolutionary structure searches performed at 100 GPa have uncovered a series of potential new metastable phases of boron, and bonding analyses were carried out to elucidate their electronic structure. These polymorphs, dynamically stable at 100 GPa, were grouped into two families. The first was derived from the thermodynamic minimum at these conditions, $α$-Ga, whereas channels comprised the second. Two additional intergrowth structures wer…
Boron (B) has the potential for generating an intermediate band in cubic silicon carbide (3C-SiC), turning this material into a highly efficient absorber for single-junction solar cells. The formation of a delocalized band demands high concentration of the foreign element, but the precipitation behavior of B in the 3C polymorph of SiC is not well known. Here, probe-corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy and secondary-ion mass spectrometry are used to investigate precipitation mechanisms in B-implanted 3C-SiC as a function of temperature. Point-defect clustering was detected after …
In this paper, three novel metallic sp2/sp3 -hybridized Boron Nitride (BN) polymorphs are proposed by first-principles calculations. One of them, named as tP-BN, is predicted based on the evolutionary particle swarm structural search. tP-BN is constructed by two interlocked rings forming a tube-like 3D network. The stability and band structure calculations show tP-BN is metastable and metallic at zero pressure. Calculations for the density of states and electron orbits confirm that the metallicity originates from the sp2 -hybridized B and N atoms, and forming 1D linear conductive channels in t…
The structures and magnetic properties of the Co-Zr-B alloys near the Co5Zr composition were studied using adaptive genetic algorithm and first-principles calculations to guide further experimental effort on optimizing their magnetic performances. Through extensive structural searches, we constructed the contour maps of the energetics and magnetic moments of the Co-Zr-B magnet alloys as a function of composition. We found that the Co-Zr-B system exhibits the same structural motif as the "Co11Zr2" polymorphs, which plays a key role in achieving high coercivity. Boron atoms can either substitute…
