First-principles calculation of electronic structure of Mg_xZn_(1-x)O codoped with aluminium and nitrogen

Aiming at developing p-type semiconductors and modulating the band gap for photoelectronic devices and band engineering, we present the ab initio numerical simulation of the effect of codoping ZnO with Al, N and Mg on the crystal lattice and electronic structure. The simulations are based on the Perdew-Burke-Ernzerhof generalised-gradient approximation in density functional theory. Results indicate that electrons close to the Fermi level transfer effectively when Al, Mg, and N replace Zn and O atoms, and the theoretical results were consistent with the experiments. The addition of Mg leads to the variation of crystal lattice, expanse of energy band, and change of band gap. These unusual properties are explained in terms of the computed electronic structure, and the results show promise for the development of next-generation photoconducting devices in optoelectronic information science and technology.

Electronic structure and properties of LaNi_5 compound from first principles

The energy, electronic structure, and magnetic and mechanical properties of LaNi5 compound have been studied by the first-principles method based on the density functional theory. The results show that the calculated lattice parameters of LaNi5 compound are almost the same with the experimental ones, and the compound is easy to form and very stable. The bond between La and Nil atoms is an ionic bond, and electrostatic attraction effect exists between Ni atoms. The farther the distance between Ni atoms in the LaNi5 crystal cell is, the stronger the electrostatic attraction effect is. LaNi5 intermetallic compound is ductile and ferromagnetic. The calculated hardness value of LaNi5 compound is 7.04 GPa, and the calculated elastic properties are close to the experimental results.

First-principles analysis of the structural, electronic, and elastic properties of cubic organic-inorganic perovskite HC(NH_2)_2PbI_3

The structural, electronic, and elastic properties of cubic HC（NH2）2PbI3 perovskite are investigated by density functional theory using the Tkatchenko-Scheffler pairwise dispersion scheme. Our relaxed lattice parameters are in agreement with experimental data. The hydrogen bonding between NH2 and I ions is found to have a crucial role in FAPbI3 stability. The first calculated band structure shows that HC（NH2）2PbI3 has a direct bandgap （1.02 eV） at R-point, lower than the bandgap （1.53 eV） of CH3NH3PbI3. The calculated density of states reveals that the strong hybridization of s（Pb）-p（I） orbital in valence band maximum plays an important role in the structural stability. The photo-generated effective electron mass and hole mass at R-point along the R-Γ and R-M directions are estimated to be smaller：me^＊=0.06m0 and mh^＊=0.08m0 respectively, which are consistent with the values experimentally observed from long range photocarrier transport. The elastic properties are also investigated for the first time, which shows that HC（NH2）2PbI3 is mechanically stable and ductile and has weaker strength of the average chemical bond. This work sheds light on the understanding of applications of HC（NH2）2PbI3 as the perovskite in a planar-heterojunction solar cell light absorber fabricated on flexible polymer substrates.

Electronic, Thermal Expanding, and Optical Absorption Properties of Transition Metal Dichalcogenides: A First-principles Study

A comprehensive investigation was made on the electronic structure, thermal expansion coefficient and light absorption spectrum of total six transition metal dichalcogenides(TMDs) compounds with formula of MX_2(M=Mo, W, Cr, X=S, Se). First, an indirect-direct band gap transition from bulk to singlelayer was declared for all the six compounds. Moreover, the detailed lattice constants and thermal expansion coefficients provided in the paper were the key information for designing MX_2-based field effect transistors. Finally, the calculated optical absorption spectra demonstrate that these compounds can effectively utilize solar energy and are good photo catalyst candidates. All these present findings will benefit the design of new generation of novel two-dimensional materials.

Electronic and Optical Properties of KNbO_3,NaNbO_3 and K_(0.5) Na_(0.5) NbO_3 in Paraelectric Cubic Phase:a Comparative First-principles Study

The structural,electronic and optical properties of KNbO 3 （KN）,NaNbO3（NN）and K05 Na0.5NbO3（KNN） in paraelectric cubic phase were calculated employing the plane-wave pseudopotential method based on density functional theory （DFT）.The calculated electronic structures of the three crystals show similar features in the valence bands and the lower conduction bands.However,the structures in higher conduction bands differ markedly due to the effect of Na and K atoms.The calculated optical properties reveal that the features of optical spectrum at low energy are dominated by the transitions from O2p valence bands to Nb 4d conduction bands and those at high energy are related to the transitions to K 4s4p and/or Na 3s3p states.Moreover,the optical constants of KNN are approximately the average of KN and NN at high energy.Therefore,the optical properties of KNN in high energy region can probably be altered by changing the ratio of Na/K.

Electronic structure and optical properties of Mg_xZn_(1-x)S bulk crystal using first-principles calculations

We perform the first-principles calculations within the framework of density functional theory to determine the elec- tronic structure and optical properties of MgxZnl-xS bulk crystal. The results indicate that the electronic structure and optical properties of MgxZnl_xS bulk crystal are sensitive to the Mg impurity composition. In particular, the MgxZnl-xS bulk crystal displays a direct band structure and the band gap increases from 2.05 eV to 2.91 eV with Mg dopant compo- sition value x increasing from 0 to 0.024. The S 3p electrons dominate the top of valence band, while the Zn 4s electrons and Zn 3p electrons occupy the bottom of conduction band in MgxZnl_xS bulk crystal. Moreover, the dielectric constant decreases and the optical absorption peak obviously has a blue shift. The calculated results provide important theoretical guidance for the applications of MgxZn1-xS bulk crystal in optical detectors.

Electronic Structure and Transport Coefficients of the Thermoelectric Materials Bi_2Te_3 from First-principles Calculations

The electronic structures of bulk Bi_2Te_3 crystals were investigated by the first-principles calculations.The transport coefficients including Seeback coefficient and power factor were then calculated by the Boltzmann theory,and further evaluated as a function of chemical potential assuming a rigid band picture.The results suggest that p-type doping in the Bi_2Te_3 compound may be more favorable than n-type doping.From this analysis results,doping effects on a material will exhibit high ZT.Furthermore,we can also find the right doping concentration to produce more efficient materials,and present the ＂advantage filling element map＂ in detail.

The First Principle Calculation of Electronic Structure and Optical Properties of CdGeAs_2

The electronic structure and optical properties of CdGeAs2 were calculated by the first principle method using ultra-soft pseudo-potential approach of the plane wave based upon density functional theory （DFT）. Mulliken population analysis showed that atomic orbital hybridization occurs when forming chemical bonds. The relationship between inter-band transition and optical properties was analyzed to provide a theoretical basis for investigating or controlling CdGeAs2 crystal defects.

First-principles investigation of N-Ag co-doping effect on electronic properties in p-type ZnO

The geometric structure, band structure and density of states of pure, Ag-doped, N-doped, and N-Ag codoped wurtzite ZnO have been investigated by the first-principles ultra-soft pseudopotential method based on the density functional theory. The calculated results show that the carrier concentration is increased in the ZnO crystal codoped by N and Ag, and the codoped structure is stable and is more in favour of the formation of p-type ZnO.

Electronic and optical properties of Au-doped Cu_2O:A first principles investigation

The Cu2O and Au-doped Cu2O films are prepared on MgO （001） substrates by pulsed laser deposition. The X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy proves that the films are of Au-doped Cu2O. The optical absorption edge decreases by 1.6% after Au doping. The electronic and optical properties of pure and Au-doped cuprite Cu2O films are investigated by the first principles. The calculated results indicate that Cu2O is a direct band-gap semiconductor. The scissors operation of 1.64 eV has been carried out. After correcting, the band gaps for pure and Au doped Cu2O are about 2.17 eV and 2.02 eV, respectively, decreasing by 6.9%. All of the optical spectra are closely related to the dielectric function. The optical spectrum red shift corresponding to the decreasing of the band gap, and the additional absorption, are observed in the visible region for Au doped Cu2O film. The experimental results are generally in agreement with the calculated results. These results indicate that Au doping could become one of the more important factors influencing the photovoltaic activity of Cu2O film.

Mechanical, electronic, and thermodynamic properties of zirconium carbide from first-principles calculations

Mechanical, electronic, and thermodynamic properties of zirconium carbide have been systematically studied using the ab initio calculations. The calculated equilibrium lattice parameter, bulk modulus, and elastic constants are all well consistent with the experimental data. The electronic band structure indicates that the mixture of C 2p and Zr 4d and 4p orbitals around the Fermi level makes a large covalent contribution to the chemical bonds between the C and Zr atoms. The Bader charge analysis suggests that there are about 1.71 electrons transferred from each Zr atom to its nearest C atom. Therefore, the Zr-C bond displays a mixed ionic/covalent character. The calculated phonon dispersions of ZrC are stable, coinciding with the experimental measurement. A drastic expansion in the volume of ZrC is seen with increasing temperature, while the bulk modulus decreases linearly. Based on the calculated phonon dispersion curves and within the quasi-harmonic approximation, the temperature dependence of the heat capacities is obtained, which gives a good description compared with the available experimental data.

Structural, elastic and electronic properties of Cu-X compounds from first-principles calculations

The structural, elastic and electronic properties of Cu-X compounds in the Cu-X(X =Al, Be, Mg, Sn, Zn and Zr) systems were predicted systematically by first-principles calculations. The ground state properties such as lattice constant, bulk modulus(B)and it's pressure derivative(B') were predicted by fitting a four-parameter Birch–Murnaghan equation and the elastic constants(cij′s)are determined by an efficient strain-stress method. The calculated lattice parameters and cij′s of these binary compounds agree well with the available experimental data in the literature. In addition, elastic properties of polycrystalline aggregates including bulk modulus(B), shear modulus(G), elastic modulus(E), B/G(bulk/shear) ratio, and anisotropy ratio(AU) are calculated and compared with the experimental and theoretical results available in the literature. Based on electronic density of states(DOS) analysis, it can be revealed that all the compounds in the present work are metallic in nature.

Electronic structures and thermoelectric properties of solid solutions CuGa_(1-x) In_xTe_2 : A first-principles study

The electronic structures of solid solutions CuGal_xlnxTe2 are systematically investigated using the full-potential all-electron linearized augmented plane wave method. The calculated lattice parameters almost linearly increase with the increase of the In composition, which are in good agreement with the available experimental results. The calculated band structures with the modified Becke-Johnson potential show that all solid solutions are direct gap conductors. The band gap decreases linearly with In composition increasing. Based on the electronic structure calculated, we investigate the thermoelectric properties by the semi-classical Boltzmann transport theory. The results suggest that when Ga is replaced by In, the bipolar effect of Seebeck coefficient S becomes very obvious. The Seebeck coefficient even changes its sign from positive to negative for p-type doping at low carrier concentrations. The optimal p-type doping concentrations have been estimated based on the predicted maximum values of the power factor divided by the scattering time.

First-principles Study of Electronic Structures,Elastic Properties and Thermodynamics of the Binary Intermetallics in Mg-Zn-Re-Zr Alloy

The electronic structures,elastic properties and thermodynamics of MgZn_2,Mg_2Y and Mg_2 La have been determined from the first-principle calculations.The calculated heats of formation and cohesive energies show that Mg_2La has the strongest alloying ability and structural stability.The structural stability mechanism is also explained through the electronic structures of these phases.The ionicity and metallicity of the phases are estimated.The elastic constants are calculated;the bulk moduli,shear moduli.Young's moduli,Poisson's ratio value and elastic anisotropy are derived:and the brittleness.plasticity and anisotropy of these phases are discussed.Gibbs free energy,Debye temperature and heat capacity are calculated and discussed.

First-principles studies of electronic,optical,and mechanical properties of γ-Bi2Sn2O7

The detailed theoretical studies of electronic,optical,and mechanical properties of γ-Bi2Sn2O7 are carried out by using first-principle density functional theory calculations.Our calculated results indicate that γ-Bi2Sn2O7 is the p-type semiconductor with an indirect band gap of about 2.72 e V.The flat electronic bands close to the valence band maximum are mainly composed of Bi-6s and O-2p states and play a key role in determining the electrical properties of γ-Bi2Sn2O7.The calculated complex dielectric function and macroscopic optical constants including refractive index,extinction coefficient,absorption coefficients,reflectivity,and electron energy-loss function show that γ-Bi2Sn2O7 is an excellent light absorbing material.The analysis on mechanical properties shows that γ-Bi2Sn2O7 is mechanically stable and highly isotropic.

First principles study on the structural, electronic and optical properties of diluted magnetic semiconductors Zn1-xCoxX （X=S, Se, Te）

The electronic and optical properties of zincblende ZnX（X=S, Se, Te） and ZnX：Co are studied from density functional theory （DFT） based first principles calculations. The local crystal structure changes around the Co atoms in the lattice are studied after Co atoms are doped. It is shown that the Co-doped materials have smaller lattice constant （about 0.6%-0.9%）. This is mainly due to the shortened Co-X bond length. The （partial） density of states （DOS） is calculated and differences between the pure and doped materials are studied. Results show that for the Co-doped materials, the valence bands are moving upward due to the existence of Co 3d electron states while the conductance bands are moving downward due to the reduced lattice constants. This results in the narrowed band gap of the doped materials. The complex dielectric indices and the absorption coefficients are calculated to examine the influences of the Co atoms on the optical properties. Results show that for the Co-doped materials, the absorption peaks in the high wavelength region are not as sharp and distinct as the undoped materials, and the absorption ranges are extended to even higher wavelength region.

Electronic and optical properties of GaN–MoS2 heterostructure from first-principles calculations

Heterostructures(HSs)have attracted significant attention because of their interlayer van der Waals interactions.The electronic structures and optical properties of stacked GaN-MoS2 HSs under strain have been explored in this work using density functional theory.The results indicate that the direct band gap(1.95 e V)of the Ga N-MoS2 HS is lower than the individual band gaps of both the GaN layer(3.48 e V)and the MoS2 layer(2.03 eV)based on HSE06 hybrid functional calculations.Specifically,the GaN-MoS2 HS is a typical type-II band HS semiconductor that provides an effective approach to enhance the charge separation efficiency for improved photocatalytic degradation activity and water splitting efficiency.Under tensile or compressive strain,the direct band gap of the GaN-MoS2 HS undergoes redshifts.Additionally,the GaN-MoS2 HS maintains its direct band gap semiconductor behavior even when the tensile or compressive strain reaches 5%or-5%.Therefore,the results reported above can be used to expand the application of Ga N-MoS2 HSs to photovoltaic cells and photocatalysts.

Electronic structures and magnetocrystalline anisotropy energies of ordered Co_(1-x)Ni_x alloys:a first principles study

The electronic structures and magnetocrystalline anisotropy （MA） of ordered hexagonal close-packed （hcp） Co1-xNix alloys are studied using the full-potential linear-augmented-plane-wave （FLAPW） method with general- ized gradient approximation （CGA）. Great changes of magnetocrystalline anisotropy energy （MAE） are gained with different Ni compositions. Also, in-plane magnetocrystalline anisotropy is obtained for Co15Ni in which the Snoek＇s limit is exceeded. It is found that the changes of the symmetry of the crystal field on Ni induce small variations in band structures around the Fermi level under different compositions, which plays an important role in modulating the magnetization direction, where the hybridization between Co-3d and Ni-3d orbits is of special importance in deciding the magnetocrystalline anisotropy of itinerant states. The rigid-band model is inapplicable to explain the evolution of magnetocrystalline anisotropy energy with Ni composition, and it is also inadequate to predict the magnetocrystalline anisotropy energy through the anisotropy of the orbital magnetic moment.

Electronic Structure and Optical-absorption Properties of C-, N-, and S-doped BiOCl: the First-principles Calculations

Impurity formation energy, electronic structure, and photocatalytic properties of C-, N-, or S-doped BiOCl are investigated by density-functional theory plus U calculations(DFT + U). Results show that the doping effect of S is better than that of C or N on the tunable photocatalytic activities of BiOCl. At low concentration, S-doped BiOCl systems are the most stable under Bi-rich growth conditions because of their lower impurity-formation energy. Compared with the electronic structures of S-doped BiOCl, C-or N-doped BiOCl have relatively deeper impurity energy levels appearing in their band gap(except Bi_(36)O_(35)NCl_(36)), which may act as photogenerated carrier-recombination centers and reduce photocatalytic activity. At high concentration, S is substituted on the O lattice site system, whereas some S 3p states mix with the valence band; this mixture leads to an obvious band-gap decrease and continuum-state formation above the valence-band edge of BiOCl. Such activity is advantageous to photochemical catalysis response. Compared with pure Bi OCl and a low-concentration S-doped system, a high-concentration S-doped system shows an obvious redshift on the absorption edge and has better photocatalytic O_2 evolution performance.

Uniaxial strain-modulated electronic structures of CdX(X-S,Se,Te)from first-principles calculations:A comparison between bulk and nanowires

sing first-principles calculations based on density functional theory, we systematically study the structural deformation and electronic properties of wurtzite CdX（X = S, Se, Te） bulk and nanowires（NWs） under uniaxial [0001] strain. Due to the intrinsic shrinking strain induced by surface contraction, large NWs with {10ˉ10} facets have heavy hole（HH）-like valence band maximum（VBM） states, while NWs with {11ˉ20} facets have crystal hole（CH）-like VBM states. The external uniaxial strain induces an HH–CH band crossing at a critical strain for both bulk and NWs, resulting in nonlinear variations in band gap and hole effective mass at VBM. Unlike the bulk phase, the critical strain of NWs highly depends on the character of the VBM state in the unstrained case, which is closely related to the size and facet of NWs. The critical strain of bulk is at compressive range, while the critical strain of NWs with HH-like and CH-like VBM appears at compressive and tensile strain, respectively. Due to the HH–CH band crossing, the charge distribution of the VBM state in NWs can also be tuned by the external uniaxial strain. Despite the complication of the VBM state, the electron effective mass at conduction band minimum（CBM） of NWs shows a linear relation with the CBM–HH energy difference, the same as the bulk material.