No Arabic abstract
The c(6x2) is a reconstruction of the SrTiO3(001) surface that is formed between 1050-1100oC in oxidizing annealing conditions. This work proposes a model for the atomic structure for the c(6x2) obtained through a combination of results from transmission electron diffraction, surface x-ray diffraction, direct methods analysis, computational combinational screening, and density functional theory. As it is formed at high temperatures, the surface is complex and can be described as a short-range ordered phase featuring microscopic domains composed of four main structural motifs. Additionally, non-periodic TiO2 units are present on the surface. Simulated scanning tunneling microscopy images based on the electronic structure calculations are consistent with experimental images.
We present a systematic study of the atomic and electronic structure of the Si(111)-(5x2)-Au reconstruction using first-principles electronic structure calculations based on the density functional theory. We analyze the structural models proposed by Marks and Plass [Phys. Rev. Lett.75, 2172 (1995)], those proposed recently by Erwin [Phys. Rev. Lett.91, 206101 (2003)], and a completely new structure that was found during our structural optimizations. We study in detail the energetics and the structural and electronic properties of the different models. For the two most stable models, we also calculate the change in the surface energy as a function of the content of silicon adatoms for a realistic range of concentrations. Our new model is the energetically most favorable in the range of low adatom concentrations, while Erwins 5x2 model becomes favorable for larger adatom concentrations. The crossing between the surface energies of both structures is found close to 1/2 adatoms per 5x2 unit cell, i.e. near the maximum adatom coverage observed in the experiments. Both models, the new structure and Erwins 5x2 model, seem to provide a good description of many of the available experimental data, particularly of the angle-resolved photoemission measurements.
Silicon carbide (SiC) is an excellent substrate for growth and manipulation of large scale, high quality epitaxial graphene. On the carbon face (the ($bar{1}bar{1}bar{1}$) or $(000bar{1}$) face, depending on the polytype), the onset of graphene growth is intertwined with the formation of several competing surface phases, among them a (3$times$3) precursor phase suspected to hinder the onset of controlled, near-equilibrium growth of graphene. Despite more than two decades of research, the precise atomic structure of this phase is still unclear. We present a new model of the (3$times$3)-SiC-($bar{1}bar{1}bar{1}$) reconstruction, derived from an {it ab initio} random structure search based on density functional theory including van der Waals effects. The structure consists of a simple pattern of five Si adatoms in bridging and on-top positions on an underlying, C-terminated substrate layer, leaving one C atom per (3$times$3) unit cell formally unsaturated. Simulated scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) images are in excellent agreement with previously reported experimental STM images.
Continuing the photoemission study begun with the work of Opeil et al. [Phys. Rev. B textbf{73}, 165109 (2006)], in this paper we report results of an angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) study performed on a high-quality single-crystal $alpha$-uranium at 173 K. The absence of surface-reconstruction effects is verified using X-ray Laue and low-energy electron diffraction (LEED) patterns. We compare the ARPES intensity map with first-principles band structure calculations using a generalized gradient approximation (GGA) and we find good correlations with the calculated dispersion of the electronic bands.
Fully-relativistic first-principles calculations of the Fe(001) surface demonstrate that resonant surface (interface) states may produce sizeable tunneling anisotropic magnetoresistance in magnetic tunnel junctions with a single magnetic electrode. The effect is driven by the spin-orbit coupling. It shifts the resonant surface band via the Rashba effect when the magnetization direction changes. We find that spin-flip scattering at the interface is controlled not only by the strength of the spin-orbit coupling, but depends strongly on the intrinsic width of the resonant surface states.
By using the state-of-the-art microscopy and spectroscopy in aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscopes, we determine the atomic arrangements, occupancy, elemental distribution, and the electronic structures of dislocation cores in the 10{deg}tilted SrTiO3 bicrystal. We identify that there are two different types of oxygen deficient dislocation cores, i.e., the SrO plane terminated Sr0.82Ti0.85O3-x (Ti3.67+, 0.48<x<0.91) and TiO2 plane terminated Sr0.63Ti0.90O3-y (Ti3.60+, 0.57<y<1). They have the same Burgers vector of a[100] but different atomic arrangements and chemical properties. Besides the oxygen vacancies, Sr vacancies and rocksalt-like titanium oxide reconstruction are also identified in the dislocation core with TiO2 plane termination. Our atomic-scale study reveals the true atomic structures and chemistry of individual dislocation cores, providing useful insights into understanding the properties of dislocations and grain boundaries.