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We study the interaction of H2, O2, CO, H2O, and OH molecules with the vacancy defects of graphene and silicene. Atoms around the bare vacancy reconstruct and specific chemically active sites are created. Although H2, O2and CO remain intact on both pristine graphene and silicene, these molecules can dissociate when they are placed at the close proximity of these chemically active sites and nucleate centers for the hydrogenation and oxygenation. Saturation of the dangling bonds at the defect sites by constituent atoms of dissociated molecules gives rise to significant modification of electronic and magnetic properties. We analyzed the mechanism of the dissociation and revealed a concerted action of surrounding host atoms together with dissociated molecules to lower the energy barrier needed for dissociation. The dissociations of H2O and OH are hindered by high energy barriers. Our study suggests that graphene and silicene can be functionalized by creating meshes of single vacancy, where specific molecules can dissociate, and some other molecules can be pinned.

The interaction of silicene with Si, C, H, O, and Ti atoms along with H2, H2O, and O2molecules are investigated and the induced functionalities thereof are analyzed using first principles density functional theory. Si adatom initially adsorbed at the top site of silicene pushes down the Si atom underneath to form a dumbbell like structure with 3 + 1 coordination. This prediction is important for silicene research and reveals new physical phenomena related to the formation of multilayer Si, which is apparently the precursor state for the missing layered structure of silicon. We found that dumbbell structure attributes coverage-dependent electronic and magnetic properties to nonmagnetic bare silicene. Even more interesting is that silicene with dumbbells is energetically more favorable than the pristine silicene: The more dense the dumbbell coverage, the stronger is the cohesion. Incidentally, these structures appear to be intermediate between between silicene and silicon. The carbon adatom, which is initially adsorbed to the bridge position, substitutes one Si atom, if it overcomes a small energy barrier. The oxygen molecule can dissociate on the silicene surface, whereby constituent oxygen atoms oxidize silicene by forming strong bonds. By varying the concentration and decoration of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen atoms, one can tune the band gap of silicene. Through the adsorption of hydrogen or titanium adatom, silicene acquires spin-polarized state. A half-metallic ferromagnetic behavior is attained at specific uniform coverage of Ti adatom, which may function as a spin valve.

We investigate a nanoscale dielectric capacitor model consisting of two-dimensional, hexagonal h-BN layers placed between two commensurate and metallic graphene layers using self-consistent field density functional theory. The separation of equal amounts of electric charge of different sign in different graphene layers is achieved by applying an electric field perpendicular to the layers. The stored charge, energy, and the electric potential difference generated between the metallic layers are calculated from the first principles for the relaxed structures. Predicted high-capacitance values exhibit the characteristics of supercapacitors. The capacitive behavior of the present nanoscale model is compared with that of the classical Helmholtz model, which reveals crucial quantum size effects at small separations, which in turn recede as the separation between metallic planes increases.

We predict the stabilities of α-graphynes and their boron nitride analogues (α-BNyne), which are considered as competitors of graphene and two-dimensional hexagonal BN. On the basis of the first-principles plane wave method, we investigated the stability and structural transformations of these materials at different sizes using phonon dispersion calculations and ab initio finite temperature, molecular dynamics simulations. Depending on the number of additional atoms in the edges between the corner atoms of the hexagons, n, both α-graphyne(n) and α-BNyne(n) are stable for even nbut unstable for odd n. α-Graphyne(3) undergoes a structural transformation, where the symmetry of hexagons is broken. We present the structure-optimized cohesive energies and electronic, magnetic, and mechanical properties of stable structures. Our calculations reveal the existence of Dirac cones in the electronic structures of α-graphynes of all sizes, where the Fermi velocities decrease with increasing n. The electronic and magnetic properties of these structures are modified by hydrogenation. A single hydrogen vacancy renders a magnetic moment of one Bohr magneton. We finally present the properties of the bilayer α-graphyne and α-BNyne structures. We expect that these layered materials can function as frameworks in various chemical and electronic applications.

We perform first-principles structure optimization, phonon frequency, and finite temperature molecular dynamics calculations based on density functional theory to study the interaction of chlorine atoms with graphene predicting the existence of possible chlorinated graphene derivatives. The bonding of a single chlorine atom is ionic through the transfer of charge from graphene to chlorine adatom and induces negligible local distortion in the underlying planar graphene. Different from hydrogen and fluorine adatoms, the migration of a single chlorine adatom on the surface of perfect graphene takes place almost without barrier. However, the decoration of one surface of graphene with Cl adatoms leading to various conformations cannot be sustained due to strong Cl–Cl interaction resulting in the desorption through the formation of Cl2molecules. On the contrary, the fully chlorinated graphene, chlorographene CCl, where single chlorine atoms are bonded alternatingly to each carbon atom from different sides of graphene with sp3-type covalent bonds, is buckled. We found that this structure is stable and is a direct band gap semiconductor, whose band gap can be tuned by applied uniform strain. Calculated phonon dispersion relation and four Raman-active modes of chlorographene are discussed.

We report a first-principles systematic study of atomic, electronic, and magnetic properties of hydrogen-saturated silicon nanowires (H-SiNW) that are heavily doped by transition metal (TM) atoms placed at various interstitial and substitutional sites. Our results obtained within the conventional GGA+U approach have been confirmed using a hybrid functional. To reveal the surface effects, we examined three different possible facets of H-SiNW along the [001] direction with a diameter of ∼2 nm. The energetics of doping and resulting electronic and magnetic properties are examined for all alternative configurations. We found that except Ti, the resulting systems have a magnetic ground state with a varying magnetic moment. Whereas H-SiNWs are initially nonmagnetic semiconductor, they generally become ferromagnetic metal upon TM doping. They can even exhibit half-metallic behavior for specific cases. Our results suggest that H-SiNWs functionalized by TM impurities form a new type of dilute magnetic semiconductor potentially attractive for new electronic and spintronic devices on the nanoscale.

Recent studies have revealed that single-layer transition-metal oxides and dichalcogenides (MX2) might offer properties superior to those of graphene. So far, only very few MX2compounds have been synthesized as suspended single layers, and some of them have been exfoliated as thin sheets. Using first-principles structure optimization and phonon calculations based on density functional theory, we predict that, out of 88 different combinations of MX2compounds, several of them can be stable in free-standing, single-layer honeycomb-like structures. These materials have two-dimensional hexagonal lattices and have top-view appearances as if they consisted of either honeycombs or centered honeycombs. However, their bonding is different from that of graphene; they can be viewed as a positively charged plane of transition-metal atoms sandwiched between two planes of negatively charged oxygen or chalcogen atoms. Electron correlation in transition-metal oxides was treated by including Coulomb repulsion through LDA + Ucalculations. Our analysis of stability was extended to include in-plane stiffness, as well as ab initio, finite-temperature molecular dynamics calculations. Some of these single-layer structures are direct- or indirect-band-gap semiconductors, only one compound is half-metal, and the rest are either ferromagnetic or nonmagnetic metals. Because of their surface polarity, band gap, high in-plane stiffness, and suitability for functionalization by adatoms or vacancies, these single-layer structures can be utilized in a wide range of technological applications, especially as nanoscale coatings for surfaces contributing crucial functionalities. In particular, the manifold WX2heralds exceptional properties promising future nanoscale applications.

This paper presents a comparative study of the lattice dynamics of three-dimensional layered MoS2and two-dimensional single layer MoS2based on the density functional theory. A comprehensive analysis of energetics and optimized structure parameters is performed using different methods. It is found that the van der Waals attraction between layers of three-dimensional (3D) layered MoS2is weak but is essential to hold the layers together with the equilibrium interlayer spacing. Cohesive energy, phonon dispersion curves, and corresponding density of states and related properties, such as Born-effective charges, dielectric constants, Raman and infrared active modes are calculated for 3D layered as well as 2D single layer MoS2using their optimized structures. These calculated values are compared with the experimental data to reveal interesting dimensionality effects. The absence of a weak interlayer interaction in 2D single layer MoS2results in the softening of some of Raman active modes.

Based on first-principles plane-wave calculations, we studied the functionalization of the two-dimensional single-layer MoS2structure through adatom adsorption and vacancy defect creation. Minimum-energy adsorption sites were determined for 16 different adatoms, each of which gives rise to diverse properties. Bare, single-layer MoS2, which is normally a nonmagnetic, direct-band-gap semiconductor, attains a net magnetic moment upon adsorption of specific transition-metal atoms, as well as silicon and germanium atoms. The localized donor and acceptor states in the band gap expand the utilization of MoS2in nanoelectronics and spintronics. Specific adatoms, such as C and O, attain significant excess charge upon adsorption onto single-layer MoS2, which might be useful for tribological applications. Each MoS2triple vacancy created in a single layer of MoS2gives rise to a net magnetic moment, whereas other vacancy defects related to Mo and S atoms do not influence the nonmagnetic ground state. The present results are also relevant for the surface of graphitic MoS2.

We present our study on atomic, electronic, magnetic, and phonon properties of the one-dimensional honeycomb structure of molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) using the first-principles plane wave method. Calculated phonon frequencies of bare armchair nanoribbon reveal the fourth acoustic branch and indicate the stability. Force constant and in-plane stiffness calculated in the harmonic elastic deformation range signify that the MoS2nanoribbons are stiff quasi one-dimensional structures, but not as strong as graphene and BN nanoribbons. Bare MoS2armchair nanoribbons are nonmagnetic, direct band gap semiconductors. Bare zigzag MoS2nanoribbons become half-metallic as a result of the (2 × 1) reconstruction of edge atoms and are semiconductor for minority spins, but metallic for the majority spins. Their magnetic moments and spin-polarizations at the Fermi level are reduced as a result of the passivation of edge atoms by hydrogen. The functionalization of MoS2nanoribbons by adatom adsorption and vacancy defect creation are also studied. The nonmagnetic armchair nanoribbons attain net magnetic moment depending on where the foreign atoms are adsorbed and what kind of vacancy defect is created. The magnetization of zigzag nanoribbons due to the edge states is suppressed in the presence of vacancy defects.

Based on the facts that: (a) the transverse acoustic vibrational branch frequency is softened at the Brillouin zone boundaries of crystalline GaAs; (b) at the surface, the Ga&z.sbnd;As bond is stronger than Ga&z.sbnd;Te bond; and (c) the requirement that the final bond orientation of the Te surfactant should be rotated by 90° with respect to its initial orientation, we carried out a model study of an exchange process in epitaxial growth of GaAs (100). Even with very restrictive conditions imposed on the atomic movements, this study explains why Te is an effective surfactant for this type of growth.

We present a first-principles study to elucidate the nature of the bonding, stability, energetics, and dynamics of individual X8H8 molecules (X = C, Si, Ge). The results obtained from both “local basis” and “pseudopotential” ab initio methods are in good agreement with the experimental data that exists for cubane (C8H8). The trends among these molecules are reminiscent of those prevailing in the bulk solids of C, Si, and Ge. High-temperature dynamics and fragmentation of X8H8 were studied by the quantum molecular dynamics method which shows that at high temperatures cubane is transformed to the 8-fold ring structure of cyclooctotetraene.