Ab-Initio Simulation Laboratory

Field evaporation of silicon as positive and negative ions in the field ion microscope and scanning tunneling microscope configurations is investigated with the charge-exchange model using atomic potentials from an empirical potential due to Tersoff [Phys. Rev. B 37, 6991 (1988)] and an environment dependent potential developed by Bolding and Andersen [Phys. Rev. B 41, 10568 (1990)]. For the geometry of the field ion microscope, Si+ should be the observable ion species. In the close-spaced electrode geometry of the scanning tunneling microscope, Si2- should be the favored ion species since it requires the lowest evaporation field.

Following our previous work, we carry out a more detailed study of dissociation dynamics of diatomic ions field-evaporated from a metallic tip of field-ion microscopy, We have found that the partial fractal behavior of the dissociation probability near threshold field strength and the multiple peaks in the time-of-flight spectrum can be attributed to different combinations of vibrational and rotational cycles before ions dissociate, But more clear revelation of the origin of the fractal behavior comes from investigating the uniform-field limit, where we show that two types of chaos exist, one is associated with the rotational saddle orbit and the other associated with the moving potential barrier of a DC field-distorted anharmonic oscillator, The homoclinic tangles associated with these saddles give rise to the sensitive dependence of dynamics on initial conditions.

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The adatoms, dimers and rest atoms in the three outermost atomic layers of the Si(111)-(7 x 7) surface are directly imaged with glancing Kikuchi electron holography. The applicability of Kikuchi electron holography to complicated multiple-emitter surfaces is evident. The three-dimensional relative positions of atoms on the Si(111)-(7 x 7) surface are in good accordance with the LEED-optimized DAS model.

Three-dimensional atomic images of a Pt(111) surface are obtained by direct inversion of multiple low-energy Kikuchi electron-diffraction patterns. The images are in the backscattering direction. and the positions of the images are consistent with those expected from the atomic structure near the Pt(111) surface. The strong electron scattering of the Pt atoms causes no observable problems in the Kikuchi electron holography.

The structural bases on the metal/semiconductor interfaces, such as gold trimers on the Au/Si (111)(root 3 x root 3)R30 degrees surface and antimony trimers on the Sb/Si(111)(root 3 x root 3)R30 degrees surface, can be imaged directly with a simple inversion of low-energy (<600 eV) Kikuchi-electron patterns (Kikuchi-electron holography-KEH). The relative positions of the building blocks (trimers) on the adsorbates to the substrate atoms are also determined. This short-range-order KEH tool, which provides the 3D Patterson function, can be viewed as a twin of grazing-incidence X-ray diffraction. Using direct structural information obtained by KEH, one can greatly reduce the tested models in a complete trial-and-error structural-determination process.

Hydrogenation-induced metal-semiconductor transitions usually occur in simple systems based on rare earths and/or magnesium, accompanied by major reconstructions of the metal host (atom shifts >2 Angstrom). We report on the first such transition in a quaternary system based on a transition element. Metallic LaMg2Ni absorbs hydrogen near ambient conditions, forming the nonmetallic hydride LaMg2NiH7 which has a nearly unchanged metal host structure (atom shifts <0.7 Angstrom). The transition is induced by a charge transfer of conduction electrons into tetrahedral [NiH4](4-) complexes having closed-shell electron configurations.

Adsorption of C-60 onto Si(111)root 3 x root 3-In surface presents a fascinating example of interplay between molecular adsorbate and surface structural defects. It has been found that adsorbing C-60 molecules are trapped by the substitutional Si-defects. In turn, the group of a few adsorbed C-60 can act as a trap for the mobile vacancies of the root 3 x root 3-In reconstruction. Namely, adsorbed C-60 induces a strain in the indium layer, and when a mobile vacancy happens to get into the surface area surrounded by fullerenes, the In atoms between the C-60 and the vacancy shift from the T-4 to the H-3 sites, fixing a vacancy in a given location. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Several long-range superstructures have been observed with the scanning tunneling microscopy on the reconstructed Pt(100) surface at room temperature. They are present in strained domains and involve both the Fermi electrons and the concomitant lattice distortions. A first-principles calculation shows that the top layer expanded similar to 18% on average and the Fermi surface for a single hexagon layer displays some nesting portions, which can be related to the wave vectors of the observed superstructures. Thus, these superstructures existing in the local domains of the reconstructed surface have the likely origin of incipent charge density waves.

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Surface-supported planar clusters can sprout active research and create numerous applications in the realm of nanotechnology. Exploitation of these clusters will be more extended if their properties on a supported substrate are thoroughly apprehended, and if they can be fabricated in a controllable way. Here we report finding the magic numbers in two-dimensional Ag clusters grown on Pb quantum islands. We demonstrate, with the images and energy spectra of atomic precision, the transition from electronic origin to a geometric one within the same system. Applying the magic nature, we can also produce a large array of planar clusters with well-defined sizes and shapes.

We present a method for spatially resolved imaging of energy-dependent photoelectron diffraction. Energy-dependent photoelectron-diffraction spectra are individually Fourier transformed to three-dimensional vector space. The complex transformed amplitudes are summed over a span of phi angles or over a span of polar angles. The images are, respectively, well resolved in the radial and azimuthal directions, or in the radial and polar directions. The intersections of these real-space maps fix the atomic coordinates. We show how the intensity loci from single and multiple scattering paths are separately resolved and how most multiple scattering contributions are eliminated. By varying the collection angles, atoms in different regions relative to the emitter, e.g., surface or bulk atoms, are imaged. One can also use the photon's A vector to enhance the near-pi backscattering geometry. We compare this method with another direct method: extended x-ray-absorption fine structure.

We used the embedded-atom method potential to study the structures, adsorption energies, binding energies, migration paths, and energy barriers of the Ir adatom and small clusters on fcc Ir (100), (110), and (111) surfaces. We found that the barrier for single-adatom diffusion is lowest on the (111) surface, higher on the (110) surface, and highest on the (100) surface. The exchange mechanisms of adatom diffusion on (100) and (110) surfaces are energetically favored. On all three Ir surfaces, Ir-2 dimers with nearest-neighbor spacing are the most stable. On the (110) surface, the Ir-2 dimer diffuses collectively along the (110) channel, while motion perpendicular to the channel walls is achieved by successive one-atom and correlated jumps. On (111) surface, the Ir-2 dimer diffuses in a zigzag motion on hcp and fee sites without breaking into two single atoms. On the (100) surface, diffusion of the Ir-2 dimer is achieved by successive one-atom exchange with the substrate atom accompanying by a 90 degrees rotation of the Ir-2 dimer. This mechanism has a surprisingly low activation energy of 0.65 eV, which is 0.14 eV lower than the energy for single adatom exchange on the (100) surface. Trimers were found to have a one-dimensional (1D) structure on (100) and (110) surfaces, and a 2D structure on the (111) surface. The observed abrupt drop of the diffusion barrier of tetramer, I-gamma 4 on the Ir (111) surface was confirmed theoretically.

We propose in this paper a theoretical model to investigate surface self-diffusion of single adatoms on the face-centered-cubic metals. Calculations are performed on the channeled (110), densely packed (111) and loosely packed (001) surfaces of iridium at temperature T = 800 K. Three realistic model potentials, Embedded Atom method, Sutton-Chen and Rosato-Guillope-Legrand potentials, are applied to describe the interatomic interaction of the adatom/substrate systems. These potentials all involve a few empirical fittings of bulk properties of solid which incorporate with many-body effects. With these potentials, conventional molecular dynamics (MD) is employed to obtain trajectories of the atoms. On the (111) plane, via the Einstein relation, the estimated random walk exponential prefactors and activation energies do exhibit Arrhenius behavior, which are in reasonably good agreement with the experimental results. On the (001) and (110) faces, a number of theoretical evidences for atomic diffusion by exchange mechanism of the adatom with a surface atom are presented, which are again in fairly good agreement with the experiments. In addition, an examination of the exchange diffusion characteristics on several systems (Cu, Rh and Pt) is also presented.

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We invert high-energy (E greater-than-or-equal-to 400 eV) photoelectron and Auger-electron interference patterns to construct 3D images of surface and interface atoms. A new scheme is introduced to correct the phase shift of the image. Image reconstruction is demonstrated for Si(111) square-root 3 x square-root 3-B, a system in which multiple-scattering effects are small and all source waves are equivalent. Using diffraction results from multiple-scattering slab calculations, we achieve a spatial resolution of 1.0-1.3 angstrom, thus qualifying the technique as a direct structural tool.

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Photoelectron-diffraction studies of Nb(001) have been performed to determine the first-interlayer contraction using Mg K alpha radiation (h nu = 1253.6 eV) as an excitation source. Photoemission intensities of the 3d(5/2) core level were measured as a function of the polar angle along several azimuths on the single-crystal surface. The 202.3-eV (205.0-eV) binding energy for the 3d(5/2) (3d(3/2)) core level was well resolved in the photoemission spectra, where the peak intensity could be easily evaluated by curve-fitting processes. Large oscillations of the 3d(5/2) intensity as a function of the polar angle due to forward-focusing were observed. Based on multiple-scattering calculations for several first-interlayer spacings ranging from the bulk value to 16% contraction, the best agreement with experiment was obtained for a (13 +/- 5)% contraction of the first-interlayer spacing.

We report calculations of the dissociative adsorption of H-2 at Pd (100) covered with 1/4 monolayer of sulfur using quantum dynamics as well as molecular dynamics and taking all six degrees of freedom of the two H atoms fully into account. The ab-initio potential-energy surface (PES) is found to be very strongly corrugated. In particular, we discuss the influence of tunneling, zero-point vibrations due to the localization of the wave function of the nuclei when narrow valleys of the PES are passed, steering of the approaching H-2 molecules towards low-energy barrier configurations, and the important role of subsurface absorbates for the hydrogen dissociation. It is shown that "established" concepts derived from low-dimensional dynamical studies are not necessarily valid in a high-dimensional treatment. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

The clean-off reaction of AgO added rows by CO on Ag(110) and Au/Ag(110) bimetallic surfaces was studied by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and compared with density functional theory (DFT). This combined study of a model system illustrated the complexity of catalytic enhancement in bimetallic systems. By analyzing in situ time-lapsed STM image series, we found that CO oxidation on a Au-enriched Ag(110) surface leads to an exponential depletion of oxygen with time and a reaction rate that is synergistically enhanced by the presence of Au. First principles calculations indicate that the local atomic configuration around the active reaction sites at the chain ends and the preference of An atom substitution into the subsurface second Ag layer are of critical importance. By calculating CO adsorption energies and reaction barriers for plausible reaction pathways, a detailed description of the CO oxidation reaction emerges, For the optimal reaction pathway, a large (similar to 0.09 eV) barrier reduction and a small barrier of similar to 0.01 eV were found for the Eley-Rideal (ER) mechanism. In contrast, a small (similar to 0.03 eV) barrier reduction and a moderate barrier of similar to 0.23 eV were obtained for the Langmuir-Hinshelwood (LH) mechanism. The ER transitional state was also found to be lower in energy. We conclude that, irrespective of whether the ER mechanism is actually rate dominating, it is definitively enhanced.

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We investigate the structural, electronic, and optical properties of hydrogen-passivated silicon nanowires along [110] and [111] directions with diameter d up to 4.2 nm from first principles. The size and orientation dependence of the band gap is investigated and the local-density gap is corrected with the GW approximation. Quantum confinement becomes significant for d<2.2 nm, where the dielectric function exhibits strong anisotropy and new low-energy absorption peaks start to appear in the imaginary part of the dielectric function for polarization along the wire axis.

We have performed calculations of adsorption energetics on the graphene surface using the state-of-the-art diffusion quantum Monte Carlo method. Two types of configurations are considered in this work: the adsorption of a single O, F, or H atom on the graphene surface and the H-saturated graphene system (graphane). The adsorption energies are compared with those obtained from density functional theory with various exchange-correlation functionals. The results indicate that the approximate exchange-correlation functionals significantly overestimate the binding of O and F atoms on graphene, although the preferred adsorption sites are consistent. The energy errors are much less for atomic hydrogen adsorbed on the surface. We also find that a single O or H atom on graphene has a higher energy than in the molecular state, while the adsorption of a single F atom is preferred over the gas phase. In addition, the energetics of graphane is reported. The calculated equilibrium lattice constant turns out to be larger than that of graphene, at variance with a recent experimental suggestion.

The adsorptions of CO molecule on various fcc(111) surfaces (Rh, Ir, Pt, and Cu) have been studied by diffusion quantum Monte Carlo (DMC) calculations, and the results show that the top site is the most stable adsorption site on all the four surfaces, in agreement with experiments. In particular, the site preference including the bridge site for CO/Pt(111) is predicted, i.e., the top site is most preferred followed by the bridge site while the hollow sites are much less favorable, in accordance with the existing experimental observations of the bridge-site adsorption, yet never on the hollow sites. Compared to the DMC results, density functional theory (DFT) calculations with the generalized-gradient approximation (GGA) predict very similar adsorption energies on the top site, but they overestimate those on the bridge and hollow sites. That is, although the nonlocal exchange-correlation contribution is small for the single-coordinated top-site adsorption, it is essential and required to be properly included for a correct description of the higher coordinated bridge- and hollow-sites adsorptions. These altogether explain why the top site adsorption for CO on Rh, Pt, and Cu(111) surfaces was not predicted correctly by the previous standard local or semilocal DFT calculations.

To assess the accuracy of exchange-correlation approximations within density functional theory (DFT), diffusion quantum Monte Carlo (DMC) and DFT methods are used to calculate the energies of isomers of three covalently bonded carbon and boron clusters (C(20), B(18), and B(20)), and three metallic aluminum and copper clusters (Al(13), Al(55), and Cu(13)). We find that local and semilocal DFT methods predict the same energy ordering as DMC for the metallic clusters but not for the covalent clusters, implying that the DFT functionals are inadequate in such systems. In addition, we find that DFT fails to describe energy reductions arising from Jahn-Teller distortions..

We report first-principles calculations of Pb (100) films up to 22 monolayers to study variations in the surface energy and work function as a function of film thickness. An even-odd oscillation is found in these two quantities, while a jelliumlike model for this s-p metal predicts a periodicity of about three monolayers. This unexpected result is explained by considering a coherent superposition of contributions from quantum-well states centered at both the Gamma and M points in the two-dimensional Brillouin zone, demonstrating the importance of crystal band structure in studying the quantum size effect in metal thin films.

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Total and single-differential cross sections for electron-impact ionization are calculated in a relativistic formulation for ions in the hydrogen isoelectronic sequence: HI, He II, C VI, Ne X, Fe XXVI, and Ag XLVII. Transition amplitudes are evaluated in the two-potential distorted-wave approximation. Sets of different asymptotic charges are used to study the mutual screening of the primary and secondary electrons. Relativistic effects are investigated by taking the nonrelativistic limit and are found to increase the cross sections. Thomson’s scaling law along the isoelectronic sequence is also studied.

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