No Arabic abstract
Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) is a promising material as an absorber in photovoltaic applications. The measured efficiency, however, is far from the theoretically predicted value for the known CZTS phases. To improve the understanding of this discrepancy we investigate the structural, dynamical, and dielectric of the three main phases of CZTS (kesterite, stannite, and PMCA) using density functional perturbation theory (DFPT). The effect of the exchange-correlation functional on the computed properties is analyzed. A qualitative agreement of the theoretical Raman spectrum with measurements is observed. However, none of the phases correspond to the experimental spectrum within the error bar that is usually to be expected for DFPT. This corroborates the need to consider cation disorder and other lattice defects extensively in this material.
Using first-principles calculations within the generalized gradient approximation, we predicted the lattice parameters, elastic constants, vibrational properties, and electronic structure of cementite (Fe3C). Its nine single-crystal elastic constants were obtained by computing total energies or stresses as a function of applied strain. Furthermore, six of them were determined from the initial slopes of the calculated longitudinal and transverse acoustic phonon branches along the [100], [010] and [001] directions. The three methods agree well with each other, the calculated polycrystalline elastic moduli are also in good overall agreement with experiments. Our calculations indicate that Fe3C is mechanically stable. The experimentally observed high elastic anisotropy of Fe3C is also confirmed by our study. Based on electronic density of states and charge density distribution, the chemical bonding in Fe3C was analyzed and was found to exhibit a complex mixture of metallic, covalent, and ionic characters.
Density Functional Theory calculations have been performed to obtain lattice parameters, elastic constants, and electronic properties of ideal pyrochlores with the composition A$_2$B$_2$O$_7$ (where A=La,Y and B=Ti,Sn,Hf, Zr). Some thermal properties are also inferred from the elastic properties. A decrease of the sound velocity (and thus, of the Debye temperature) with the atomic mass of the B ion is observed. Static and dynamical atomic charges are obtained to quantify the degree of covalency/ionicity. A large anomalous contribution to the dynamical charge is observed for Hf, Zr, and specially for Ti. It is attributed to the hybridization between occupied $2p$ states of oxygen and unoccupied d states of the B cation. The analysis based on Mulliken population and deformation charge integrated in the Voronoi polyhedra indicates that the ionicity of these pyrochlores increases in the order Sn--Ti--Hf--Zr. The charge deformation contour plots support this assignment.
We present a first-principles investigation of structural and elastic properties of experimentally observed phases of bulk SrRuO$_3$ - namely orthorhombic, tetragonal, and cubic - by applying density functional theory (DFT) approximations. At first, we focus our attention on the accuracy of calculated lattice constants in order to find out DFT approaches that best represent the crystalline structure of SrRuO$_3$, since many important physical quantities crucially depend on change in volume. Next, we evaluate single-crystal elastic constants, mechanical stability, and macroscopic elastic parameters trying to at least partially compensate for the existing lack of information about these fundamental features of SrRuO$_3$. Finally, we analyze the anomalous behavior of low-temperature orthorhombic phase under $C_{44}$ related shear deformation. It turns out that at critical strain values the system exhibits a distinct deviation from the initial behavior which results in an isosymmetric phase transition. Moreover, under $C_{44}$ related shear deformation tetragonal SrRuO3 becomes mechanically unstable raising an open question of what makes it experimentally observable at high temperatures.
Different stoichiometric configurations of graphane and graphene fluoride are investigated within density functional theory. Their structural and electronic properties are compared, and we indicate the similarities and differences among the various configurations. Large differences between graphane and graphene fluoride are found that are caused by the presence of charges on the fluorine atoms. A new configuration that is more stable than the boat configuration is predicted for graphene fluoride. We also perform GW calculations for the electronic band gap of both graphene derivatives. These band gaps and also the calculated Youngs moduli are at variance with available experimental data. This might indicate that the experimental samples contain a large number of defects or are only partially covered with H or F.
Structural, electronic, vibrational and dielectric properties of LaBGeO$_5$ with the stillwellite structure are determined based on textit{ab initio} density functional theory. The theoretically relaxed structure is found to agree well with the existing experimental data with a deviation of less than $0.2%$. Both the density of states and the electronic band structure are calculated, showing five distinct groups of valence bands. Furthermore, the Born effective charge, the dielectric permittivity tensors, and the vibrational frequencies at the center of the Brillouin zone are all obtained. Compared to existing model calculations, the vibrational frequencies are found in much better agreement with the published experimental infrared and Raman data, with absolute and relative rms values of 6.04 cm$^{-1}$, and $1.81%$, respectively. Consequently, numerical values for both the parallel and perpendicular components of the permittivity tensor are established as 3.55 and 3.71 (10.34 and 12.28), respectively, for the high-(low-)frequency limit.