Nanotube-based scanning rotational microscope

A scheme of the scanning rotational microscope is designed. This scheme is based on using carbon nanotubes simultaneously as a probe tip and as a bolt/nut pair which converts translational displacements of two piezo actuators into pure rotation of the probe tip. First-principles calculations of the interaction energy between movable and rotational parts of the microscope confirms the capability for its operation. The scanning rotational microscope with a chemically functionalized nanotube-based tip can be used to study how the interaction between individual molecules or a molecule and a surface depends on their relative orientation.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

Dislocations in stacking and commensurate-incommensurate phase transition in bilayer graphene and hexagonal boron nitride

Dislocations corresponding to a change of stacking in two-dimensional hexagonal bilayers, graphene and boron nitride, and associated with boundaries between commensurate domains are investigated using the two-chain Frenkel-Kontorova model on top of ab initio calculations. Structural transformations of bilayers in which the bottom layer is stretched and the upper one is left to relax freely are considered for gradually increased elongation of the bottom layer. Formation energies of dislocations, dislocation width and orientation of the boundary between commensurate domains are analyzed depending on the magnitude and direction of elongation. The second-order phase transition from the commensurate phase to the incommensurate one with multiple dislocations is predicted to take place at some critical elongation. The order parameter for this transition corresponds to the density of dislocations, which grows continuously upon increasing the elongation of the bottom layer above the critical value. In graphene and metastable boron nitride with the layers aligned in the same direction, where elementary dislocations are partial, this transition, however, is preceded by formation of the first dislocation at the elongation smaller than the critical one. The phase diagrams including this intermediate state are plotted in coordinates of the magnitude and direction of elongation of the bottom layer.Comment: 15 pages, 9 figure

Comparison of performance of van der Waals-corrected exchange-correlation functionals for interlayer interaction in graphene and hexagonal boron nitride

Exchange-correlation functionals with corrections for van der Waals interactions (PBE-D2, PBE-D3, PBE-D3(BJ), PBE-TS, optPBE-vdW and vdW-DF2) are tested for graphene and hexagonal boron nitride, both in the form of bulk and bilayer. The characteristics of the potential energy surface, such as the barrier to relative sliding of the layers and magnitude of corrugation, and physically measurable properties associated with relative in-plane and out-of-plane motion of the layers including the shear modulus and modulus for axial compression, shear mode frequency and frequency of out-of-plane vibrations are considered. The PBE-D3(BJ) functional gives the best results for the stackings of hexagonal boron nitride and graphite that are known to be ground-state from the experimental studies. However, it fails to describe the order of metastable states of boron nitride in energy. The PBE-D3 and vdW-DF2 functionals, which reproduce this order correctly, are identified as the optimal choice for general studies. The vdW-DF2 functional is preferred for evaluation of the modulus for axial compression and frequency of out-of-plane vibrations, while the PBE-D3 functional is somewhat more accurate in calculations of the shear modulus and shear mode frequency. The best description of the latter properties, however, is achieved also using the vdW-DF2 functional combined with consideration of the experimental interlayer distance. In the specific case of graphene, the PBE-D2 functional works very well and can be further improved by adjustment of the parameters.Comment: 22 pages, 4 figue

TDDFT of magneto-optical response of solids

Trabajo presentado al: "Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft Spring Meeting" celebrado en Dresden (Alemania) del 30 de marzo al 4 de Abril de 2014.Marie Curie International Incoming Fellowship within the 7th European Community Framework Programme (Grant Agreement PIIF-GA-2012-326435 RespSpatDisp); European Research Council Advanced Grant DYNamo (ERC-2010-AdG-267374); Spanish Grants (FIS2010-21282-C02-01 and PIB2010US-00652); Grupos Consolidados UPV/EHU del Gobierno Vasco (IT-578-13) and Ikerbasque and European Commission projects CRONOS (Grant number 280879-2 CRONOS CP-FP7).Peer reviewe