Correlation effects in electronic structure of PuCoGa5

We report on results of the first realistic electronic structure calculations of the Pu-based PuCoGa5 superconductor based on the dynamical mean field theory. We find that dynamical correlations due to the local Coulomb interaction between Pu f-electrons lead to substantial modification of the electronic structure with a narrow peak being formed in vicinity of the Fermi energy, in agreement with the experimental photoemission spectra, and in contrast with the recent calculations within the LDA+U method, where only static electronic correlations have been included. Both Pu and Co contribute in equal footing to the narrow peak on the density of states at the Fermi level, the Co partial density of states being prominently affected by electronic correlations on the Pu sites. The k-resolved spectral density is calculated and the theoretical spectral function resolved extended Van Hove singularity near the Fermi energy. This singularity may lead to enchancement of the magnetic susceptebility and favour d-wave superconductivity

Adhesion and electronic structure of graphene on hexagonal boron nitride substrates

We investigate the adsorption of graphene sheets on h-BN substrates by means of first-principles calculations in the framework of adiabatic connection fluctuation-dissipation theory in the random phase approximation. We obtain adhesion energies for different crystallographic stacking configurations and show that the interlayer bonding is due to long-range van der Waals forces. The interplay of elastic and adhesion energies is shown to lead to stacking disorder and moir\'e structures. Band structure calculations reveal substrate induced mass terms in graphene which change their sign with the stacking configuration. The dispersion, absolute band gaps and the real space shape of the low energy electronic states in the moir\'e structures are discussed. We find that the absolute band gaps in the moir\'e structures are at least an order of magnitude smaller than the maximum local values of the mass term. Our results are in agreement with recent STM experiments.Comment: 8 pages, 8 figures, revised and extended version, to appear in Phys. Rev.

Probing of valley polarization in graphene via optical second-harmonic generation

Valley polarization in graphene breaks inversion symmetry and therefore leads to second-harmonic generation. We present a complete theory of this effect within a single-particle approximation. It is shown that this may be a sensitive tool to measure the valley polarization created, e.g., by polarized light and, thus, can be used for a development of ultrafast valleytronics in graphene.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure

An dynamical-mean-field-theory investigation of specific heat and electronic structure of α\alpha and δ\delta-plutonium

We have carried out a comparative study of the electronic specific heat and electronic structure of $\alpha$ and $\delta$-plutonium using dynmical mean field theory (DMFT). We use the perturbative T-matrix and fluctuating exchange (T-matrix FLEX) as a quantum impurity solver. We considered two different physical pictures of plutonoium. In the first, $5{f^5}+$, the perturbative treatment of electronic correlations has been carried out around the non-magnetic (LDA) Hamiltonian, which results in an f occupation around a bit above $n_f = 5$. In the second, $5{f^6}-$, plutonium is viewed as being close to an $5{f^6}$ configuration, and perturbation theory is carried out around the (LDA+U) starting point bit below $n_f = 6$. In the latter case the electronic specific heat coefficient $\gamma$ attains a smaller value in $\gamma$-Pu than in $\alpha$-Pu, in contradiction to experiment, while in the former case our calculations reproduce the experimentally observed large increase of $\gamma$ in $\delta$-Pu as compared to the $\alpha$ phase. This enhancement of the electronic specific heat coefficient in $\delta$-Pu is due to strong electronic correlations present in this phase, which cause a substantial increase of the electronic effective mass, and high density of states at $E_F$. The densities of states of $\alpha$ and $\delta$-plutonium obtained starting from the open-shell configuration are also in good agreement with the experimental photoemission spectra.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figure

Adsorption of cobalt on graphene: Electron correlation effects from a quantum chemical perspective

In this work, we investigate the adsorption of a single cobalt atom (Co) on graphene by means of the complete active space self-consistent field approach, additionally corrected by the second-order perturbation theory. The local structure of graphene is modeled by a planar hydrocarbon cluster (C$_{24}$H$_{12}$). Systematic treatment of the electron correlations and the possibility to study excited states allow us to reproduce the potential energy curves for different electronic configurations of Co. We find that upon approaching the surface, the ground-state configuration of Co undergoes several transitions, giving rise to two stable states. The first corresponds to the physisorption of the adatom in the high-spin $3d^74s^2$ ($S=3/2$) configuration, while the second results from the chemical bonding formed by strong orbital hybridization, leading to the low-spin $3d^9$ ($S=1/2$) state. Due to the instability of the $3d^9$ configuration, the adsorption energy of Co is small in both cases and does not exceed 0.35 eV. We analyze the obtained results in terms of a simple model Hamiltonian that involves Coulomb repulsion ($U$) and exchange coupling ($J$) parameters for the 3$d$ shell of Co, which we estimate from first-principles calculations. We show that while the exchange interaction remains constant upon adsorption ($\simeq1.1$ eV), the Coulomb repulsion significantly reduces for decreasing distances (from 5.3 to 2.6$\pm$0.2 eV). The screening of $U$ favors higher occupations of the 3$d$ shell and thus is largely responsible for the interconfigurational transitions of Co. Finally, we discuss the limitations of the approaches that are based on density functional theory with respect to transition metal atoms on graphene, and we conclude that a proper account of the electron correlations is crucial for the description of adsorption in such systems.Comment: 12 pages, 6 figures, 2 table

Interfacial interactions between local defects in amorphous SiO2_2 and supported graphene

We present a density functional study of graphene adhesion on a realistic SiO$_2$ surface taking into account van der Waals (vdW) interactions. The SiO$_2$ substrate is modeled at the local scale by using two main types of surface defects, typical for amorphous silica: the oxygen dangling bond and three-coordinated silicon. The results show that the nature of adhesion between graphene and its substrate is qualitatively dependent on the surface defect type. In particular, the interaction between graphene and silicon-terminated SiO$_2$ originates exclusively from the vdW interaction, whereas the oxygen-terminated surface provides additional ionic contribution to the binding arising from interfacial charge transfer ($p$-type doping of graphene). Strong doping contrast for the different surface terminations provides a mechanism for the charge inhomogeneity of graphene on amorphous SiO$_2$ observed in experiments. We found that independent of the considered surface morphologies, the typical electronic structure of graphene in the vicinity of the Dirac point remains unaltered in contact with the SiO$_2$ substrate, which points to the absence of the covalent interactions between graphene and amorphous silica. The case of hydrogen-passivated SiO$_2$ surfaces is also examined. In this situation, the binding with graphene is practically independent of the type of surface defects and arises, as expected, from the vdW interactions. Finally, the interface distances obtained are shown to be in good agreement with recent experimental studies.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figure