Search

The low-density (LDA) to high-density (HDA) transformation in amorphous Ge at high pressure is studied by first-principles molecular dynamics simulations in the framework of density functional theory. Previous experiments are accurately reproduced, including the presence of a well-defined LDA-HDA transition above 8 GPa. The LDA-HDA density increase is found to be about 14%. Pair and bond-angle distributions are obtained in the 0-16 GPa pressure range and allowed us a detailed analysis of the transition. The local fourfold coordination is transformed in an average HDA sixfold coordination associated with different local geometries as confirmed by coordination number analysis and shape of the bond-angle distributions. © 2016 IOP Publishing Ltd.

Magnesium hydride is a very promising material for solid-state hydrogen storage. However, some drawbacks have to be overcome to use it in real applications. The use of catalysts is a viable solution to lower the desorption temperature and increase the overall kinetics. An accurate model has been developed to study the mechanism of action of the catalyst and how it interacts with the interface MgH2-Mg, through which H atoms diffuse. The accurate evaluation of the work of adhesion and defect energy formation, versus the distance from the interface are linked to the atomic-scale structural distortion induced by the catalyst. Moreover, molecular dynamics simulations at several temperature provide a clear description of the desorption mechanism and an estimate of the desorption temperature. © 2015 Hydrogen Energy Publications, LLC.

After a brief review of the basic properties of TiSi 2 phases recently obtained by molecular dynamics simulations, we show the self-diffusing species at high temperatures in both the C54 and C49 structures to be silicon, by hopping through a first neighbours network. The kinetic parameters and the diffusion paths for Si diffusion by vacancies and interstitials are reported, pointing out that diffusion in the C49 structure by SiI vacancies is strongly favoured, due to the very low formation energy they display.

In this paper we show that the driving force leading to the metal-semiconductor structural phase transition occurring in epitaxial FeSi2 with film thickness, originates from a local Jahn-Teller distortion. This effect can be straightforwardly seen by the analysis of the site-projected density of states during a variable cell molecular dynamics for the bulk configuration. We point out that the evolution of the local density of states is a reliable and powerful tool solely provided by tight-binding molecular dynamics. [S0163-1829(99)00905-4].

The structure of glassy GeS${}_{2}$ is studied in the framework of density functional theory, by using a fully self-consistent first-principles molecular dynamics (FPMD) scheme. A comparative analysis is performed with previous molecular dynamics data obtained within the Harris functional (HFMD) total energy approach. The calculated total neutron structure factor exhibits an unprecedented agreement with the experimental counterpart. In particular, the height of the first sharp diffraction peak (FSDP) improves considerably upon the HFMD results. Both the Ge and the S subnetworks are affected by a consistent number of miscoordinations, coexisting with the main tetrahedral structural motif. Glassy GeS${}_{2}$ features a short-range order quite similar to the one found in glassy GeSe${}_{2}$, a notable exception being the larger number of edge-sharing connections. An electronic structure localization analysis, based on the Wannier functions formalism, provides evidence of a more enhanced ionic character in glassy GeS${}_{2}$ when compared to glassy GeSe${}_{2}$.

Hydrogen desorption from hydride matrix is still an open field of research. Extensive, density functional theory based, ab-initio molecular dynamics simulations of MgH2-Mg interface catches the atomic level structural mechanism leading to hydrogen desorption. The numerical model estimates the desorption temperature for an interface with Fe catalyst in excellent agreement with experimental results. Formation energies and the analysis of the structural data reveal the role played by the catalysts to lower the desorption temperature. © 2013, Hydrogen Energy Publications, LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The upper threshold of hydrogen adsorption in Li-doped and hydrogenated carbon nanotube densely packed arrays is calculated to check the ability of such systems to fulfill the target indicated by the United States Department of Energy (DOE). To this aim, model potential parameters have been obtained by Density Functional Theory and have been used to calculate the adsorption isotherms in honeycomb arrays containing up to seven tubes by means of Grand-Canonical Monte Carlo simulations. A hybrid model has been developed involving both atomistic potentials for short-range interactions and integrated potentials for hydrogen interacting with distant tubes. In the pressure range explored, it is shown that the hydrogen adsorption performances of Li-doped carbon nanotubes arranged in close packed honeycomb arrays, while being enhanced with respect to pristine carbon nanotubes, are still well below the DOE targets. © Springer Science+Business Media 2013.

We describe two examples of application focusing on first-principles molecular dynamics as an effective tool to unravel the atomic-scale structure of condensed-matter systems. The first application is on disordered network-forming materials and the second is on silicon-doped fullerenes. We show that an accurate modelling of interatomic forces based on density functional theory, when combined with an account of the temperature evolution, is an unavoidable prerequisite for analyzing and interpreting experimental results on a quantitative basis. In the case of disordered systems, we describe the basic structural features of amorphous GeSe4 and highlight the predominant chemical order in this system. The effect of adding or removing an electron charge on the stability of Si-doped fullerenes is exemplified by considering the finite temperature evolution of heterofullerenes. © (2008) Trans Tech Publications, Switzerland.

In this letter, the strain field below uncapped Ge islands of a different shape on a Si(001) substrate is estimated by molecular dynamics simulations at a realistic scale. Comparison to the Fourier transform maps of transmission electron micrographs, recently reported in literature, shows a very good agreement. We point out that the complex deformation in silicon, just below the edges of the Ge islands, is far from being uniaxial. The stress distribution generated by such a strain determines the range of interdot repulsion. (C) 2002 American Institute of Physics.

Tight binding molecular dynamics is used to predict the structure and the total energy of the most relevant intrinsic point defects in C54 and C49 TiSi2. The comparison between the relative formation energies of point defects of the two phases in contact with a Si substrate suggests that the metastable C49 form has a higher concentration of point defects. In particular, we point out that Si vacancies and (010) stacking faults should be quite common in the C49 structure. This issue could be important in explaining the kinetic advantage of the latter phase in film growth by solid state reaction.

The total energy of equilibrated pyramids layer by layer films and flat prepyramids in the epitaxial growth of Ge on Si (001) was investigated. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations were applied to equilibrate the samples at atomic scale by the efficient code. It was shown that pyramids are more stable than Frank-van der Merwe (FM) films due to the partial strain relief.

Molecular dynamics simulations by a tight binding potential provide new interesting information on the ground state properties of the TiSi2 phases. In particular, we have compared some structural, elastic, thermodynamic and electronic properties of the C49, the C54 and the amorphous phases. It turns out that the C49 structure is much softer than the C54, also displaying a melting temperature some 300-400 K below the one for the C54, in agreement to very recent experimental results. The amorphous phase is energetically and structurally more akin to the C49 than to the C54 phase. On the basis of these results we suggest the higher formation kinetics of the former to be related to an intrinsic advantage in the growth stage. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

In this letter, we show that the polymorphic C49 form of TiSi2 has much smaller elastic constants than those of the C54 bulk-stable structure and that its melting temperature is about 300 degrees C lower. These issues supply intriguing hints in explaining the kinetic advantage of the C49 over the C54 phase and in understanding the role of the elastic energy in the phase transformation from C49 to C54. (c) 1999 American Institute of Physics. [S0003-6951(99)03023-5].

Conversion electron Mössbauer spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy investigations of epitaxially stabilized c-FeSi having the CsCl structure reveal a self-organized layered structure. Upon annealing the structural phase transition to the bulk stable ∈-FeSi phase leaves the superlattice periodicity intact with surprisingly sharp interfaces. A distorted CsCl phase which tranforms into the ∈-FeSi phase at a temperature slightly higher than that for the partially relaxed c-FeSi is identified in the as-grown sample. Molecular-dynamics simulations have been used to visualize and interpret the distorted phase and the structural phase transition.

We show that tight-binding molecular dynamics provides a detailed description of the relations between structural deformations and changes in the electronic features during a Jahn-Teller process. In this case the metal-semiconductor displacitive phase transition occurring in epitaxial FeSi2 with film thickness can be correctly reproduced and interpreted by variable cell molecular dynamics for the bulk configuration. We show that it actually corresponds to a pattern of local Jahn-Teller distortions occurring at selected sites in different times, so that the configurational evolution cannot be described by a global coordinate.

In this paper we report a molecular dynamics simulation at constant pressure and constant temperature of the structural phase transition occurring in epitaxial FeSi2 from the fluorite phase (metallic and pseudomorphic) to orthorhombic one (semiconductor and bulk stable). The evolution of the electronic density of states is carefully monitored during the transformation and we can show that the Jahn-Teller coupling between the density of states at the Fermi level and the lattice deformation drives the metal-semiconductor transition.