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This paper reports the results of atomistic and ab initio simulation of several different tilt grain boundaries in silicon. The boundary structures obtained with genetic algorithm turned out to have no coordination defects, i.e., all silicon atoms restored their tetrahedral coordination during the structure optimisation. That concerns previously known symmetric Σ5 (130), Σ3 (211), and Σ29 (520) boundaries and previously unknown asymmetric Σ9 (̄255)/(̄211), Σ3 (̄255)/(̄211), and Σ13 (790)/(3 11 0) structures. An extensive study has been performed on defect segregation on the boundaries, including neutral vacancy and carbon, phosphorus, and boron impurities. A clear correlation has been revealed between the segregation energy of the defect and local geometry of the boundary site where the defect is segregated. The authors propose a simple purely geometric model for evaluating approximate segregation energies of the listed defects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

GaAs1 − xBix alloys attract significant interest due to their potentiality for several applications, including solar cells. Recent experiments link the crucial optical properties of these alloys to Bi clustering at certain Bi compositions. Using ab initio calculations, we show that there is no thermodynamical driving force for the formation of small GaBi clusters incorporating As substitutional sites. However, the Ga vacancies should gather Bi atoms leading to small Bi clusters, and the Ga vacancies can act as nucleation centers for phase separation. The formation energy of the GaAs1 − xBix with respect to GaAs and GaBi shows a maximum at intermediate Bi concentrations. Thermodynamics and kinetics of the GaAs1 − xBix film growth is discussed. High Bi solubility is obtained, if the Bi atoms on the energetically favorable atom positions in the subsurface layer are relatively frozen. The Ga vacancy concentration may be increased by the incorporation of Bi. The Bi atoms can also prevent the out diffusion of Ga vacancies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]