scholarly journals Accurate Prediction of Band Structure of FeS2: A Hard Quest of Advanced First-Principles Approaches

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Min-Ye Zhang ◽  
Hong Jiang

The pyrite and marcasite polymorphs of FeS2 have attracted considerable interests for their potential applications in optoelectronic devices because of their appropriate electronic and optical properties. Controversies regarding their fundamental band gaps remain in both experimental and theoretical materials research of FeS2. In this work, we present a systematic theoretical investigation into the electronic band structures of the two polymorphs by using many-body perturbation theory with the GW approximation implemented in the full-potential linearized augmented plane waves (FP-LAPW) framework. By comparing the quasi-particle (QP) band structures computed with the conventional LAPW basis and the one extended by high-energy local orbitals (HLOs), denoted as LAPW + HLOs, we find that one-shot or partially self-consistent GW (G0W0 and GW0, respectively) on top of the Perdew-Burke-Ernzerhof (PBE) generalized gradient approximation with a converged LAPW + HLOs basis is able to remedy the artifact reported in the previous GW calculations, and leads to overall good agreement with experiment for the fundamental band gaps of the two polymorphs. Density of states calculated from G0W0@PBE with the converged LAPW + HLOs basis agrees well with the energy distribution curves from photo-electron spectroscopy for pyrite. We have also investigated the performances of several hybrid functionals, which were previously shown to be able to predict band gaps of many insulating systems with accuracy close or comparable to GW. It is shown that the hybrid functionals considered in general fail badly to describe the band structures of FeS2 polymorphs. This work indicates that accurate prediction of electronic band structure of FeS2 poses a stringent test on state-of-the-art first-principles approaches, and the G0W0 method based on semi-local approximation performs well for this difficult system if it is practiced with well-converged numerical accuracy.

Author(s):  
Supratik Mukherjee ◽  
Aiswarya T ◽  
Subrata Mondal ◽  
Ganapathy Vaitheeswaran

Abstract This article thoroughly addresses the structural, mechanical, vibrational, electronic band structure and the optical properties of the unexplored thallous perchlorate and perbromate from ab-initio calculations. The zone centered vibrational phonon frequencies shows, there is a blue shift in the mid and high frequency range from Cl → Br due to change in mass and force constant with respect to oxygen atom. From the band structure it is clear that the top of the valence band is due to thallium s states, whereas the bottom of the conduction band is due to halogen s and oxygen p states, showing similar magnitude of dispersion and exhibits a charge transfer character. These characteristics and the band gap obtained are consistent with that of a favourable scintillators. Our findings deliver directions for the design of efficient TlXO4 based scintillators with high performance which are desirable for distinct applications such as medical imaging, high energy physics experiments, nuclear security.


Author(s):  
Tai Ma ◽  
Jia Wang ◽  
Xu Li ◽  
Min Pu

Two-dimensional (2D) materials with robust ferromagnetism properties have high potentials for application in the field of spintronics. However, extensively pursued 2D sheets, including pure graphene, monolayer BN, and layered transition metal dichalcogenides, are either nonmagnetic or weakly magnetic. The elastic, electronic and magnetic properties of monolayer CrN are calculated using the plane wave pseudo potential method based on first-principles density function theory. Upon determining through calculation that the structure of the monolayer CrN nanosheet is stable, its layer modulus [Formula: see text] shows that its strain resistance is stronger than that of graphene. Through strain analysis, materials with a monolayer CrN type of structure can be obtained. It is determined that 10% of the change in equilibrium area is still applicable to the 2D EOS, showing that this structure is quite stable. The spin-polarized electronic band structure is also calculated under different plane symmetry strains. The plane strain can be used to effectively adjust the metallic and magnetic properties of the material. Analyses of the band structure and density of states reveal that this material is half-metallic, where the origin of the ferromagnetism is related to [Formula: see text]–[Formula: see text] exchange interactions between the Cr and N atoms. Monolayer CrN has semimetallic properties and strong ferromagnetic (FM) properties. The FM effect can enhance the stability of the material. The results show that monolayer CrN is a semimetallic material with good elastic properties and a strong FM property. This material is therefore expected to have good application rospects in the field of spin electronics.


2021 ◽  
Vol 223 (1) ◽  
pp. 68-80
Author(s):  
Thanit Saisopa ◽  
Chakrit Nualchimplee ◽  
Yuttakarn Rattanachai ◽  
Kompichit Seehamart ◽  
Isara Kotutha ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 581-590 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Y. Wu ◽  
L. Sun ◽  
J. C. Han ◽  
H. R. Gong

First-principles calculation and Boltzmann transport theory have been combined to comparatively investigate the band structures, phonon spectra, and thermoelectric properties of both β-BiSb and β-BiAs monolayers.


SPIN ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (03) ◽  
pp. 2050022 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Belkacem ◽  
Y. Zaoui ◽  
S. Amari ◽  
L. Beldi ◽  
B. Bouhafs

The first-principles approach based on density functional theory (DFT) and the full-potential linearized augmented plane-wave method were employed to investigate the structural, elastic, electronic and magnetic properties of Na[Formula: see text]NO ([Formula: see text], Sr and Ba) quaternary half-Heusler alloys. The generalized gradient approximation (GGA) as parameterized by Perdew, Burke and Ernzerhof (PBE) and the modified Becke–Johnson exchange potential were used. As far as we know, we present our results which for the first time quantitatively account for the electronic structures and magnetic properties of Na[Formula: see text]NO ([Formula: see text], Sr and Ba) quaternary half-Heusler alloys. From the total energy calculation using three possible atomic configurations ([Formula: see text], [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text]), it is found that the Na[Formula: see text]NO ([Formula: see text], Sr and Ba) quaternary half-Heusler alloys are more stable in the ferromagnetic [Formula: see text]-phase. From our estimated elastic constants [Formula: see text], it is found that all the considered Heusler alloys are mechanically stable in the [Formula: see text]-phase. We have also investigated the robustness of the half-metallicity with respect to the variation of lattice constants in these alloys. We have found that these alloys are half-metallic ferromagnets (HMFs) with a magnetic moment of 2[Formula: see text][Formula: see text] per formula unit at their equilibrium volumes. The spin-polarized electronic band structure and density of states of these quaternary half-Heusler alloys calculated by GGA (mBJ-GGA) show that the minority spin channels have metallic nature and the majority spin channels have a semiconductor character with half-metallic gaps of 0.49[Formula: see text]eV (2.17[Formula: see text]eV), 0.72[Formula: see text]eV (2.28[Formula: see text]eV) and 0.96[Formula: see text]eV (2.22[Formula: see text]eV) for NaCaNO, NaSrNO and NaBaNO quaternary half-Heusler alloys, respectively. Analysis of the density of states and the spin charge density of these quaternary alloys indicates that their magnetic moments mainly originate from the strong spin-polarization of 2[Formula: see text] states of N atoms and O atoms.


2016 ◽  
Vol 30 (30) ◽  
pp. 1650217 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sihao Xia ◽  
Lei Liu ◽  
Yike Kong ◽  
Honggang Wang ◽  
Meishan Wang

In order to investigate the influences of different Al constituents on Ga[Formula: see text]Al[Formula: see text]N nanowires, the formation energy, stability, band structure, densities of states and optical properties of Ga[Formula: see text]Al[Formula: see text]N nanowires with different Al constituents are calculated using first-principles plane-wave ultrasoft pseudopotential method. Results show that Ga[Formula: see text]Al[Formula: see text]N nanowires become more stable with increasing Al constituent. Bandgap of Ga[Formula: see text]Al[Formula: see text]N nanowires increases as the Al constituent increases but with a lower amplification compared with bulk Ga[Formula: see text]Al[Formula: see text]N. The peaks of static dielectric constants show a decreasing trend and move towards high-energy side as Al constituent increases. The absorption of Ga[Formula: see text]Al[Formula: see text]N nanowires shows an interesting phenomenon that it firstly increases and then decreases slightly as the Al constituent increases. Reflectivity of Ga[Formula: see text]Al[Formula: see text]N nanowires is much smaller than that of the bulk. The optical properties of Ga[Formula: see text]Al[Formula: see text]N nanowires show a blueshift effect as Al composition increases. According to these calculations, it is found that Ga[Formula: see text]Al[Formula: see text]N nanowires are appropriate to be applied into photoelectric detecting materials by adjusting the Al constituent of Ga[Formula: see text]Al[Formula: see text]N nanowires.


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