Raman Spectra of Bulk and Few-Layer GeSe From First-Principles Calculations

Raman spectra play a significant role in the study of polar materials. Herein, we report the influence of strain and interlayer shift on vibration responses in bulk and few-layer ferrovalley material GeSe in different polarization states (ferroelectric/FE and antiferroelectric/AFE) based on density functional theory and density functional perturbation theory calculations. We find Ag1 mode shifts by about 10 cm−1 from monolayer to bilayer and trilayer due to the interlayer coupling. The Ag3 mode on behalf of FE mode is observed that is consistent with the experiments in bulk and few-layer GeSe. Meanwhile, in our calculations, with the transition between AFE and FE state in the bilayer and trilayer, the Raman frequency of Ag2 and Ag3 mode decrease obviously whereas that of Ag1 mode increases. Interestingly, the Raman peaks shifted a lot due to the strain effect. We expect these variations in the Raman spectroscopy can be employed to identify the status of GeSe films, e.g., the AFE or FE state, and the number of layers in experiments.

Spectroscopic Identification of Hydrogen Bond Vibrations and Quasi-Isostructural Polymorphism in N-Salicylideneaniline

The ortho-hydroxy aryl Schiff base 2-[(E)-(phenylimino)methyl]phenol and its deutero-derivative have been studied by the inelastic incoherent neutron scattering (IINS), infrared (IR) and Raman experimental methods, as well as by Density Functional Theory (DFT) and Density-Functional Perturbation Theory (DFPT) simulations. The assignments of vibrational modes within the 3500–50 cm−1 spectral region made it possible to state that the strong hydrogen bond in the studied compound can be classified as the so-called quasi-aromatic bond. The isotopic substitution supplemented by the results of DFT calculations allowed us to identify vibrational bands associated with all five major hydrogen bond vibrations. Quasi-isostructural polymorphism of 2-[(E)-(phenylimino)methyl]phenol (SA) and 2-[(E)-(phenyl-D5-imino)methyl]phenol (SA-C6D5) has been studied by powder X-ray diffraction in the 20–320 K temperature range.

Engineering the Thermal Conductivity of Doped SiGe by Mass Variance: A First-Principles Proof of Concept

Thermal conductivity of bulk Si0.5 Ge0.5 at room temperature has been calculated using density functional perturbation theory and the phonon Boltzmann transport equation. Within the virtual crystal approximation, second- and third-order interatomic force constants have been calculated to obtain anharmonic phonon scattering terms. An additional scattering term is introduced to account for mass disorder in the alloy. In the same way, mass disorder resulting from n- and p-type dopants with different concentrations has been included, considering doping with III-group elements (p-type) such as B, Al, and Ga, and with V-group elements (n-type) such as N, P, and As. Little effect on the thermal conductivity is observed for all dopants with a concentration below 1021 cm−3. At higher concentration, reduction by up to 50% is instead observed with B-doping in agreement with the highest mass variance. Interestingly, the thermal conductivity even increases with respect to the pristine value for dopants Ga and As. This results from a decrease in the mass variance in the doped alloy, which can be considered a ternary system. Results are compared to the analogous effect on the thermal conductivity in doped Si.

First-principles modeling of the infrared spectrum of antigorite

The infrared absorption spectrum of a natural antigorite sample from New Caledonia is compared to its theoretical counterpart computed for the pristine antigorite m=17 polysome within the density functional perturbation theory framework. The theoretical model reproduces most of the bands related to Si-O stretching in the 800–1300 cm−1 range, OH libration, hindered OH translation and SiO4 bending in the 400–800 cm−1 range, and OH stretching in the 3500–3700 cm−1 range. Most of the observed bands have a composite nature involving several vibrational modes contributing to their intensity, except the apical and one of the basal Si-O stretching bands whose intensity is carried by a single mode. The peculiarity of the antigorite structure favors a localization of the Si-O and OH stretching modes in specific regions of the unit cell. Weaker Si-O stretching bands experimentally observed at 1205 and 1130 cm−1 are related to the occurrence of 6- and 8-reversals in the antigorite structure, respectively. The distribution of OH bond lengths leads to an asymmetric distribution of frequencies consistent with the width and the shape of the experimentally observed OH stretching band. It also leads to a strong distribution of OH libration frequencies ranging from 600 to 830 cm−1 explaining the asymmetry of the band observed at 648 cm−1 in the antigorite spectrum.

The Case Studies of PtX2 (X = As, P) as High Thermo-power Materials

For thermoelectric applications, semiconductors are generally better than metals and insulators. PtAs2 and PtP2 are indirect energy gap semiconductors that have been predicted with high thermo-powers (PtP2 having higher thermopower than PtAs2). The crystal structure and the electronic structure of PtAs2 and PtP2 are similar except for the energy band gap of PtP2 that is wider than that of PtAs2. The generalized gradient approximation of the Density Functional Theory (DFT), the Density Functional Perturbation Theory (DFPT) were used to explore the full elastic tensors, phonon dispersion and the thermodynamics of PtP2 and PtAs2. This was done to understand the link, if any, between high thermo-power materials and the results. The two compounds are dynamically and elastically stable with higher mechanical properties recorded for PtP2 over PtAs2. The calculated entropy, vibration free energy and the heat capacity at constant volume for PtAs2 (PtP2) were 354.51 (264.18) J/K; -9.21 (27.84) kJ and 276.04 (250.36) J/K at 300 K respectively. The low frequency acoustic modes are between 100 - 170 cm-1 for PtAs2 while it is between100 - 190 cm-1 for PtP2. The calculated high frequency transverse optical (TO) mode for PtP2 is 410 cm-1 while it is 250 cm-1 for PtAs2. Further analysis of the phonons spectrum showed that additional bond-bending modes can be created in PtP2 than in PtAs2. All the results points toward PtP2 as better material over PtAs2 for thermoelectric application and these, with or without the knowledge of the energy bandgap can serve to guide material selection/modelling.

Acoustic Properties of Metal-Organic Frameworks

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have attracted significant attention in the past two decades due to their diverse physical properties and associated functionalities. Although numerous advances have been made, the acoustic properties of MOFs have attracted very little attention. Here, we systematically investigate the acoustic velocities and impedances of 19 prototypical MOFs via first-principle calculations. Our results demonstrate that these MOFs exhibit a wider range of acoustic velocities, higher anisotropy, and lower acoustic impedances than their inorganic counterparts, which are ascribed to their structural diversity and anisotropy, as well as low densities. In addition, the piezoelectric properties, which are intimately related to the acoustic properties, were calculated for 3 MOFs via density functional perturbation theory, which reveals that MOFs can exhibit significant piezoelectricity due to the ionic contribution. Our work provides a comprehensive study of the fundamental acoustic properties of MOFs, which could stimulate further interest in this new exciting field.

A comparison study of the structural electronic, elastic and lattice dynamic properties of ZrInAu and ZrSnPt

To estimate the structural, electronic, elastic and dynamic properties of ZrInAu and ZrSnPt compounds, the density functional theory within the general gradient approximation was used. The computed lattice parameters, bulk modulus and the derivation of bulk modulus with respect to pressure were displayed and compared with the theoretical result. The indirect band gap for ZrInAu was found to be 0.48 eV, and for ZrSnPt the indirect band gap was found as 1.01 eV. Elastic stiffness constants, bulk, shear and Young’s module, Poisson’s coefficients and Zener anisotropy factor are calculated. Elastic properties showed that the ZrSnPt compound is more durable than the ZrInAu compound. Phonon distribution curves and density of states were investigated using a density functional perturbation theory. Both ZrInAu and ZrSnPt compounds were demonstrated to be dynamically stable. The results of this study were obtained for the first time in the literature. These results will make an important contribution to the literature.