scholarly journals Optical Properties and van der Waals-London Dispersion Interactions in Inorganic and Biomolecular Assemblies

2014 ◽  
Vol 1619 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel M. Dryden ◽  
Yingfang Ma ◽  
Jacob Schimelman ◽  
Diana Acosta ◽  
Lijia Liu ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTThe optical properties and electronic structure of AlPO4, SiO2, Type I collagen, and DNA were examined to gain insight into the van der Waals-London dispersion behavior of these materials. Interband optical properties of AlPO4 and SiO2 were derived from vacuum ultraviolet spectroscopy and spectroscopic ellipsometry, and showed a strong dependence on the crystals’ constituent tetrahedral units, with strong implications for the role of phosphate groups in biological materials. The UV-Vis decadic molar absorption of four DNA oligonucleotides was measured, and showed a strong dependence on composition and stacking sequence. A film of Type I collagen was studied using spectroscopic ellipsometry, and showed a characteristic shoulder in the fundamental absorption edge at 6.05 eV. Ab initio calculations based on density functional theory corroborated the experimental results and provided further insights into the electronic structures, interband transitions and vdW-Ld interaction potentials for these materials.

2007 ◽  
Vol 60 (4) ◽  
pp. 251 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roger H. French ◽  
Karen I. Winey ◽  
Min K. Yang ◽  
Weiming Qiu

The interband optical properties of polystyrene in the vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) region have been investigated using combined spectroscopic ellipsometry and VUV spectroscopy. Over the range 1.5–32 eV, the optical properties exhibit electronic transitions we assign to three groupings, E1, E2, and E3, corresponding to a hierarchy of interband transitions of aromatic (π → π*), non-bonding (n → π*, n → σ*), and saturated (σ → σ*) orbitals. In polystyrene there are strong features in the interband transitions arising from the side-chain π bonding of the aromatic ring consisting of a shoulder at 5.8 eV (E1′) and a peak at 6.3 eV (E1), and from the σ bonding of the C–C backbone at 12 eV (E3′) and 17.1 eV (E3). These E3 transitions have characteristic critical point line shapes associated with one-dimensionally delocalized electron states in the polymer backbone. A small shoulder at 9.9 eV (E2) is associated with excitations possibly from residual monomer or impurities. Knowledge of the valence electronic excitations of a material provides the necessary optical properties to calculate the van der Waals–London dispersion interactions using Lifshitz quantum electrodynamics theory and full spectral optical properties. Hamaker constants and the van der Waals–London dispersion component of the surface free energy for polystyrene were determined. These Lifshitz results were compared to the total surface free energy of polystyrene, polarity, and dispersive component of the surface free energy as determined from contact angle measurements with two liquids, and with literature values. The Lifshitz approach, using full spectral Hamaker constants, is a more direct determination of the van der Waals–London dispersion component of the surface free energy of polystyrene than other methods.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
carmelo Naim ◽  
Frédéric Castet ◽  
Eduard Matito

<div> <div> <div> <p>The geometrical structures, relative Z-E energies, and second-order nonlinear responses of a collection of azobenzene molecules symmetrically substituted in meta- position with functional groups of different bulkiness are investigated using various ab initio and DFT levels of approximation. We show that RI-MP2 and RI-CC2 approximations provide very similar geometries and relative energies and evidence that London dispersion interactions existing between bulky meta-substituents stabilize the Z con- former. The !B97-X-D exchange-correlation functional provides an accurate description of these effects and gives a good account of the nonlinear optical response of the molecules. We show that density functional approximations should include no less than 50% of Hartree-Fock exchange to provide accurate hyperpolarizabilities. A property-structure analysis of the azobenzene derivatives reveals that the main contribution to the first hyperpolarizability comes from the azo bond, but phenyl meso-substituents can enhance it.</p> </div> </div> </div>


RSC Advances ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (55) ◽  
pp. 34584-34590 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wei Zhang ◽  
Lifa Zhang

Using hybrid density functional calculations, we studied the electronic and optical properties of graphitic zinc oxide (g-ZnO) and phosphorene van der Waals (vdW) heterostructures.


Nanomaterials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (12) ◽  
pp. 3338
Author(s):  
Jiali Wang ◽  
Xiuwen Zhao ◽  
Guichao Hu ◽  
Junfeng Ren ◽  
Xiaobo Yuan

van der Waals heterostructures (vdWHs) can exhibit novel physical properties and a wide range of applications compared with monolayer two-dimensional (2D) materials. In this work, we investigate the electronic and optical properties of MoSTe/MoGe2N4 vdWH under two different configurations using the VASP software package based on density functional theory. The results show that Te4-MoSTe/MoGe2N4 vdWH is a semimetal, while S4-MoSTe/MoGe2N4 vdWH is a direct band gap semiconductor. Compared with the two monolayers, the absorption coefficient of MoSTe/MoGe2N4 vdWH increases significantly. In addition, the electronic structure and the absorption coefficient can be manipulated by applying biaxial strains and changing interlayer distances. These studies show that MoSTe/MoGe2N4 vdWH is an excellent candidate for high-performance optoelectronic devices.


Nanomaterials ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 82 ◽  
Author(s):  
David K. Sang ◽  
Huide Wang ◽  
Meng Qiu ◽  
Rui Cao ◽  
Zhinan Guo ◽  
...  

Density functional theory calculations of the layer (L)-dependent electronic band structure, work function and optical properties of β-InSe have been reported. Owing to the quantum size effects (QSEs) in β-InSe, the band structures exhibit direct-to-indirect transitions from bulk β-InSe to few-layer β-InSe. The work functions decrease monotonically from 5.22 eV (1 L) to 5.0 eV (6 L) and then remain constant at 4.99 eV for 7 L and 8 L and drop down to 4.77 eV (bulk β-InSe). For optical properties, the imaginary part of the dielectric function has a strong dependence on the thickness variation. Layer control in two-dimensional layered materials provides an effective strategy to modulate the layer-dependent properties which have potential applications in the next-generation high performance electronic and optoelectronic devices.


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