Engineering topics

Li, Shushen

Publications and source records attributed to Li, Shushen.

4 records

DOE OSTI2017

Curved-line search algorithm for ab initio atomic structure relaxation

Ab initio atomic relaxations often take large numbers of steps and long times to converge, especially when the initial atomic configurations are far from the local minimum or there are curved and narrow valleys in the multidimensional potentials. An atomic relaxation method based on on-the-flight force learning and a corresponding curved-line search algorithm is presented to accelerate this process. In this work, results demonstrate the superior performance of this method for metal and magnetic clusters when compared with the conventional conjugate-gradient method.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

DOE OSTI2017

Glass-like energy and property landscape of Pt nanoclusters

Pt nanoclusters play an important role in catalysis-related applications. Essential to their activities are their geometries and energy landscapes. In this work, we studied the energy landscapes of Pt clusters using a parallel differential evolution optimization algorithm and an accelerated ab initio atomic relaxation method, which allowed us to explore unprecedentedly large numbers of geometry local minima at ab initio level. We found many lower-energy isomers with low symmetry in their geometry. The energy landscapes were demonstrated to be glass-like with a large number of local minimum structures close to the global minimum. The electronic and magnetic properties of most glass-like local minima were dramatically different from the global minimum, and they should be observed in the experimental measurements. The connections between these local minima were further analyzed using data mining techniques.

Chen, Zhanghui↗

DOE OSTI2014

Approximate Hessian for accelerating ab initio structure relaxation by force fitting

We present a method to approximate the Hessian matrix of the Born-Oppenheimer energy landscape by using a simple force field model whose parameters are fitted to on-the-flight ab initio results. The inversed Hessian matrix is used as the preconditioner of conjugate gradient algorithms to speed up the atomic structure relaxation, resulting in a speedup factor of 2 to 5 on systems of bulk, slab, sheets, and atomic clusters. Because the force field model employed is simple and general, the parameter fitting is straightforward; the method is applicable to a variety of complicated systems for minimum structure relaxation. In the metal cluster new structure search, the new method yields better structures than the one obtained before with conventional algorithms.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

DOE OSTI2014

Insight into the photoelectron angular dependent energy distribution of negative-electron-affinity InP photocathodes

Energy distribution and angular distribution of the photoelectrons from InP photocathodes are investigated using a precise Monte Carlo model. It is found that Γ-valley electrons contribute to the first peak of the energy distribution curve, but the second peak is contributed by both Γ-valley and L-valley electrons rather than only L-valley electrons. L valley electrons are shown to have a smaller angular spread than Γ-valley electrons, which is attributed to the much higher potential energy of L-valley minimum. The further simulation indicates that the performance of InP photocathodes can be improved by increasing the hole concentration or decreasing the temperature, but the activation layer thickness variation only has very slight influence on either energy or angular distribution.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗