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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 631 records · Page 35
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2021

Dy adsorption on and intercalation under graphene on 6 H -SiC(0001) surface from first-principles calculations

Previous experimental observations motivate clarification of configuration stabilities and kinetic processes for intercalation of guest atoms into a layered van der Waals material such as a graphene-SiC system. From our first-principles density functional theory (DFT) calculations, we analyze Dy adsorption and intercalation for graphene on a 6H-SiC(0001) surface, where the system includes two single-atom-thick graphene layers: the top-layer graphene (TLG) and the underling buffer-layer graphene (BLG) above the terminal Si layer. Our chemical potential analysis shows that intercalation of a single Dy atom into the gallery between TLG and BLG is more favorable than adsorption on TLG but that intercalation into the gallery underneath BLG is highly unfavorable. We obtain diffusion barriers of ~0.45 and 0.54 eV for a Dy atom diffusing on and under TLG, respectively. We find that the direct penetration of a Dy atom from the graphene top into the gallery under TLG is almost inhibited below a temperature of ~1400 K due to a large global barrier of at least ~3.5 eV. Instead, we find that a single Dy atom on TLG can easily intercalate by crossing a TLG step (e.g., a zigzag step presaturated by a Dy chain or a reconstructed zigzag step zz57). Additionally, we also perform DFT calculations for different Dy coverages to demonstrate how the favorability of Dy intercalation, as well as the corresponding interlayer spacings, depend on the coverage. Consequently, we can provide general insight and guidance for extensively studied systems involving intercalation of foreign atoms into graphene on a SiC substrate.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2018

The Structural, Electronic, Magnetic, and Optical Properties of Mn{sub 2}ZrGa{sub 1−x}Ge{sub x} Heusler Alloys: First-Principles Calculations

The structural, electronic, magnetic, and optical properties of Mn-based Heusler Mn{sub 2}ZrGa{sub 1−x}Ge{sub x} (x = 0, 0.25, 0.5, 0.75, and 1) alloys are calculated by first-principles full-potential linearized augmented plane wave plus local orbital (FP-LAPW+lo) method. It is found that Mn{sub 2}ZrGa{sub 1−x}Ge{sub x} alloys are half-metallic ferrimagnetic and their magnetic moments are in good agreement with the Slater–Pauling relationship. The calculations reveal that all alloys have a pseudo-gap in the majority-spin channel except for x = 0.75 and x = 1 which have a real gap in the majority-spin channel. The spin polarization is quite large for whole series, and it reaches to a value of 100% for x = 0.75 and x = 1. Our calculated results clearly show that with the Ge substitution, the lattice parameter linearly decreases while the bulk modulus increases. Moreover, the calculated formation energies confirm that these alloys are stable chemically. The optical properties, including the real and imaginary parts of the dielectric function, reflectivity, and absorption spectra, were also investigated. The results show that the dominant behavior, at energy below 1 eV, is due to interactions of free electrons in the system. The increment of Ge concentration leads to an increase in the plasma frequency of metallic spin channel.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2023

Thermodynamic re-modeling of the Yb-Sb system aided by first-principles calculations

Here, the thermodynamic description of the Yb-Sb binary system is developed by means of the CALculations of PHAse Diagrams (CALPHAD) method by combining experimental data in the literature and predictions from first-principles calculations based on density functional theory (DFT) in the literature and the present work. Two pseudopotentials of Yb are compared in the present DFT-based calculations with 14 and 13 f-electrons frozen in the core, i.e., 5p 6 6s 2 and 5p 6 6s 2 5 d 1 electrons as valence electrons, termed Yb_2 and Yb_3, respectively. It is shown that the phonon spectrum of the YbSb phase calculated using the Yb_3 pseudopotential does not have imaginary phonon modes and is subsequently used to predict its temperature dependent thermodynamic properties by the DFT-based quasiharmonic phonon calculations. The present thermodynamic database includes the Yb 16 Sb 11 phase in addition to five intermetallic phases that were considered in previous modeling studies, i.e., YbSb 2 , YbSb, Yb 11 Sb 10 , Yb 4 Sb 3 , and Yb 5 Sb 3 . The high temperature orthorhombic structure of the Yb 5 Sb 3 phase is not considered in the present work as it was stabilized by hydrogen. The associate solution model is used to describe the short-range ordering behavior in the liquid phase. The calculations from the present thermodynamic model show good agreement with thermochemical and phase equilibrium data from both the present work and the literature.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2015

Structural and electronic properties of Li-ion battery cathode material MoF{sub 3} from first-principles

The transition metal fluorides have been extensively investigated recently as the electrode materials with high working voltage and large capacity. The structural, electronic and magnetic properties of MoF{sub 3} are studied by the first-principles calculations within both the generalized gradient approximation (GGA) and GGA+U frameworks. Our results show that the antiferromagnetic configuration of MoF{sub 3} is more stable than the ferromagnetic one, which is consistent with experimental results. The analysis of the electronic density of states shows that MoF{sub 3} is a Mott–Hubbard insulator with a d–d type band gap, which is similar to the case of FeF{sub 3}. Moreover, small spin polarizations were found on the sites of fluorine ions, which accords with a fluorine-mediated superexchange mechanism for the Mo–Mo magnetic interaction. - Graphical abstract: Deformation charge density and spin-density for MoF{sub 3} in the AF configuration. - Highlights: • The ground state of MoF{sub 3} is shown to be antiferromagnetic, in consistent with experiments. • The electronic states show that MoF{sub 3} is a Mott–Hubbard insulator with a d–d type band gap. • A fluorine-mediated super-exchange mechanism for the Mo–Mo magnetic interaction is shown.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2016

First-Principles Thermodynamics Study of Spinel MgAl 2 O 4 Surface Stability

The surface stability of all possible terminations for three low-index (111, 110, 100) structures of the spinel MgAl2O4 has been studied using first-principles based thermodynamic approach. The surface Gibbs free energy results indicate that the 100_AlO2 termination is the most stable surface structure under ultra-high vacuum at T=1100 K regardless of Al-poor or Al-rich environment. With increasing oxygen pressure, the 111_O2(Al) termination becomes the most stable surface in the Al-rich environment. The oxygen vacancy formation is thermodynamically favorable over the 100_AlO2, 111_O2(Al) and the (111) structure with Mg/O connected terminations. On the basis of surface Gibbs free energies for both perfect and defective surface terminations, the 100_AlO2 and 111_O2(Al) are the most dominant surfaces in Al-rich environment under atmospheric condition. This is also consistent with our previously reported experimental observation. This work was supported by a Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) project of the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL). The computing time was granted by the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC). Part of computing time was also granted by a scientific theme user proposal in the William R. Wiley Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory (EMSL), which is a U.S. Department of Energy national scientific user facility located at PNNL in Richland, Washington.

ab initio calculation↗
DOE OSTI2017

Stability of Cd 1– x Zn x O y S 1– y Quaternary Alloys Assessed with First-Principles Calculations

One route to decreasing the absorption in CdS buffer layers in Cu(In,Ga)Se 2 and Cu 2 ZnSn(S,Se) 4 thin-film photovoltaics is by alloying. Here we use first-principles calculations based on hybrid functionals to assess the energetics and stability of quaternary Cd, Zn, O, and S (Cd 1–x Zn x O y S 1–y ) alloys within a regular solution model. Our results identify that full miscibility of most Cd 1–x Zn x O y S 1–y compositions and even binaries like Zn(O,S) is outside typical photovoltaic processing conditions. Finally, the results suggest that the tendency for phase separation of the oxysulfides may drive the nucleation of other phases such as sulfates that have been increasingly observed in oxygenated CdS and ZnS.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2016

First-principles study of electronic properties of FeSe{sub 1-x}S{sub x} alloys

We have studied the electronic and superconducting properties of FeSe{sub 1-x}S{sub x} (x = 0.0, 0.04) alloys by first-principles calculations using the Korringa-Kohn-Rostoker Atomic Sphere Approximation within the coherent potential approximation (KKR-ASA-CPA). The electronic structure calculations show the ground states of S-doped FeSe to be nonmagnetic. We present the results of our unpolarized calculations for these alloys in terms of density of states (DOS), band structures, Fermi surfaces and the superconducting transition temperature of FeSe and FeSe{sub 0.96}S{sub 0.04} alloys. We find that the substitution of S at Se site into FeSe exhibit the subtle changes in the electronic structure with respect to the parent FeSe. We have also estimated bare Sommerfeld constant (γ{sub b}), electron-phonon coupling constant (λ) and the superconducting transition temperature (T{sub c}) for these alloys, which were found to be in good agreement with experiments.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2016

First-principles calculations of K-shell X-ray absorption spectra for warm dense nitrogen

X-ray absorption spectrum is a powerful tool for atomic structure detection on warm dense matter. Here, we perform first-principles molecular dynamics and X-ray absorption spectrum calculations on warm dense nitrogen along a Hugoniot curve. From the molecular dynamics trajectory, the detailed atomic structures are examined for each thermodynamical condition. The K-shell X-ray absorption spectrum is calculated, and its changes with temperature and pressure along the Hugoniot curve are discussed. The warm dense nitrogen systems may contain isolated nitrogen atoms, N{sub 2} molecules, and nitrogen clusters, which show quite different contributions to the total X-ray spectrum due to their different electron density of states. The changes of X-ray spectrum along the Hugoniot curve are caused by the different nitrogen structures induced by the temperature and the pressure. Some clear signatures on X-ray spectrum for different thermodynamical conditions are pointed out, which may provide useful data for future X-ray experiments.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2018

First-Principles Calculations of van der Waals and Spin Orbit Effects on the Two-Dimensional Topological Insulator Stanene and Stanene on Ge(111) Substrate

The structural and electronic properties of the monolayer and bilayer stanene structures have been studied using first-principles calculations. For the monolayer, the buckled structure is more stable than the flat one, with an opening of the band gap when spin-orbit coupling is taken into account, as mentioned in recent studies. For the bilayer, three types of stacking are considered: parallel layers, anti-parallel layers, and parallel layers where the first layer is shifted from the second one. These three configurations are named AA1, AA2, and AB, respectively. The two layers are separated by the distance d. The interactions between two layers of stanene are strong for a short distance, while the van der Waals bonding appears for a longer distance. Furthermore, stanene was fabricated experimentally on a substrate; thus, we proposed another study of electronic properties of stanene deposited on Ge(111) to reveal other behavior as a topological insulator and show the existence of the quantum spin Hall effect.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2020

Tritium species diffusion on and desorption from γ-LiAlO 2 (100) surface: A first-principles investigation

γ-LiAlO 2 enriched in the 6 Li isotope is a good candidate for tritium (T, 3 H) production in nuclear reactor. In this work, to better understand its 3 H production performance, first-principles calculations are performed to study the 3 H-related species diffusion on and desorption from the γ-LiAlO 2 (100) surface. For the diffusion process, we investigate the pathways and energy barriers for the T and OT diffusion on the pristine and defective γ-LiAlO 2 (100) surfaces. Our results reveal that the O and Li/Al atoms of the surface layer play important roles for T and OT diffusion, respectively. By comparing with its diffusion barrier in bulk γ-LiAlO 2 , the order of energy barrier for T diffusion is: bulk < surface < defective surface, which is reversed for OT diffusion. Space is the prime factor for OT diffusion, while diffusion-mediating atom instead of space becomes the key factor for T diffusion. For the desorption process, we investigate the 3 H-related species (T, OT, T 2 , and T 2 O) desorption from the γ-LiAlO 2 (100) surface. The desorption energies we obtained are so high that the desorption behavior of all the 3 H-related species is nearly prohibited. We expect the possible T 2 or T 2 O release from the large accumulation of 3 H atoms on the surface.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2021

Spin–spin interactions in defects in solids from mixed all-electron and pseudopotential first-principles calculations

Abstract Understanding the quantum dynamics of spin defects and their coherence properties requires an accurate modeling of spin-spin interaction in solids and molecules, for example by using spin Hamiltonians with parameters obtained from first principles calculations. We present a real-space approach based on density functional theory for the calculation of spin-Hamiltonian parameters, where only selected atoms are treated at the all-electron level, while the rest of the system is described with the pseudopotential approximation. Our approach permits calculations for systems containing more than 1000 atoms, as demonstrated for defects in diamond and silicon carbide. We show that only a small number of atoms surrounding the defect needs to be treated at the all-electron level, in order to obtain an overall all-electron accuracy for hyperfine and zero-field splitting tensors. We also present results for coherence times, computed with the cluster correlation expansion method, highlighting the importance of accurate spin-Hamiltonian parameters for quantitative predictions of spin dynamics.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2014

Electronic and magnetic properties of armchair MoS{sub 2} nanoribbons under both external strain and electric field, studied by first principles calculations

The electronic and magnetic properties of armchair edge MoS{sub 2} nanoribbons (MoS{sub 2}-ANRs) underboth the external strain and transverse electric field (E{sub t}) have been systematically investigated by using the first-principles calculations. It is found that: (1) If no electric field is applied, an interesting structural phase transition would appear under a large tensile strain, leading to a new phase MoS{sub 2}-A'NR, and inducing a big jump peak of the band gap in the transition region. But, the band gap response to compressive strains is much different from that to tensile strain, showing no the structural phase transition. (2) Under the small tensile strains (<10%), the combined E{sub t} and tensile strain give rise to a positive superposition (resonant) effect on the band gap reduction at low E{sub t} (<3 V/nm), and oppositely a negative superposition (antiresonant) one at high E{sub t} (>4 V/nm). On the other hand, the external compressive strains have always presented the resonant effect on the band gap reduction, induced by the electric field. (3) After the structural phase transition, an external large tensile strain could greatly reduce the critical field E{sub tc} causing the band gap closure, and make the system become a ferromagnetic (FM) metal at a relative low E{sub t} (e.g., <4 V/nm), which is very helpful for its promising applications in nano-mechanical spintronics devices. (4) At high E{sub t} (>10 V/nm), the magnetic moments of both the MoS{sub 2}-ANR and MoS{sub 2}-A'NR in their FM states could be enhanced greatly by a tensile strain. Our numerical results of effectively tuning physical properties of MoS{sub 2}-ANRs by combined external strain and electric field may open their new potential applications in nanoelectronics and spintronics.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

First principle study of structural, electronic and magnetic properties of zigzag boron nitride nanoribbon: Role of vacancies

We study the effect of vacancies on the structural, electronic and magnetic properties of zigzag boron nitride nanoribbon (ZBNNR) by using first principle calculations. We find that the shift of the vacancies with respect to the ribbon edges causes change in the structural geometry, electronic structure and magnetization of ZBNNR. These vacancies also produce band gap modulation and consequently results the magnetization of ZBNNR.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

The temperature-dependent diffusion coefficient of helium in zirconium carbide studied with first-principles calculations

The temperature-dependent diffusion coefficient of interstitial helium in zirconium carbide (ZrC) matrix is calculated based on the transition state theory. The microscopic parameters in the activation energy and prefactor are obtained from first-principles total energy and phonon frequency calculations including the all atoms. The obtained activation energy is 0.78 eV, consistent with experimental value. Besides, we evaluated the influence of C and Zr vacancies as the perturbation on helium diffusion, and found the C vacancy seems to confine the mobility of helium and the Zr vacancy promotes helium diffusion in some extent. These results provide a good reference to understand the behavior of helium in ZrC matrix.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2016

First principles calculation of two dimensional antimony and antimony arsenide

This work focuses on the strain dependence of the electronic properties of two dimensional antimony (Sb) material and its alloy with As (SbAs) using density functional theory based first principles calculations. Both systems show indirect bandgap semiconducting character which can be transformed into a direct bandgap material with the application of relatively small strain.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2020

First-principles study of hydrogen behavior near W/WC interfaces

Hydrogen (H) solution, migration, and binding to vacancies near the tungsten/tungsten carbide (W/WC) interfaces based on hcp WC or bcc W (W/WCb and Wb/WC) have been studied by first-principles simulations to provide insights into the effect of C on H behavior in W exposed to C deposition in fusion reactors. The H behavior near the W/WC interfaces is related to the tensile or compressive strain due to the lattice match and interfacial effects. Near the W/WCb interface, the H solution energy in hcp WC increases approaching the interface, while it decreases from the W side to the interface. The configuration change of the W slab significantly decreases the H solution energy but has only a modest effect on the H migration energy barrier in comparison with the values in bcc W. The interface enhances the H binding to vacancies in WC layers. Both the interface and configuration adjustment of the W slab reduce the H binding to vacancies on the W side of the interface. Near the Wb/WC interface, H solution energies in both WC and W slabs weakly decrease approaching the interface. The configuration change of the WC slab significantly increases the H solution energy and binding energy to vacancies but decreases the H migration energy barrier in comparison with the values in hcp WC. The H energetics near the W/WC interfaces indicate the likelihood of H localization and diffusion in the W side of the interface, rather than diffusing through the interface into WC layers.

Yang, L. (ORCID:0000000322166071)↗
DOE OSTI2024

First-principles investigation of near-field energy transfer between localized quantum emitters in solids

We present a predictive and general approach to investigate near-field energy transfer processes between localized defects in semiconductors, which couples first-principles electronic structure calculations and a nonrelativistic quantum electrodynamics description of photons in the weak-coupling regime. The approach is general and can be readily applied to investigate broad classes of defects in solids. We apply our approach to investigate an exemplar point defect in an oxide, the F center in MgO, and we show that the energy transfer from a magnetic source, e.g., a rare-earth impurity, to the vacancy can lead to spin nonconserving long-lived excitations that are dominant processes in the near field, at distances relevant to the design of photonic devices and ultrahigh dense memories. We also define a descriptor for coherent energy transfer to predict geometrical configurations of emitters to enable long-lived excitations, that are useful to design optical memories in semiconductor and insulators. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

Chattaraj, Swarnabha (ORCID:0000000329333581)↗