We have developed and implemented a selfconsistent density functional method using standard norm-conserving pseudopotentials and a flexible, numerical linear combination of atomic orbitals basis set, which includes multiple-zeta and polarization orbitals. Exchange and correlation are treated with the local spin density or generalized gradient approximations. The basis functions and the electron density are projected on a real-space grid, in order to calculate the Hartree and exchange-correlation potentials and matrix elements, with a number of operations that scales linearly with the size of the system. We use a modified energy functional, whose minimization produces orthogonal wavefunctions and the same energy and density as the Kohn-Sham energy functional, without the need for an explicit orthogonalization. Additionally, using localized Wannier-like electron wavefunctions allows the computation time and memory required to minimize the energy to also scale linearly with the size of the system. Forces and stresses are also calculated efficiently and accurately, thus allowing structural relaxation and molecular dynamics simulations.

/pdf/the-siesta-method-for-ab-initio-order-n-materials-simulation-1q65k8c3vq.pdf

The SIESTA method for ab initio order-N materials simulation

In this work we briefly describe the most relevant features of WSXM, a freeware scanning probe microscopy software based on MS-Windows. The article is structured in three different sections: The introduction is a perspective on the importance of software on scanning probe microscopy. The second section is devoted to describe the general structure of the application; in this section the capabilities of WSXM to read third party files are stressed. Finally, a detailed discussion of some relevant procedures of the software is carried out.

https://nanoed.tul.cz/pluginfile.php/1608/mod_resource/content/1/view.pdf

WSXM: a software for scanning probe microscopy and a tool for nanotechnology.

/pdf/honeycomb-carbon-a-review-of-graphene-bjl5wl6ai8.pdf

Honeycomb Carbon: A Review of Graphene

We introduce the 2D counterpart of layered black phosphorus, which we call phosphorene, as an unexplored p-type semiconducting material. Same as graphene and MoS2, single-layer phosphorene is flexible and can be mechanically exfoliated. We find phosphorene to be stable and, unlike graphene, to have an inherent, direct, and appreciable band gap. Our ab initio calculations indicate that the band gap is direct, depends on the number of layers and the in-layer strain, and is significantly larger than the bulk value of 0.31–0.36 eV. The observed photoluminescence peak of single-layer phosphorene in the visible optical range confirms that the band gap is larger than that of the bulk system. Our transport studies indicate a hole mobility that reflects the structural anisotropy of phosphorene and complements n-type MoS2. At room temperature, our few-layer phosphorene field-effect transistors with 1.0 μm channel length display a high on-current of 194 mA/mm, a high hole field-effect mobility of 286 cm2/V·s, and an...

/pdf/phosphorene-an-unexplored-2d-semiconductor-with-a-high-hole-pehm34p0g2.pdf

Phosphorene: An Unexplored 2D Semiconductor with a High Hole Mobility

https://www.zora.uzh.ch/id/eprint/3175/3/PP_VandeVondele_CPCom_2005QuickManVO.pdf

QUICKSTEP: Fast and accurate density functional calculations using a mixed Gaussian and plane waves approach

Surface layering and local structure in liquid surfaces

It is known that ab initio molecular dynamics (AIMD) simulations of liquid water, based on the generalized gradient approximation (GGA) to density functional theory (DFT), yield structural and diffusive properties in reasonable agreement with experiment only if artificially high temperatures are used in the simulations. The equilibrium density, at normal conditions, of DFT water has been recently shown by Schmidt et al. [J. Phys. chem. B, 113, 11959 (2009)] to be underestimated by different GGA functionals for exchange and correlation, and corrected by the addition of interatomic pair potentials to describe van derWaals (vdW) interactions. In this contribution we present a DFTAIMD study of liquid water using several GGA functionals as well as the van der Waals density functional (vdW-DF) of Dion et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 92, 246401(2004)]. As expected, we find that the density of water is grossly underestimated by GGA functionals. When a vdW-DF is used, the density improves drastically and the experimental diffusivity is reproduced without the need of thermal corrections. We analyze the origin of the density differences between all the functionals. We show that the vdW-DF increases the population of non-H-bonded interstitial sites, at distances between the first and second coordination shells. However, it excessively weakens the H-bond network, collapsing the second coordination shell. This structural problem is partially associated to the choice of GGA exchange in the vdW-DF. We show that a different choice for the exchange functional is enough to achieve an overall improvement both in structure and diffusivity.

/pdf/density-structure-and-dynamics-of-water-the-effect-of-van-f7c97v1qor.pdf

Density, structure and dynamics of water: the effect of Van der Waals interactions

We present fully self-consistent calculations on the image-plane position of metal surfaces, including pseudopotentials averaged over the directions parallel to the surface. Our results show that the distance of the image plane to the first atomic layer depends only weakly on the crystallographic orientation of the surface. We think that this weak dependence explains why the energies of the image states present a relative low dependence on surface orientation.

http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1209/0295-5075/8/2/013/pdf

Image-Plane Position Dependence on Metal Crystallographic Face

Carbon nitride materials have extraordinary potential in various applications, including catalysts, filled-particles, and superhard materials. Carbon nitride nanoclusters have been prepared under mild solvothermal conditions by a reaction between 1,3,5-trichlotriazine and sodium azide in toluene. The bulk material formed has a C3N4 composition and consists of spheres with diameters ranging from ∼1 nm to 4 μm. Nanometer-sized clusters of C3N4 stoichiometry have been isolated on surfaces by sublimation or simple physicochemical methods. The clusters have then been characterized by atomic force microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The laser desorption ionization mass spectra show peaks assignable to the C12N16, C21N28, and C33N44 molecules which could correspond to cage structures with 4, 7, and 11 units of the C3N4 subunit, respectively. The structure and stability of these new nitrogen-rich carbon nitride nanocages has been investigated using density functional theory calculations.

Azafullerene-like nanosized clusters.

We present a systematic Density Functional Theory (DFT) study of geometries and energies of the nucleic acid DNA bases (guanine, adenine, cytosine and thymine) and 30 different DNA base-pairs. We use a recently developed linear-scaling DFT scheme, which is specially suited for systems with large numbers of atoms. As a first step towards the study of large DNA systems, in this work: (i) We establish the reliability of the approximations of our method (including pseudopotentials and basis sets) for the description of the hydrogen-bonded base pairs, by comparing our results with those of former calculations. We show that the interaction energies at Hartree-Fock geometries are in very good agreement with those of second order M{\o}ller-Plesset (MP2) perturbation theory (the most accurate technique that can be applied at present for system of the sizes of the base-pairs). (ii) We perform DFT structural optimizations for the 30 different DNA base-pairs, only three of which had been previously studied with DFT. Our results provide information on the effect of correlation on the structure of the other 27 base pairs, for which only Hartree-Fock geometries were formerly available.

https://arxiv.org/pdf/physics/9908022.pdf

José M. Soler

Papers

Surface layering and local structure in liquid surfaces

Density, structure and dynamics of water: the effect of Van der Waals interactions

Image-Plane Position Dependence on Metal Crystallographic Face

Azafullerene-like nanosized clusters.

Density functional calculations of planar DNA base-pairs