Structure and atomic dynamics in condensed matter under pressure and Li-ion battery materials

The main goal of this research was to apply first-principles electronic structure calculations to investigate atomic motions in several condensed materials. This thesis consists of five separate but related topics that are classified into two main categories: structure of materials under pressure and Li ion dynamics in lithium battery materials. The atomic structure of liquid gallium was investigated in order to resolve a controversy about an anomalous structural feature observed in the x-ray and neutron scattering patterns. We explored the pressure effect when modifying the liquid structure close to the solid-liquid melting line. The atomic trajectories obtained from first-principles molecular dynamics (FPMD) calculations were examined. The results clarified the local structure of liquid gallium and explained the origin of a peculiar feature observed in the measured static structure factor. We also studied the structure of a recently discovered phase-IV of solid hydrogen over a broad pressure range near room temperature. The results revealed novel structural dynamics of hydrogen under extreme pressure. Unprecedented large amplitude fluxional atomic dynamics were observed. The results helped to elucidate the complex vibrational spectra of this highly-compressed solid. The atomic dynamics of Li ions in cathode, anode, and electrolyte materials - the three main components of a lithium ion battery - were also studied. On LiFePO4, a promising cathode material, we found that in addition to the commonly accepted one-dimensional diffusion along the Li channels in the crystal structure, a second but less obvious multi-step Li migration through the formation of Li-Fe antisites was identified. This discovery confirms the two-dimensional Li diffusion model reported in several Li conductivity measurements and illustrates the importance of the distribution of intrinsic defects in the enhancement of Li transport ability. The possibility of using type-II clathrate Si136 as an anode material was investigated. It was found that lithiated Si-clathrates are intrinsic metals and their crystal structures are very stable. Calculations revealed the charge and discharge voltages are very low and almost independent of the Li concentrations, an ideal property for an anode material. Significantly, migration pathways for Li ions diffusing through the cavities of the clathrate structures were found to be rather complex. Finally, the feasibility of a family of Li3PS4 crystalline and nanoporous cluster phases were studied for application as solid electrolytes. It was found that the ionic conductivity in the nanocluster is much higher than in crystalline phases. It is anticipated that the knowledge gained in the study of battery materials will assist in future design of new materials with improved battery charge and discharge performance

Computing optical properties of large systems

In recent years, time-dependent density-functional theory (TDDFT) has been the method of choice for calculating optical excitations in medium sized to large systems, due to its good balance between computational cost and achievable accuracy. In this thesis, TDDFT is reformulated to fit the framework of the linear-scaling density-functional theory (DFT) code ONETEP. The implementation relies on representing the optical response of the system using two sets of localised, atom centered, in situ optimised orbitals in order to ideally describe both the electron and the hole wavefunctions of the excitation. This dual representation approach requires only a minimal number of localised functions, leading to a very efficient algorithm. It is demonstrated that the method has the capability of computing low energy excitations of systems containing thousands of atoms in a computational effort that scales linearly with system size. The localised representation of the response to a perturbation allows for the selective convergence of excitations localised in certain regions of a larger system. The excitations of the whole system can then be obtained by treating the coupling between different subsystems perturbatively. It is shown that in the limit of weakly coupled excitons, the results obtained with the coupled subsystem approach agree with a full treatment of the entire system, with a large reduction in computational cost. The strengths of the methodology developed in this work are demonstrated on a number of realistic test systems, such as doped p-terphenyl molecular crystals and the exciton coupling in the Fenna-Matthews-Olson complex of bacteriochlorophyll. It is shown that the coupled subsystem TDDFT approach allows for the treatment of system sizes inaccessible by previous methods.Open Acces

Pr1−x_{1-x}Cax_xMnOx_x for Catalytic Water Splitting - Optical Properties and In Situ ETEM Investigations

Gegenstand der vorliegenden Dissertation ist die Untersuchung von Ca-dotierten PrMnO3 (PCMO) als Katalysator für die (photo)elektrochemische Wasseroxidation. Im Fokus der Untersuchungen stehen die folgenden elementaren Schritte des Gesamtprozesses: i) Die optische Absorption in PCMO wird zunächst als Funktion der Ca-Dotierung und der Temperatur untersucht mit dem Ziel, den Einfluß von Korrelationseffekten auf die optischen Eigenschaften zu verstehen. Die präsentierten Ergebnisse zeigen, dass die Bildung kleiner Polaronen im PCMO als Folge starker Korrelationswechselwirkungen in breites Absorptionsmaximum im Nah-Infrarot bis sichtbarem Energiebereich verursacht, welches im Rahmen eines Photonen-assistierten Polaronenhüpfprozesses und einer Anregung zwischen Jahn-Teller-aufgespaltenen Zuständen diskutiert wird. Weiterhin legt die Dotierungsabhängigkeit der Spektren nahe, dass O 2p und Mn 3d Hybridzustände die Fermienergie-nahe elektronische Struktur bestimmen, wobei der relative Anteil von O 2p mit der Ca-Dotierung variiert. ii) Der aktive Zustand von PCMO in Kontakt mit Wasser bzw. Wasserdampf wird mit Hilfe von Zyklovoltammetrie und in situ ‚environmental‘ Transmissionselektronenmikroskopie (ETEM) für verschiedene Dotierlevels untersucht. Die Ergebnisse beider Methoden ergeben, dass die katalysierte Wasseroxidation gemäß $2\text{H}_2\text{O} \rightarrow \text{O}_2 + 4 \text{H}^+$ mit einem Korrosionsprozess in Form einer Pr/Ca Verarmung und Amorphisierung der PCMO-Elektrode konkurriert. Die höchste katalytische Aktivität sowie Korrosionsstabilität werden im mittleren Dotierungsbereich gefunden. Auf Basis der in situ ETEM Ergebnisse wird außerdem gezeigt, dass durch Zufügen von Monosilan zu Wasserdampf-basierten Elektrolyten im ETEM eine Elektronenstrahl-induzierte Wasseroxidation an aktiven PCMO Oberflächen über die Sekundärreaktion $\text{SiH}_4+2\text{O}_2\rightarrow\text{SiO}_2+2\text{H}_2\text{O}$ nachgewiesen werden kann. Elektronenenergieverlustspektroskopie von PCMO vor und nach der Reaktion in Wasserdampf ergeben, dass der aktive Zustand von PCMO die Bildung und Ausheilung von Sauerstoffleerstellen im Rahmen einer Interkalation des bei der Wasseroxidation freiwerdenden Sauerstoffs beinhaltet. Die Rolle des Elektronenstrahls als Triebkraft für die Wasseroxidation im ETEM wird mithilfe von Elektronenholographie und elektrischen Experimenten sowie theoretischer Modellierung basierend auf Sekundärelektronenemissionen als ein positives Elektronenstrahl-induziertes elektrisches Potential identifiziert

Computing local multipoint correlators using the numerical renormalization group

Local three- and four-point correlators yield important insight into strongly correlated systems and have many applications. However, the nonperturbative, accurate computation of multipoint correlators is challenging, particularly in the real-frequency domain for systems at low temperatures. In the accompanying paper, we introduce generalized spectral representations for multipoint correlators. Here, we develop a numerical renormalization group (NRG) approach, capable of efficiently evaluating these spectral representations, to compute local three- and four-point correlators of quantum impurity models. The key objects in our scheme are partial spectral functions, encoding the system's dynamical information. Their computation via NRG allows us to simultaneously resolve various multiparticle excitations down to the lowest energies. By subsequently convolving the partial spectral functions with appropriate kernels, we obtain multipoint correlators in the imaginary-frequency Matsubara, the real-frequency zero-temperature, and the real-frequency Keldysh formalisms. We present exemplary results for the connected four-point correlators of the Anderson impurity model, and for resonant inelastic x-ray scattering (RIXS) spectra of related impurity models. Our method can treat temperatures and frequencies -- imaginary or real -- of all magnitudes, from large to arbitrarily small ones.Comment: See also the jointly published paper [F. B. Kugler, S.-S. B. Lee, and J. von Delft, Phys. Rev. X 11, 041006 (2021); arXiv:2101.00707

Electronic properties of molybdenum disulphide calculated from first principles

The electrical properties of bulk and single-layer molybdenum disulphide and the electrical and magnetic properties of molybdenum disulphide nanoribbons have been investigated using density functional theory within the first principles’ calculation framework. Changes in energy band structure observed during the transition from bulk to single-layer MoS$_2$ are linked to atomic orbitals through the use of maximally-localised Wannier functions. Extensive structural optimisation studies have been used to explore the effects of stress and strain on the electronic properties of both bulk and single-layer MoS$_2$. It has been found that the electronic structure and in particular, the energy band gap of MoS$_2$ nanoribbons are sensitive to the relaxation of the lattice; and consequently, measurements of the electronic properties will depend strongly on both the preparation of the sample and the substrate on which it is deposited. The spin polarised energy band structure and the charge density were used to determine the magnetic states of zigzag nanoribbons. It has been found that both ferromagnetic and anti-ferromagnetic states are equally probable in both passivated and non-passivated zigzag nanoribbons and the calculated result depends on the initial spin configuration prior to optimisation. A new hydrogen passivation structure on the edges of MoS$_2$ nanoribbons was suggested, which shows zigzag nanoribbons can also become semiconducting. Finally, the electrical and magnetic properties of a novel chiral MoS$_2$ nanoribbon were modelled, which showed that the chiral MoS$_2$ nanoribbons can exhibit both semiconducting and ferromagnetic behaviour simultaneously; this has never been previously reported

Tuning the pseudospin polarization of graphene by a pseudo-magnetic field

One of the intriguing characteristics of honeycomb lattices is the appearance of a pseudo-magnetic field as a result of mechanical deformation. In the case of graphene, the Landau quantization resulting from this pseudo-magnetic field has been measured using scanning tunneling microscopy. Here we show that a signature of the pseudo-magnetic field is a local sublattice symmetry breaking observable as a redistribution of the local density of states. This can be interpreted as a polarization of graphene's pseudospin due to a strain induced pseudo-magnetic field, in analogy to the alignment of a real spin in a magnetic field. We reveal this sublattice symmetry breaking by tunably straining graphene using the tip of a scanning tunneling microscope. The tip locally lifts the graphene membrane from a SiO$_2$ support, as visible by an increased slope of the $I(z)$ curves. The amount of lifting is consistent with molecular dynamics calculations, which reveal a deformed graphene area under the tip in the shape of a Gaussian. The pseudo-magnetic field induced by the deformation becomes visible as a sublattice symmetry breaking which scales with the lifting height of the strained deformation and therefore with the pseudo-magnetic field strength. Its magnitude is quantitatively reproduced by analytic and tight-binding models, revealing fields of 1000 T. These results might be the starting point for an effective THz valley filter, as a basic element of valleytronics.Comment: Revised manuscript: streamlined the abstract and introduction, added methods to supplement, Nano Letters, 201

Solid-State Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy of Unreceptive Quadrupolar Nuclei in Inorganic Materials

Preparation and characterization of inorganic materials is a crucial practice because understanding the relationship between structure and property is important for improving current performance and developing novel materials. Many metal centers in technologically and industrially important materials are unreceptive low-γ quadrupolar nuclei (i.e., possessing low natural abundance, low NMR frequencies and large quadrupole moments) and they usually give rise to very broad NMR resonances and low signal-to-noise ratios, making it difficult to acquire their solid-state NMR spectra. This thesis focuses on the characterization of inorganic materials using solid-state NMR (SSNMR) spectroscopy at very high magnetic field of 21.1 T in combination with quantum chemical calculations for computational modeling. In the first part of this thesis, 67Zn and 17O SSNMR studies of several microporous materials were reported. The results of 67Zn SSNMR studies from several important metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), in particular, zeolitic imidazolate frameworks (ZIFs) were presented. 67Zn SSNMR spectroscopy was used to gain structural information regarding the desolvation process in MOF-5. Furthermore, 67Zn SSNMR spectroscopy were utilized to study the host-guest interactions in ZIF-8 loaded with different guest molecules. Static 67Zn SSNMR spectra of microporous zinc phosphites (ZnP) and zinc phosphates (ZnPO) were also acquired at natural abundance. The Gaussian calculation results on a model cluster for ZnP indicate that Zn–O bond length is the most dominant factor to the observed quadrupolar coupling constant (CQ) among other geometric parameters around Zn centres. The local structures of the framework oxygen sites in molecular sieve SAPO-34 were directly probed by several 17O SSNMR techniques. The involvement of water vapor during the SAPO-34 formation in dry-gel conversion (DGC) synthesis was also investigated. In the second part, 91Zr and 33S SSNMR spectra of layered zirconium phosphates (ZrP) and transition metal disulfides (MS2) were obtained. The empirical correlations between NMR parameters and various structural parameters were used for obtaining partial structural information in Li+ and Co(NH3)63+ exchanged layered ZrP. For a series of closely related MS2 materials, the observed differences in the CQ(33S) values were rationalized by considering the difference in their geometrical arrangements. The final part of this thesis featured two examples of SSNMR spectroscopy of “exotic” nuclei in some interesting inorganic materials. (i) The experimental 135/137Ba SSNMR spectroscopy and theoretical studies of β-BBO, an important non-linear optical (NLO) material, indicate that the true crystal structure of β-BBO is R3c space group rather than R3. (ii) An ultrahigh field natural abundance 73Ge SSNMR study of two representative germanium containing materials [GeCl2•dioxane and GePh4] demonstrated that acquiring 73Ge wideline NMR spectra of germanium compounds where the Ge experiences an extremely large quadrupolar interaction is feasible and that the small 73Ge chemical shielding anisotropy (CSA) can be directly measured