RESUMEN
It has been suggested that Ba3In2O6might be a high-Tcsuperconductor. Experimental investigation of the properties of Ba3In2O6was long inhibited by its instability in air. Recently epitaxial Ba3In2O6with a protective capping layer was demonstrated, which finally allows its electronic characterization. The optical bandgap of Ba3In2O6is determined to be 2.99 eV in-the (001) plane and 2.83 eV along thec-axis direction by spectroscopic ellipsometry. First-principles calculations were carried out, yielding a result in good agreement with the experimental value. Various dopants were explored to induce (super-)conductivity in this otherwise insulating material. NeitherA- norB-site doping proved successful. The underlying reason is predominately the formation of oxygen interstitials as revealed by scanning transmission electron microscopy and first-principles calculations. Additional efforts to induce superconductivity were investigated, including surface alkali doping, optical pumping, and hydrogen reduction. To probe liquid-ion gating, Ba3In2O6was successfully grown epitaxially on an epitaxial SrRuO3bottom electrode. So far none of these efforts induced superconductivity in Ba3In2O6,leaving the answer to the initial question of whether Ba3In2O6is a high-Tcsuperconductor to be 'no' thus far.
RESUMEN
Using first-principles calculations, we study the electronic and transport properties of rutheniumterpyridine molecules sandwiched between two Au(111) electrodes. We analyse both single and packed molecular devices, more amenable to scaling and realistic integration approaches. The devices display all together robust negative differential resistance features at low bias voltages. Remarkably, the electrical control of the spin transport in the studied systems implies a subtle distribution of the magnetisation density within the biased devices and highlights the key role of the Au(111) electrical contacts.
RESUMEN
Combining the local spin density approximation (LSDA)+U and an analysis of superexchange interactions beyond density functional theory, we describe the magnetic ground state of Cr-doped TiO2, an intensively studied and debated dilute magnetic oxide. In parallel, we correct our LSDA+U (+ superexchange) ground state through GW corrections (GW@LSDA+U) that reproduce the position of the impurity states and the band gaps in satisfying agreement with experiments. Because of the different topological coordinations of Cr-Cr bonds in the ground states of rutile and anatase, superexchange interactions induce either ferromagnetic or antiferromagnetic couplings of Cr ions. In Cr-doped anatase, this interaction leads to a new mechanism which stabilizes a (nonrobust) ferromagnetic ground state, in keeping with experimental evidence, without the need to invoke F-center exchange. The interplay between structural defects and vacancies in contributing to the superexchange is also unveiled.
RESUMEN
We use many-body perturbation theory, the state-of-the-art method for band-gap calculations, to compute the band offsets at the Si/SiO2 interface. We examine the adequacy of the usual approximations in this context. We show that (i) the separate treatment of band structure and potential lineup contributions, the latter being evaluated within density-functional theory, is justified, (ii) most plasmon-pole models lead to inaccuracies in the absolute quasiparticle corrections, (iii) vertex corrections can be neglected, and (iv) eigenenergy self-consistency is adequate. Our theoretical offsets agree with the experimental ones within 0.3 eV.
RESUMEN
By means of ab initio simulations, we investigate the phonon band structure and electron-phonon coupling in small 4-A diameter nanotubes. We show that both the C(5,0) and C(3,3) tubes undergo above room temperature a Peierls transition mediated by an acoustical long wavelength and an optical q=2k(F) phonon, respectively. In the armchair geometry, we verify that the electron-phonon coupling parameter lambda originates mainly from phonons at q=2k(F) and is strongly enhanced when the diameter decreases. These results question the origin of superconductivity in small diameter nanotubes.
RESUMEN
We present a joint experimental and theoretical study of the superconductivity in doped silicon clathrates. The critical temperature in Ba(8)@Si-46 is shown to strongly decrease with applied pressure. These results are corroborated by ab initio calculations using MacMillan's formulation of the BCS theory with the electron-phonon coupling constant lambda calculated from perturbative density functional theory. Further, the study of I(8)@Si-46 and of gedanken pure silicon diamond and clathrate phases doped within a rigid-band approach show that the superconductivity is an intrinsic property of the sp(3) silicon network. As a consequence, carbon clathrates are predicted to yield large critical temperatures with an effective electron-phonon interaction much larger than in C60.
RESUMEN
Using density-functional theory, we compute the optical and static dielectric constants for a set of Zr silicates modeled by various SiO2 crystals, with Zr atoms substitutional to Si, and by an amorphous structure. We then derive a microscopic scheme that relates the dielectric constants to structural units centered on Si and Zr atoms through the definition of characteristic parameters. Applied to amorphous (ZrO2)(x)(SiO2)(1-x), these schemes describe the observed dependence of the dielectric constants on the Zr concentration and highlight the role of ZrO6 units.
RESUMEN
Topology related changes in the local density of states near the apex of carbon nanocones are investigated using both tight-binding and ab initio calculations. Sharp resonant states are found to dominate the electronic structure in the region close to the Fermi energy. The strength and the position of these states with respect to the Fermi level depend sensitively on the number and the relative positions of the pentagons constituting the conical tip. Carbon nanocones are thus proposed as good candidates for nanoprobes in scanning probe microscopy.
RESUMEN
We present a first-principles calculation of the quasiparticle electronic structure of ethylene adsorbed on the dimer reconstructed Si(001)-(2x1) surface. Within the GW approximation, the self-energy corrections for the adsorbate states are found to be about 1.5 eV larger than those for the states derived from bulk silicon. The calculated quasiparticle band structure is in excellent agreement with photoemission spectra. Finally, the effects of the quasiparticle corrections on the scanning tunneling microscope images of the adsorbed molecules are shown to be important as the lowering of the C2H4 energy levels within GW strongly reduces their tunneling probability.
