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Zinc oxide exhibits unique properties that are reflected in a wide variety of applications, particularly in the field of transparent, conductive films. However, less attention has been paid to their color. Here, we present the synthesis of yellow-gray ZnO films at room temperature by femtosecond pulsed laser deposition. In situ Raman investigations of these polycrystalline ZnO films reveal the existence of superoxide ions, O2−, in zinc oxide, which are responsible for the yellow color, and are also detected in ZnO powder and single crystals. In addition, further dioxygen species are identified in the samples, including the O2-molecule. The negative charge excess caused by the dioxygen species creates metallic zinc as a byproduct. Structural analysis reveals an unforced realization of the dioxygen species in the ZnO lattice. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations support the assumed structural displacements as well as the observed, unexpected Raman bands. These results open up completely new insights into the behavior of ZnO.

Structure prediction of stable and metastable polymorphs of chemical systems in low dimensions has become an important field, since materials that are patterned on the nano-scale are of increasing importance in modern technological applications. While many techniques for the prediction of crystalline structures in three dimensions or of small clusters of atoms have been developed over the past three decades, dealing with low-dimensional systems—ideal one-dimensional and two-dimensional systems, quasi-one-dimensional and quasi-two-dimensional systems, as well as low-dimensional composite systems—poses its own challenges that need to be addressed when developing a systematic methodology for the determination of low-dimensional polymorphs that are suitable for practical applications. Quite generally, the search algorithms that had been developed for three-dimensional systems need to be adjusted when being applied to low-dimensional systems with their own specific constraints; in particular, the embedding of the (quasi-)one-dimensional/two-dimensional system in three dimensions and the influence of stabilizing substrates need to be taken into account, both on a technical and a conceptual level. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue ‘Supercomputing simulations of advanced materials’.

ZnO/ZnS core/shell nanostructures, which are studied for diverse possible applications, ranging from semiconductors, photovoltaics, and light-emitting diodes (LED), to solar cells, infrared detectors, and thermoelectrics, were synthesized and characterized by XRD, HR-(S)TEM, and analytical TEM (EDX and EELS). Moreover, band-gap measurements of the ZnO/ZnS core/shell nanostructures have been performed using UV/Vis DRS. The experimental results were combined with theoretical modeling of ZnO/ZnS (hetero)structures and band structure calculations for ZnO/ZnS systems, yielding more insights into the properties of the nanoparticles. The ab initio calculations were performed using hybrid PBE0 and HSE06 functionals. The synthesized and characterized ZnO/ZnS core/shell materials show a unique three-phase composition, where the ZnO phase is dominant in the core region and, interestingly, the auxiliary ZnS compound occurs in two phases as wurtzite and sphalerite in the shell region. Moreover, theoretical ab initio calculations show advanced semiconducting properties and possible band-gap tuning in such ZnO/ZnS structures.

The atomistic mechanisms of dislocation mobility depending on the presence of hydrogen were investigated for two edge dislocation systems that are active in the plasticity of α-Fe, specifically ½ {110} and ½ {112}. In particular, the glide of the dislocation pile-ups through a single crystal, as well as transmission of the pile-ups across the grain boundary were evaluated in bcc iron crystals that contain hydrogen concentrations in different amounts. Additionally, the uniaxial tensile response under a constant strain rate was analyzed for the aforementioned structures. The results reveal that the presence of hydrogen decreases the velocity of the dislocations – in contrast to the commonly invoked HELP (Hydrogen-enhanced localized plasticity) mechanism -, although some localization was observed near the grain boundary where dislocations were pinned by elastic stress fields. In the presence of pre-exisiting dislocations, hydrogen-induced hardening was observed as a consequence of the restriction of the dislocation mobility under uniaxial tension. Furthermore, it was observed that hydrogen accumulation in the grain boundary suppresses the formation of new grains that leads to a hardening response in the stress-strain behaviour which can initiate brittle fracture points.

Due to their great importance in science, technology, and the life sciences, water and ice have been extensively investigated over many years. In particular, hexagonal ice Ih has been of great interest since it is the most common form of ice, and several modifications, Ih(a), Ih(b) and Ih(c) are known, whose structural details are still under discussion. In this study, we present an alternative theoretical model, called Ih(d), for the hexagonal ice modification in space group P63/mmc (no. 194), based on first-principles calculations that have been performed using DFT-LDA, GGA-PBE, and hybrid B3LYP and PBE0 functionals.

Saccharides are ubiquitous biomolecules, but little is known about their interaction with, and assembly at, surfaces. By combining preparative mass spectrometry with scanning tunneling microscopy, we have been able to address the conformation and self‐assembly of the disaccharide sucrose on a Cu(100) surface with subunit‐level imaging. By employing a multistage modeling approach in combination with the experimental data, we can rationalize the conformation on the surface as well as the interactions between the sucrose molecules, thereby yielding models of the observed self‐assembled patterns on the surface.

We report the combination of the threshold algorithm with the Density Functional-based Tight Binding method allowing for the exploration of complex potential energy surfaces and the evaluation of probability flows between their regions, at the quantum level. This original scheme is used to explore the energy landscape of an anionic 20-atom gold cluster, Au $$_{20}^{-}$$ . On the basis of the relevant structures, 19 structural groups are highlighted, all of them being variations about the pyramidal shape: (1) distorted pyramids, (2) pyramids in which the atom of one of the facets has been removed, leaving a hole, and placed at different positions on the cluster and (3) pyramids on which an atom located at a vertex has been removed and placed on an edge or on a facet. Upper limits of the energies required to connect the basins of the 19 groups on the potential energy surface are evaluated. Moreover, the attractive basins are identified on the basis of the analysis of the probability flows on the landscape. The comparison of the disconnectivity tree with the results of the flux analysis provides a consistent representation of the Au $$_{20}^{-}$$ basins’ proximity. Finally, we show how the new scheme allowed for the identification of counter-intuitive transition pathways.

The first successful pairwise potential for a layered material, TiSe2, has been parameterised to fit the experimental data, using a genetic algorithm as the optimisation tool for the parameters of the interatomic potential. This potential has been tested on a wide range of hypothetical isomorphous AX2 metastable phases using ab initio derived data. From the initial survey, the ground state 1T–TiSe2 structure remains the lowest enthalpy phase in a wide range of pressures (0 to 25 GPa), which leaves open questions about the nature of a reported unknown high-pressure phase.

The thermal behavior of 38-atom mono-, bi-, and trimetallic clusters consisting of Cu, Ag, and Au atoms, is analyzed employing molecular dynamics simulations and DFT calculations for selected cluster compositions. Low-energy structures were singled out to perform NVT molecular dynamics simulations at several temperatures, using the Andersen thermostat for temperature control. The caloric curve is used to estimate the melting temperature and the specific heat. The pair distribution function g(r) of the solid and liquid-phase clusters is examined at different temperatures. When comparing the estimated melting points (Tm) among the monatomic clusters, the order becomes T m Cu 38 > T m Ag 38 > T m Au 38 . For bimetallic clusters, an increase of Tm is observed for Cu-Au compared to their monatomic counterparts, while the opposite occurs for Cu-Ag clusters. For trimetallic clusters, two low-energy isomers of the Cu36Ag1Au1 cluster are investigated. In this case, Tm is estimated to be 475 K, for the two isomers with the lowest-energy and second-to-lowest energy, respectively. For all the clusters studied, the pair distribution function g(r) shows that the first peak position is not shifted as an effect of temperature and its maximum value varies with composition, while the second peak essentially vanishes upon melting. The common-neighbor analysis (CNA) technique is used to analyze the local structural changes for the trimetallic clusters, again demonstrating a clear structural change upon melting. The HOMO-LUMO energy gap indicates that the trimetallic isomers' behavior is metallic, while the average binding energy show these clusters' energetic stability to be similar.

International audience; Saccharides, also commonly known as carbohydrates, are ubiquitous biomolecules, but little is known about their interaction with surfaces. Soft-landing electrospray ion beam deposition in conjunction with high-resolution imaging by scanning tunneling microscopy now provides access to the molecular details of the surface assembly of this important class of bio-molecules. Among carbohydrates, the disaccharide trehalose is outstanding as it enables strong anhydrobiotic effects in biosystems. This ability is closely related to the observed polymorphism. In this work, we explore the self-assembly of trehalose on the Cu(100) surface. Molecular imaging reveals the details of the assembly properties in this reduced symmetry environment. Already at room temperature, we observe a variety of self-assembled motifs, in contrast to other disaccharides like e.g. sucrose. Using a multistage modeling approach, we rationalize the conformation of trehalose on the copper surface as well as the intermolecular interactions and the self-assembly behavior.

We present a scheme, called the threshold-minimization method, for globally exploring the energy landscapes of small systems of biomolecular interest where typical exploration moves always require a certain degree of subsequent structural relaxation in order to be efficient, e.g., systems containing small or large circular carbon chains such as cyclic peptides or carbohydrates. We show that using this threshold-minimization method we can not only reproduce the global minimum and relevant local minima but also overcome energetic barriers associated with different types of isomerism for the example of a cyclic peptide, cyclo-(Gly)4. We then apply the new method to the disaccharide α-d-glucopyranose-1-2-β-d-fructofuranose, report energetically preferred configurations and barriers to boat-chair isomerization in the glucopyranosyl ring, and discuss the energy landscape.

The design of future materials for biotechnological applications via deposition of molecules on surfaces will require not only exquisite control of the deposition procedure, but of equal importance will be our ability to predict the shapes and stability of individual molecules on various surfaces. Furthermore, one will need to be able to predict the structure patterns generated during the self-organization of whole layers of (bio)molecules on the surface. In this review, we present an overview over the current state of the art regarding the prediction and clarification of structures of biomolecules on surfaces using theoretical and computational methods.

Many 2D covalent polymers synthesized as single layers on surfaces show inherent disorder, expressed for example in their ring-size distribution. Systems which are expected to form the thermodynamically favored hexagonal lattice usually deviate from crystallinity and include high numbers of pentagons, heptagons, and rings of other sizes. The amorphous structure of two different covalent polymers in real space using scanning tunneling microscopy is investigated. Molecular dynamics simulations are employed to extract additional information. We show that short-range correlations exist in the structure of one polymer, i. e. that polygons are not tessellating the surface randomly but that ring neighborhoods have preferential compositions. The correlation is dictated by the energy of formation of the ring neighborhoods.

International audience

The traditional connection between rate constants and free energy landscapes is extended to define effective free energy landscapes relevant on any chosen timescale. Although the Eyring–Polanyi transition state theory specifies a fixed timescale of τ = h / k B T ${\tau =h/k_{\mathrm {B}}T}$ , we introduce instead the timescale of interest for the system in question, e.g. the observation time. The utility of drawing such landscapes using a variety of timescales is illustrated by the example of Holliday junction resolution. The resulting free energy landscapes are easier to interpret, clearly reveal observation time dependent effects like coalescence of short-lived states, and reveal features of interest for the specific system more clearly.

International audience

International audience

Understanding the dynamics of complex systems requires the investigation of their energy landscape. In particular, the flow of probability on such landscapes is a central feature in visualizing the time evolution of complex systems. To obtain such flows, and the concomitant stable states of the systems and the generalized barriers among them, the threshold algorithm has been developed. Here, we describe the methodology of this approach starting from the fundamental concepts in complex energy landscapes and present recent new developments, the threshold-minimization algorithm and the molecular dynamics threshold algorithm. For applications of these new algorithms, we draw on landscape studies of three disaccharide molecules: lactose, maltose, and sucrose.

Complex systems from science, technology or mathematics usually appear to be very different in their specific dynamical evolution. However, the concept of an energy landscape with its basins corresponding to locally ergodic regions separated by energy barriers provides a unifying approach to the description of complex systems dynamics. In such systems one is often confronted with the task to control the dynamics such that a certain basin is reached with the highest possible probability. Typically one aims for the global minimum, e.g. when dealing with global optimization problems, but frequently other local minima such as the metastable compounds in materials science are of primary interest. Here we show how this task can be solved by applying control theory using magnesium fluoride as an example system, where different modifications of MgF2 are considered as targets. In particular, we generalize previous work restricted to temperature controls only and present controls which simultaneously adjust temperature and pressure in an optimal fashion.

Structural disorder and distortion play a significant role in phase transformations. Experimentally, electron diffraction in the transmission electron microscope offers the ability to characterize disorderviathe pair distribution function (PDF) at high spatial resolution. In this work, energy-filteredin situelectron diffraction is applied to measure PDFs of different phases of MgF2from the amorphous deposit through metastable modifications to the thermodynamically stable phase. Despite the restriction of thick specimens resulting in multiple electron scattering, elaborate data analysis enabled experimental and molecular dynamics simulation data to be matched, thus allowing analysis of the evolution of short-range ordering. In particular, it is possible to explain the theoretically not predicted existence of a metastable phase by the presence of atomic disorder and distortion. The short-range ordering in the amorphous and crystalline phases is elucidated as three steps: (i) an initial amorphous phase exhibiting CaCl2-type short-range order which acts as a crystallization nucleus to guide the phase transformation to the metastable CaCl2-type phase and thus suppresses the direct appearance of the rutile-type phase; (ii) a metastable CaCl2-type phase containing short-range structural features of the stable rutile type; and (iii) the formation of a large volume fraction of disordered intergranular regions which stabilize the CaCl2-type phase. The structure evolution is described within the energy landscape concept.

Transition metal silicides have attracted great attention due to their potential applications in microelectronics, ceramics, and the aerospace industry. In this study, experimental and theoretical investigations of tungsten based silicides have been performed. Tungsten disilicide (WSi2) has been synthesized by simple thermal treatment at 1350 °C for 4 h in an argon atmosphere. These optimal synthesis conditions were obtained by variation of temperatures and times of heating, and the structure of the final synthesized compound has been determined by XRPD analysis. In addition, new modifications for WSi2 have been proposed and investigated using first-principles calculations within density-functional theory (DFT). Both LDA and PBE calculations show excellent agreement with experimental observations and previous calculations for the existing modifications, where available.

An important issue in modern solid-state chemistry and nanotechnology is the development of a general methodology to predict possible (meta)stable crystalline and nanocrystalline modifications and to study the possible transition routes among them. To analyze the stability of the various potential modifications and study the possible low energy paths among them, the so-called prescribed path method is employed. This method allows us to explore transition routes and barriers between even distant minima, suggesting possible transition states and specific transition paths for more detailed analysis, as well as to gain more insights into the temperature dependence of the synthesis and transformation processes in the system. In this study, we describe and employ the prescribed path method for the example of the energy landscape of ZnO. The focus is on the influence of the temperature on the transformations along the path and on the stability of the various structures in the ZnO system, such as the wurtzite-, t...

Recently, we have investigated the energy landscape of PbS for many different pressures on the ab initio level by using Hartree-Fock and density functional theory to globally search for possible thermodynamically stable and metastable structures. The perhaps most fascinating observation was that besides the experimentally known modification exhibiting the rock salt structure a second minimum exists close-by on the landscape showing the low-temperature α-GeTe-type structure. In the present study, we investigate the possible reasons for the existence of this metastable modification; in particular we address the question, whether the α-GeTe-type modification might be stabilized (and conversely the rock salt modification destabilized) by steric effects of the non-bonding electron pair.

Exploring the structural diversity of a chemical system rests on three pillars. First, there is the global exploration of its energy landscape that allows one to predict which crystalline modifications can exist in a chemical system at a given temperature and pressure. Next, there is the development of new synthesis methods in solid-state chemistry, which require only very low activation energies such that even metastable modifications corresponding, for example, to minima on the landscape surrounded by low barriers can be realized. Finally, there is the theoretical design of optimal synthesis routes, again based on the study of the system's energy landscape. In this paper the energy landscape approach to the prediction of stable and metastable compounds as a function of temperature and pressure is presented, with a particular focus on possible phase transitions. Furthermore, several examples are presented, where such predicted compounds were subsequently successfully synthesized, often employing a newly developed synthesis method, low-temperature atom-beam deposition.

The low-temperature phase diagrams for the quasi-binary lanthanum halogenides LaX3/LaY3 (X,Y = F, Cl, Br, I) were calculated at an ab initio level, without any recourse to experimental information. The starting point of our general approach is the global exploration of the enthalpy landscapes for many different compositions in these systems. Candidates for both ordered stoichiometric modifications and crystalline solid solution phases are identified, and their free enthalpies are computed at an ab initio level. From this the low-temperature phase diagrams are derived. We found that in all six systems under investigation only crystalline ordered phases should be present. We predict the existence of several thermodynamically stable and metastable phases in these systems.

Predicting which crystalline modifications can exist in a chemical system requires the global exploration of its energy landscape. Due to the large computational effort involved, in the past this search for sufficiently stable minima has been performed employing a variety of empirical potentials and cost functions followed by a local optimization on the ab initio level. However, this might introduce some bias favoring certain types of chemical bonding and entails the risk of overlooking important modifications that are not modeled accurately using empirical potentials. In order to overcome this critical limitation, it is necessary to employ ab initio energy functions during the global optimization phase of the structure prediction. In this paper, we review the current state of the field of structure prediction on the ab initio level.

The optimization of chemical processes that take place in a finite time constitutes an important application of finite-time thermodynamics. In this study we investigate two generic optimal control problems for nucleation-and-growth based syntheses: the maximization of the amount of a crystalline solid phase generated via cooling from the melt within a finite time τ, and the maximization of the difference between two metastable crystalline modifications again synthesized by crystallization from a supercooled melt. In both cases the optimal temperature program consists in a bang-bang solution with constant values of the temperature, where a switch from a temperature T1, where nucleation rates are high, to a temperature T0 > T1, where the growth rates of the crystallites are maximal, occurs. The location of the switching time ts* (0 ≤ ts* ≤ τ) is analyzed as function of the parameters of the models describing the chemical systems, and an application to the synthesis of glycerol crystals is given.

We present a systematic study of the structural changes of 19-atom PdnPt19-n nanoparticles as a function of composition, modeling the interatomic interactions with the many-body Gupta potential and using a genetic algorithm to obtain the lowest energy structures for all possible compositions. Topological analysis reveals that most of the structures are based on icosahedral packings and are strongly composition dependent. The pure Pd19 nanoparticle exhibits a double icosahedral geometry, while the Ino decahedron is the basis of the Pt19 cluster structure, which has a lower symmetry. Several structural motifs of the predicted lowest energy configurations are observed for bimetallic clusters in the range of compositions studied here. Six ideal structural families have been identified. Our results show that, for Pt-rich clusters, Pt atoms segregate into the core and the number of Pd−Pt bonds increases, while for Pd-rich clusters, the surface-segregated Pd atoms tend not to be nearest-neighbors. X-ray diffract...

We investigated the regions of thermodynamic stability of possible modifications of the alkali metal halides as a function of pressure and type of alkali metal and halogen. Both Hartree-Fock and density functional calculations (for six different functionals) were performed. The results are in good agreement with experiment, and the trends in the computed quantities such as transition pressures and lattice parameters as a function of the ab initio method are similar to those found in earlier studies of the alkali metal sulfides. We predict that in most of these systems the so-called 5-5 modification should be metastable at standard pressure and be thermodynamically stable at slightly negative pressures. The sizes of the pressure ranges over which the various modifications are stable showed characteristic trends as a function of the type of the constituent elements, thus generalizing the traditional pressure-homologue rule for transition pressures and stable phases in ionic solids.

We present a density functional perturbation theory approach to estimate the transition temperature of the charge density wave transition of $\mathrm{TiS}{\mathrm{e}}_{2}$. The softening of the phonon mode at the $L$ point where in $\mathrm{TiS}{\mathrm{e}}_{2}$ a giant Kohn anomaly occurs, and the energy difference between the normal and distorted phase are analyzed. Both features are studied as functions of the electronic temperature, which corresponds to the Fermi-Dirac distribution smearing value in the calculation. The transition temperature is found to be 500 and 600 K by phonon and energy analysis, respectively, in reasonable agreement with the experimental value of 200 K.

Si3B3N7 ist die Basisverbindung einer neuen Klasse amorpher Keramiken aus Si, B, N und C mit einem einzigartigen Eigenschaftsspektrum. Es bildet ein ungeordnetes Netzwerk, in dem die konstituierenden Elemente uberwiegend kovalent aneinander gebunden sind. Wie bei Quarzglas ist die Zusammensetzung von a-Si3B3N7 nahezu stochiometrisch. Da alle drei konstituierenden Elemente als Aufatome fur strukturempfindliche Sonden fungieren konnen, wurde Si3B3N7 als Grundlage fur systematische Strukturuntersuchungen herangezogen, wobei insbesondere die Verfahren fur die Strukturbestimmung bei festen Stoffen ohne Translationssymmetrie erprobt und verbessert werden sollten. Allerdings kann aus experimentellen Ergebnissen nicht die komplette amorphe Struktur abgeleitet werden, weshalb sie durch Computersimulationen uberpruft und erganzt werden mussen. Dazu wurden funf Familien von Strukturmodellen erzeugt und mit den experimentellen Ergebnissen verglichen. Nur solche Modelle korrelierten gut mit dem Experiment, die bei ihrer Generierung so nahe wie moglich dem tatsachlichen Syntheseweg folgten.

The feasibility of growing alkali halides in the hypothetical 5-5 structure type on a specially prepared substrate of LiNbO3 has been investigated. The highest degree of steering towards this structure is achieved by growing NaBr on a LiNbO3 (001)-surface, where the outermost layer of oxygen atoms is followed by a layer of niobium atoms. The kinetic stability, against transition into the rock salt structure, of the 5-5 structure grown on the substrate is enhanced compared to the bulk 5-5 phase, but the 5-5 structure will nevertheless still be metastable compared to the rock salt structure type that constitutes the thermodynamically stable bulk phase of NaBr under standard conditions

The dynamics of complex systems can be mapped onto trajectories on their energy landscape. The properties of such trajectories as a function of temperature, and thus the chances of the system to enter certain regions of the state space, can be understood in terms of such energy landscapes. Here we show that their kinetic features are of equal importance as the previously discussed energetic and entropic features. Especially for barrier-crossing movements on mountainous landscapes, we observe competing effects between these three aspects, which can lead to surprising inversions in the chances to find certain states such as local minima in the systems.

The amorphous high-performance ceramic a-Si3B3N7 can only be synthesized via a sol–gel process. Using a separation of time scales approach, we model various aspects of the sol–gel process explicitly including the fact that the polymerization step occurs via the cross-linking of single-source precursor molecules. For chemically reasonable choices of process parameters, this approach yields satisfactory agreement with the structural data of the amorphous ceramic. In particular, the coexistence of medium range order observed in NMR experiments and the high degree of homogeneity on larger length scales appears to be due to merging many oligomers formed by the linkage of only a few monomers that contain a boron- or silicon-rich core, instead of due to the linking of a few large clusters.

The computational design of new and interesting inorganic materials is still an ongoing challenge. The motivation of these efforts is to aid the often difficult task of crystal structure determination, to rationalize different but related structure types, or to help limit the domain of structures that are possible in a given system. Over the past decade, simulation methods have continuously evolved towards the prediction of new structures using minimal input information in terms of symmetry, cell parameters, or chemical composition. So far, this task of identifying candidate structures through an analysis of the energy landscape of chemical systems has been particularly successful for predominantly ionic systems with relatively small numbers of atoms or ions in the simulation cell. After an introductory section, the second section of this work presents the historical developments of such simulation methods in this area. The following sections of the work are dedicated to the introduction of the building unit concept in simulation methods: we present simulation approaches to structure prediction employing both primary (aggregate of atoms) and secondary (aggregate of coordination polyhedra) building units. While structure prediction with primary units is a straightforward extension of established approaches, the AASBU method (automated asssembly of secondary building units) focusses on the topology of network-based structures. This method explores the possible ways to assemble predefined inorganic building units in three-dimensional space, opening the way to the manipulation of very large building units (up to 84 atoms in this work). As illustrative examples we present the prediction of candidate structures for Li(4)CO(4), the identification of topological relationships within a family of metalphosphates, ULM-n and MIL-n, and finally the generation of new topologies by using predefined large building units such as a sodalite or a double-four-ring cage, for the prediction of new and interesting zeolite-type structures.

The energy landscapes of sub-nanometre bimetallic coinage metal clusters are explored with the Threshold Algorithm coupled with the Birmingham Cluster Genetic Algorithm. Global and energetically low-lying minima along with their permutational isomers are located for the Cu(4)Ag(4) cluster with the Gupta potential and density functional theory (DFT). Statistical tools are employed to map the connectivity of the energy landscape and the growth of structural basins, while the thermodynamics of interconversion are probed, based on probability flows between minima. Asymmetric statistical weights are found for pathways across dividing states between stable geometries, while basin volumes are observed to grow independently of the depth of the minimum. The DFT landscape is found to exhibit significantly more frustration than that of the Gupta potential, including several open, pseudo-planar geometries which are energetically competitive with the global minimum. The differences in local minima and their transition barriers between the two levels of theory indicate the importance of explicit electronic structure for even simple, closed shell clusters.