Large-scale surface reconstruction energetics of Pt(100) and Au(100) by all-electron DFT

The low-index surfaces of Au and Pt all tend to reconstruct, a fact that is of key importance in many nanostructure, catalytic, and electrochemical applications. Remarkably, some significant questions regarding their structural energies remain even today, in particular for the large-scale quasihexagonal reconstructed (100) surfaces: Rather dissimilar reconstruction energies for Au and Pt in available experiments, and experiment and theory do not match for Pt. We here show by all-electron density-functional theory that only large enough "(5 x N)" approximant supercells capture the qualitative reconstruction energy trend between Au(100) and Pt(100), in contrast to what is often done in the theoretical literature. Their magnitudes are then in fact similar, and closer to the measured value for Pt(100); our calculations achieve excellent agreement with known geometric characteristics and provide direct evidence for the electronic reconstruction driving force.Comment: updated version - also includes EPAPS information as auxiliary file; related publications can be found at http://www.fhi-berlin.mpg.de/th/th.htm

Modeling of electronic transport in nanostructures

Nanometer-scale electronic devices are building blocks of future electronics. The function of these components is based on quantum-mechanical phenomena and therefore new modeling methods has to be developed to model properties of nano-devices. In this thesis one solution and implementation is presented. In this thesis transport properties of the nano-devices are modeled using the density-functional theory. In the main part of the work electron densities and currents calculated using the Green's function method. The method enables the connection of the nanostructure to the semi-infinite leads by the open boundary conditions making finite-size effects small. Electron currents under finite bias conditions can also be calculated. The use of the Green's function method is computationally heavy in comparison to the explicit wave-function methods. An important part of this thesis work is to choose efficient numerical methods and their implementation. The computer code created has one-, two- and three-dimensional versions so that different types of nanostructures can be modeled. The oneand two-dimensional versions use the effective mass approximation while the three-dimensional one uses nonlocal pseudopotential operators. The numerical implementation is done using the finite-element method with the so-called hp-elements. The codes implemented are used to model magnetic resonance tunneling diodes, two-dimensional quantum wires, Na-atom chains and thin HfO2 layers.reviewe

Core level binding energies of functionalized and defective graphene

X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) is a widely used tool for studying the chemical composition of materials and it is a standard technique in surface science and technology. XPS is particularly useful for characterizing nanostructures such as carbon nanomaterials due to their reduced dimensionality. In order to assign the measured binding energies to specific bonding environments, reference energy values need to be known. Experimental measurements of the core level signals of the elements present in novel materials such as graphene have often been compared to values measured for molecules, or calculated for finite clusters. Here we have calculated core level binding energies for variously functionalized or defected graphene by delta Kohn–Sham total energy differences in the real-space grid-based projector-augmented wave density functional theory code (GPAW). To accurately model extended systems, we applied periodic boundary conditions in large unit cells to avoid computational artifacts. In select cases, we compared the results to all-electron calculations using an ab initio molecular simulations (FHI-aims) code. We calculated the carbon and oxygen 1s core level binding energies for oxygen and hydrogen functionalities such as graphane-like hydrogenation, and epoxide, hydroxide and carboxylic functional groups. In all cases, we considered binding energy contributions arising from carbon atoms up to the third nearest neighbor from the functional group, and plotted C 1s line shapes by using experimentally realistic broadenings. Furthermore, we simulated the simplest atomic defects, namely single and double vacancies and the Stone–Thrower–Wales defect. Finally, we studied modifications of a reactive single vacancy with O and H functionalities, and compared the calculated values to data found in the literature.Peer reviewe

Core level binding energies of functionalized and defective graphene

X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) is a widely used tool for studying the chemical composition of materials and it is a standard technique in surface science and technology. XPS is particularly useful for characterizing nanostructures such as carbon nanomaterials due to their reduced dimensionality. In order to assign the measured binding energies to specific bonding environments, reference energy values need to be known. Experimental measurements of the core level signals of the elements present in novel materials such as graphene have often been compared to values measured for molecules, or calculated for finite clusters. Here we have calculated core level binding energies for variously functionalized or defected graphene by delta Kohn-Sham total energy differences in the real-space grid-based projector-augmented wave density functional theory code (GPAW). To accurately model extended systems, we applied periodic boundary conditions in large unit cells to avoid computational artifacts. In select cases, we compared the results to all-electron calculations using an ab initio molecular simulations (FHI-aims) code. We calculated the carbon and oxygen 1s core level binding energies for oxygen and hydrogen functionalities such as graphane-like hydrogenation, and epoxide, hydroxide and carboxylic functional groups. In all cases, we considered binding energy contributions arising from carbon atoms up to the third nearest neighbor from the functional group, and plotted C 1s line shapes by using experimentally realistic broadenings. Furthermore, we simulated the simplest atomic defects, namely single and double vacancies and the Stone-Thrower-Wales defect. Finally, we studied modifications of a reactive single vacancy with O and H functionalities, and compared the calculated values to data found in the literature

Core level binding energies of functionalized and defective graphene

X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) is a widely used tool for studying the chemical composition of materials and it is a standard technique in surface science and technology. XPS is particularly useful for characterizing nanostructures such as carbon nanomaterials due to their reduced dimensionality. In order to assign the measured binding energies to specific bonding environments, reference energy values need to be known. Experimental measurements of the core level signals of the elements present in novel materials such as graphene have often been compared to values measured for molecules, or calculated for finite clusters. Here we have calculated core level binding energies for variously functionalized or defected graphene by delta Kohn-Sham total energy differences in the real-space grid-based projector-augmented wave density functional theory code (GPAW). To accurately model extended systems, we applied periodic boundary conditions in large unit cells to avoid computational artifacts. In select cases, we compared the results to all-electron calculations using an ab initio molecular simulations (FHI-aims) code. We calculated the carbon and oxygen 1s core level binding energies for oxygen and hydrogen functionalities such as graphane-like hydrogenation, and epoxide, hydroxide and carboxylic functional groups. In all cases, we considered binding energy contributions arising from carbon atoms up to the third nearest neighbor from the functional group, and plotted C 1s line shapes by using experimentally realistic broadenings. Furthermore, we simulated the simplest atomic defects, namely single and double vacancies and the Stone-Thrower-Wales defect. Finally, we studied modifications of a reactive single vacancy with O and H functionalities, and compared the calculated values to data found in the literature