Efficiency of ab-initio total energy calculations for metals and semiconductors using a plane-wave basis set

We present ab initio quantum-mechanical molecular-dynamics simulations of the liquid-metal--amorphous-semiconductor transition in Ge. Our simulations are based on (a) finite-temperature density-functional theory of the one-electron states, (b) exact energy minimization and hence calculation of the exact Hellmann-Feynman forces after each molecular-dynamics step using preconditioned conjugate-gradient techniques, (c) accurate nonlocal pseudopotentials, and (d) Nos\'e dynamics for generating a canonical ensemble. This method gives perfect control of the adiabaticity of the electron-ion ensemble and allows us to perform simulations over more than 30 ps. The computer-generated ensemble describes the structural, dynamic, and electronic properties of liquid and amorphous Ge in very good agreement with experiment. The simulation allows us to study in detail the changes in the structure-property relationship through the metal-semiconductor transition. We report a detailed analysis of the local structural properties and their changes induced by an annealing process. The geometrical, bonding, and spectral properties of defects in the disordered tetrahedral network are investigated and compared with experiment.

Ab initio molecular-dynamics simulation of the liquid-metal-amorphous-semiconductor transition in germanium.

The exact density functional for the ground-state energy is strictly self-interaction-free (i.e., orbitals demonstrably do not self-interact), but many approximations to it, including the local-spin-density (LSD) approximation for exchange and correlation, are not. We present two related methods for the self-interaction correction (SIC) of any density functional for the energy; correction of the self-consistent one-electron potenial follows naturally from the variational principle. Both methods are sanctioned by the Hohenberg-Kohn theorem. Although the first method introduces an orbital-dependent single-particle potential, the second involves a local potential as in the Kohn-Sham scheme. We apply the first method to LSD and show that it properly conserves the number content of the exchange-correlation hole, while substantially improving the description of its shape. We apply this method to a number of physical problems, where the uncorrected LSD approach produces systematic errors. We find systematic improvements, qualitative as well as quantitative, from this simple correction. Benefits of SIC in atomic calculations include (i) improved values for the total energy and for the separate exchange and correlation pieces of it, (ii) accurate binding energies of negative ions, which are wrongly unstable in LSD, (iii) more accurate electron densities, (iv) orbital eigenvalues that closely approximate physical removal energies, including relaxation, and (v) correct longrange behavior of the potential and density. It appears that SIC can also remedy the LSD underestimate of the band gaps in insulators (as shown by numerical calculations for the rare-gas solids and CuCl), and the LSD overestimate of the cohesive energies of transition metals. The LSD spin splitting in atomic Ni and $s\ensuremath{-}d$ interconfigurational energies of transition elements are almost unchanged by SIC. We also discuss the admissibility of fractional occupation numbers, and present a parametrization of the electron-gas correlation energy at any density, based on the recent results of Ceperley and Alder.

Self-interaction correction to density-functional approximations for many-electron systems

[신간의 별자리x] 우리/미술, 그리고 ‘슬픔의 박물관’

The semiconductor ZnO has gained substantial interest in the research community in part because of its large exciton binding energy (60meV) which could lead to lasing action based on exciton recombination even above room temperature. Even though research focusing on ZnO goes back many decades, the renewed interest is fueled by availability of high-quality substrates and reports of p-type conduction and ferromagnetic behavior when doped with transitions metals, both of which remain controversial. It is this renewed interest in ZnO which forms the basis of this review. As mentioned already, ZnO is not new to the semiconductor field, with studies of its lattice parameter dating back to 1935 by Bunn [Proc. Phys. Soc. London 47, 836 (1935)], studies of its vibrational properties with Raman scattering in 1966 by Damen et al. [Phys. Rev. 142, 570 (1966)], detailed optical studies in 1954 by Mollwo [Z. Angew. Phys. 6, 257 (1954)], and its growth by chemical-vapor transport in 1970 by Galli and Coker [Appl. Phys. ...

/pdf/a-comprehensive-review-of-zno-materials-and-devices-21a3zjadem.pdf

A comprehensive review of zno materials and devices

We have elucidated the physical mechanisms governing the observed size- and temperature dependence of precipitate shapes in Al-Zn alloys via quantum-mechanical first-principles simulations. In remarkable quantitative agreement with alloy aging experiments, we find that with decreasing temperature and increasing average size, the precipitates change from spherical to plate-like shape. Although the precipitates are created by an inherently kinetic heat treatment process, the entire series of their size vs. shape relation can be explained in terms of thermodynamic arguments and understood in terms of strain and chemical energies.

https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1209/epl/i2001-00377-0/pdf

Prediction of alloy precipitate shapes from first principles

The use of pseudopotentials within local-density formalism calculations for atoms: Some results for the first row

The electronic and atomic structure of substitutional nitrogen pairs, triplets, and clusters in GaP and GaAs is studied using the multiband empirical pseudopotential method with atomistically relaxed supercells. A single nitrogen impurity creates a localized a1(N) gap state in GaP, but in GaAs, the state is resonant above the conduction-band minimum. We show how the interaction of multiple a1 impurity levels, for more than one nitrogen, results in a nonmonotonic relationship between energy level and impurity separation. We assign the lowest (NN1) line in GaP to a [2,2,0] oriented pair, the second (NN2) line to a triplet of nitrogen atoms, and identify the origin of a deeper observed level as an [1,1,0] oriented triplet. We also demonstrate that small nitrogen clusters readily create very deep levels in both GaP and GaAs.

/pdf/nitrogen-pairs-triplets-and-clusters-in-gaas-and-gap-4zwqa5lqjk.pdf

Nitrogen pairs, triplets, and clusters in GaAs and GaP

Defect-induced nonpolar-to-polar transition at the surface of CuInSe2

A previous pseudopotential total-energy calculation on bcc copper revealed a structural metastability in the form of a double-well total-energy curve with two local minima (at 6% compression and 7% dilation relative to the observed equilibrium volume of the fcc structure), separated by a barrier. This was explained in terms of a symmetry breaking in the nonspherical components of the valence-electron charge density upon volume change. Our present all-electron calculation shows no such metastability; analysis of the response of the valence-electron charge density to volume deformations indeed shows no cause for such a metastability.

Alex Zunger

Papers

Prediction of alloy precipitate shapes from first principles

The use of pseudopotentials within local-density formalism calculations for atoms: Some results for the first row

Nitrogen pairs, triplets, and clusters in GaAs and GaP

Defect-induced nonpolar-to-polar transition at the surface of CuInSe2

Absence of volume metastability in bcc copper