An inclusive search for anomalous production of two prompt, isolated leptons with the same electric charge is presented. The search is performed in a data sample corresponding to 4.7 fb(-1) of integrated luminosity collected in 2011 at root s = 7TeV with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. Pairs of leptons (e(+/-)e(+/-), e(+/-)mu(+/-), and mu(+/-)mu(+/-)) with large transverse momentum are selected, and the dilepton invariant mass distribution is examined for any deviation from the Standard Model expectation. No excess is found, and upper limits on the production cross section of like-sign lepton pairs from physics processes beyond the Standard Model are placed as a function of the dilepton invariant mass within a fiducial region close to the experimental selection criteria. The 95% confidence level upper limits on the cross section of anomalous e(+/-)e(+/-), e(+/-)mu(+/-), or mu(+/-)mu(+/-) production range between 1.7 fb and 64 fb depending on the dilepton mass and flavour combination.
We present an extensive experimental and theoretical study on the low-temperature magnetic properties of the monoclinic anhydrous alum compound BaMo(PO4)(2). The magnetic susceptibility reveals strong antiferromagnetic interactions theta(CW) = -167 K and long-range magnetic order at T-N = 22 K, in agreement with a recent report. Powder neutron diffraction furthermore shows that the order is collinear, with the moments near the ac plane. Neutron spectroscopy reveals a large excitation gap Delta = 15 meV in the low-temperature ordered phase, suggesting a much larger easy-axis spin anisotropy than anticipated. However, the large anisotropy justifies the relatively high ordered moment, Neel temperature, and collinear order observed experimentally and is furthermore reproduced in a first-principles calculations by using a new computational scheme. We therefore propose BaMo(PO4)(2) to host S = 1 antiferromagnetic chains with large easy-axis anisotropy, which has been theoretically predicted to realize novel excitation continua.
We report the evolution of charge density wave states under pressure for two NbS3 phases: triclinic (phase I) and monoclinic (phase II) at room temperature. Raman and x-ray diffraction (XRD) techniques are applied. The x-ray studies on the monoclinic phase under pressure show a compression of the lattice at different rates below and above similar to 7 GPa but without a change in space group symmetry. The Raman spectra of the two phases evolve similarly with pressure; all peaks almost disappear in the similar to 6-8 GPa range, indicating a transition from an insulating to a metallic state, and peaks at new positions appear above 8 GPa. The results suggest suppression of the ambient charge-density waves and their subsequent recovery with new orderings above 8 GPa.
In recent years, organic battery cathode materials have emerged as an attractive alternative to metal oxide–based cathodes. Organic redox polymers that can be reversibly oxidized are particularly promising. A drawback, however, often is their limited cycling stability and rate performance in a high voltage range of more than 3.4 V versus Li/Li+. Herein, a conjugated copolymer design with phenothiazine as a redox‐active group and a bithiophene co‐monomer is presented, enabling ultra‐high rate capability and cycling stability. After 30 000 cycles at a 100C rate, >97% of the initial capacity is retained. The composite electrodes feature defined discharge potentials at 3.6 V versus Li/Li+ due to the presence of separated phenothiazine redox centers. The semiconducting nature of the polymer allows for fast charge transport in the composite electrode at a high mass loading of 60 wt%. A comparison with three structurally related polymers demonstrates that changing the size, amount, or nature of the side groups leads to a reduced cell performance. This conjugated copolymer design can be used in the development of advanced redox polymers for batteries.
The correct determination of the ionization potential (IP) and electron affinity (EA) as well as the energy gap is essential to properly characterize a series of key phenomena related to the applications of organic semiconductors. For example, energy offsets play an essential role in charge separation in organic photovoltaics. Yet there has been a lot of confusion involving the real physical meaning behind those quantities. Experimentally the energy gap can be measured by direct techniques such as UV-Vis absorption, or indirect techniques such as cyclic voltammetry (CV). Another spectroscopic method is the Reflection Electron Energy Loss Spectroscopy (REELS). Regarding data correlation, there is little consensus on how the REELS' energy gap can be interpreted in light of the energies obtained from other methodologies such as CV, UV-Vis, or photoemission. In addition, even data acquired using those traditional techniques has been misinterpreted or applied to derive conclusions beyond the limits imposed by the physics of the measurement. A similar situation also happens when different theoretical approaches are used to assess the energy gap or employed to explain outcomes from experiments. By using a set of porphyrin derivatives as model molecules, we discuss some key aspects of those important issues. The peculiar properties of these porphyrins demonstrate that even straightforward measurements or calculations performed in a group of very similar molecules need a careful interpretation of the outcomes. Differences up to 660 meV (similar to 190 meV) are found comparing REELS (electrochemical) measurements with UV-Vis energy gaps, for instance. From the theoretical point of view, a reasonable agreement with electrochemical measurements of the IP, EA, and the gap of the porphyrins is only obtained when the calculations involve the full thermodynamics of the redox processes. The purpose of this work is to shed light on the differences and similarities of those aforementioned characterization methods and provide some insight that might help one to develop a critical analysis of the different experimental and theoretical methodologies.
In this paper, we study lambda phi(4) scalar field theory defined on the unramified extension of p-adic numbers Q(pn). For different "space-time" dimensions n, we compute one-loop quantum corrections to the effective potential. Surprisingly, despite the unusual properties of non-Archimedean geometry, the Coleman-Weinberg potential of p-adic field theory has structure very similar to that of its real cousin. We also study two formal limits of the effective potential, p -> 1 and p -> infinity. We show that the p -> 1 limit allows to reconstruct the canonical result for real field theory from the p-adic effective potential and provide an explanation of this fact. On the other hand, in the p -> infinity limit, the theory exhibits very peculiar behavior with emerging logarithmic terms in the effective potential, which has no analogue in real theories.
In this Letter, we study two-dimensional Floquet conformal field theory, where the external periodic driving is described by iterated logistic or tent maps. These maps are known to be typical examples of dynamical systems exhibiting the order-chaos transition, and we show that, as a result of such driving, the entanglement entropy scaling develops fractal features when the corresponding dynamical system approaches the chaotic regime. For the driving set by the logistic map, the fractal contribution to the scaling dominates, making entanglement entropy a highly oscillating function of the subsystem size.
This work reviews fundamentals and the recent state-of-art achievements in the field of plasmonic biosensing based terahertz (THz) spectroscopy. Being nonpoisonous and nondestructive to the human tissues, THz signals offer promising, cost-effective, and real-time biodevices for practical pharmaco-logical applications such as enzyme reaction analysis. Rapid developments in the field of THz plasmonics biosensors and immunosensors have brought many methodologies to employ the resonant subwavelength structures operating based on the fundamental physics of multipoles and asymmetric lineshape resonances. In the ongoing hunt for new and advanced THz plasmonic biosensors, the toroidal metasensors have emerged as excellent alternates and are introduced to be a very promising technology for THz immunosensing applications. Here, we provide examples of recently proposed THz plasmonic metasensors for the detection of thin films, chemical and biological substances. This review allows to compare the performance of various biosensing tools based on THz plasmonic approach and to understand the strategic role of toroidal metasensors in highly accurate and sensitive biosensors instrumentation. The possibility of using THz plasmonic biosensors based on toroidal technology in modern medical and clinical practices has been briefly discussed.
Toroidal moments in artificial media have received growing attention and considered as a promising framework for initiating novel approaches to manage intrinsic radiative losses in nanophotonic and plasmonic systems. In the past decade, there has been substantial attention on the characteristics and excitation methods of toroidal multipoles-in particular, toroidal dipole-in 3D bulk and planar metaplatforms. The remarkable advantages of toroidal resonances have thrust the toroidal metasurface technology from relative anonymity into the limelight, in which researchers have recently centered on developing applied optical and optoelectronic subwavelength devices based on toroidal metaphotonics and metaplasmonics. In this focused contribution, the key principles of 3D and flatland toroidal metastructures are described, and the revolutionary tools that have been implemented based on this topology are briefly highlighted. Infrared photodetectors, immunobiosensors, ultraviolet beam sources, waveguides, and functional modulators are some of the fundamental and latest examples of toroidal metadevices that have been introduced and studied experimentally so far. The possibility of the realization of strong plexciton dynamics and pronounced vacuum Rabi oscillations in toroidal plasmonic metasurfaces are also presented in this review. Ultimate efficient extreme-subwavelength scale devices, such as low-threshold lasers and ultrafast switches, are thus in prospect.
The energies of the solid reactants in the lead-acid battery are calculated ab initio using two different basis sets at nonrelativistic, scalar-relativistic, and fully relativistic levels, and using several exchange-correlation potentials. The average calculated standard voltage is 2.13 V, compared with the experimental value of 2.11 V. All calculations agree in that 1.7-1.8 V of this standard voltage arise from relativistic effects, mainly from PbO2 but also from PbSO4.
The third element effect to improve the high temperature corrosion resistance of the low-Al Fe-Cr-Al alloys is suggested to involve a mechanism that boosts the recovering of the Al concentration to the required level in the Al-depleted zone beneath the oxide layer. We propose that the key factor in this mechanism is the coexistent Cr depletion that helps to maintain a sufficient Al content in the depleted zone. Several previous experiments related to our study support that conditions for such a mechanism to be functional prevail in real oxidation processes of Fe-Cr-Al alloys.
Iron–chromium is the base material for most of the stainless steel grades. Recently, new insights into the origins of fundamental physical and chemical characteristics of Fe–Cr based alloys have been achieved. Some of the new results are quite unexpected and call for further investigations. The present study focuses on the magnetic contribution in the atomic driving forces related to the chemical composition in Fe–Cr when alloyed with Al, Ti, V, Mn, Co, Ni, and Mo. Using the ab initio exact muffin-tin orbitals method combined with an Ising-type spin model, we demonstrate that the magnetic moment of the solute atoms with the induced changes in the magnetic moments of the host atoms form the main factor in determining the mixing energy and chemical potentials of low-Cr Fe–Cr based alloys. The results obtained in the present work are related to the designing and tuning of the microstructure and corrosion protection of low-Cr steels.
The effects of rhenium doping in the range 0-10 at.% on the static and dynamic magnetic properties of Fe65Co35 thin films have been studied experimentally as well as with first-principles electronic structure calculations focusing on the change of the saturation magnetization (M-s) and the Gilbert damping parameter (alpha). Both experimental and theoretical results show that M-s decreases with increasing Re-doping level, while at the same time alpha increases. The experimental low temperature saturation magnetic induction exhibits a 29% decrease, from 2.31 to 1.64 T, in the investigated doping concentration range, which is more than predicted by the theoretical calculations. The room temperature value of the damping parameter obtained from ferromagnetic resonance measurements, correcting for extrinsic contributions to the damping, is for the undoped sample 2.1 x 10(-3), which is close to the theoretically calculated Gilbert damping parameter. With 10 at.% Re doping, the damping parameter increases to 7.8 x 10(-3), which is in good agreement with the theoretical value of 7.3 x 10(-3). The increase in damping parameter with Re doping is explained by the increase in the density of states at the Fermi level, mostly contributed by the spin-up channel of Re. Moreover, both experimental and theoretical values for the damping parameter weakly decrease with decreasing temperature.
The structural changes of four hydrocarbons induced by ionization was investigated using molecular dynamics simulations based on density functional theory within the Born-Oppenheimer approximation. Bond lengths, bond breaking and proton rearrangement was analysed for propane, propene, propyne and propadiene at charges ranging from 0 to +3. Similar to the case of amino acids, the back-bone of linear hydrocarbons is stabilized by reducing theeffectiv elevel of ionization through dropping protons. Subsequent iniozations, up the the level of 3+, do not break thelinear carbon chain within 250 fs, however the bond-orderis reduced, and bond-distances approach that of a single-bond
In order to manipulate the properties of graphene, it is very important to understand the electronic structure in the presence of disorder. We investigate, within a tight-binding description, the effects of disorder in the on-site (diagonal disorder) term in the Hamiltonian as well as in the hopping integral (off-diagonal disorder) on the electronic dispersion and density of states by the augmented space recursion method. Extrinsic off-diagonal disorder is shown to have dramatic effects on the two-dimensional (2D) Dirac cone, including asymmetries in the band structures as well as the presence of discontinuous bands (because of resonances) in certain limits. Disorder-induced broadening, related to the scattering length (or lifetime) of Bloch electrons, is modified significantly with increasing strength of disorder. We propose that our methodology is suitable for the study of the effects of disorder in other 2D materials, such as a boron nitride monolayer.
Motivated by the discovery of multiferroicity in the geometrically frustrated triangular antiferromagnet CuCrO2 below its Neel temperature T-N, we investigate its magnetic and ferroelectric properties using ab initio calculations and Monte Carlo simulations. Exchange interactions up to the third nearest neighbors in the ab plane, interlayer interaction, and single ion anisotropy constants in CuCrO2 are estimated by a series of density functional theory calculations. In particular, our results evidence a hard axis along the [110] direction due to the lattice distortion that takes place along this direction below T-N. Our Monte Carlo simulations indicate that the system possesses a Neel temperature T-N approximate to 27 K very close to the ones reported experimentally (T-N = 24-26 K). Also we show that the ground state is a proper-screw magnetic configuration with an incommensurate propagation vector pointing along the [110] direction. Moreover, our work reports the emergence of spin helicity below T-N which leads to ferroelectricity in the extended inverse Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya model. We confirm the electric control of spin helicity by simulating P-E hysteresis loops at various temperatures.
The effects of nonmagnetic impurity doping on magnetic and ferroelectric properties of multiferroic delafossite CuCrO2 are investigated by means of density functional theory calculations and Monte Carlo simulations. Density functional theory calculations show that replacing up to 30% of Cr3+ ions by Ga3+ ones does not significantly affect the remaining Cr-Cr superexchange interactions. Monte Carlo simulations show that CuCr1-xGaxO2 preserves its magnetoelectric properties up to x similar or equal to 0.15 with a spiral ordering, while it becomes disordered at higher fractions. Antiferromagnetic transition shifts towards lower temperatures with increasing x and eventually disappears at x >= 0.2. Our simulations show that Ga3+ doping increases the Curie-Weiss temperature of CuCr1-xGaxO2, which agrees well with experimental observations. Moreover, our results show that the incommensurate ground-state configuration is destabilized by Ga3+ doping under zero applied field associated with an increase of frustration. Finally, coupling between noncollinear magnetic ordering and electric field is reported for x <= 0.15 through simulating P-E hysteresis loops, which leads to ferroelectricity in the extended inverse Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya model.
The magnetic propagation vector in delafossite CuCrO2 with classical Heisenberg spins is calculated analytically as a function of exchange interactions up to fourth-nearest neighbors. Exchange interactions are estimated by a series of density functional theory calculations for several values of lattice distortion. Our calculations show that the magnetic propagation vector is directly affected by the considered distortions providing different stable commensurate or incommensurate magnetic configurations. A realistic set of exchange interactions corresponding to a 0.1% lattice distortion yields the experimental ground state with an incommensurate propagation vector q similar to (0.329, 0.329, 0). We find that a very weak antiferromagnetic interlayer interaction favors an incommensurate ordering even in the absence of lattice distortion. Moreover, the exchange energy of a magnetic configuration of a finite crystal of CuCrO2 with periodic boundary conditions is derived analytically. Based on that, highly accurate Monte Carlo simulations performed on CuCrO2 confirm both the proposed analytical calculations and the density functional theory estimations, where we obtain excellent convergence toward the experimental ground state with a magnetic propagation vector q = (0.3288, 0.3288, 0).
We demonstrate a novel method for the excitation of sizable magneto-optical effects in Au by means of the laser-induced injection of hot spin-polarized electrons in Au/Fe/MgO(001) heterostructures. It is based on the energy- and spin-dependent electron transmittance of Fe/Au interface which acts as a spin filter for non-thermalized electrons optically excited in Fe. We show that after crossing the interface, majority electrons propagate through the Au layer with the velocity on the order of 1 nm fs(-1) (close to the Fermi velocity) and the decay length on the order of 100nm. Featuring ultrafast functionality and requiring no strong external magnetic fields, spin injection results in a distinct magneto-optical response of Au. We develop a formalism based on the phase of the transient complex MOKE response and demonstrate its robustness in a plethora of experimental and theoretical MOKE studies on Au, including our ab initio calculations. Our work introduces a flexible tool to manipulate magneto-optical properties of metals on the femtosecond timescale that holds high potential for active magneto-photonics, plasmonics, and spintronics.
We present the results of an extended theoretical study of the structure, phonon, electronic and optical properties of 2D alkaline-earth metal silicides, germanides and stannides (2D Me2X, where Me=Mg, Ca, Sr, Ba and X=Si, Ge, Sn). The performed analysis has shown the occurrence of the pseudo passivation effect and ionic chemical bonding in these 2D Me2X. In addition, the preformed investigation of their phonon spectra has shown the absence of imaginary frequencies indicating the stability of these 2D structures. The band structure calculations performed using the hybrid functional have revealed that all 2D Me2X are semiconductors with the gap varying from 0.12 to 1.01 eV. Among them Mg- and Ca-based 2D materials are direct band-gap semiconductors with the first direct transition having appreciable oscillator strength. We also propose to consider ternary 2D silicides, germanides and stannides with different Me atoms as a feasible way to modify properties of parent 2D Me2X.
By means of ab initio calculations, we have estimated stability of 2D Me2X (Me = Mg, Ca, Sr, Ba and X = Si, Ge, Sn) in the T and Td phases, which are similar to the ones of 2D transition metal chalcogenides, in addition to their phonon spectra. The T phase is found to be more stable for 2D Ca2X, Sr2X and Ba2X, whereas the Td phase is predicted to be the ground state for 2D Mg2X. We have also discussed that imaginary frequencies in the calculated phonon spectra of 2D Me2X, which appeared in the vicinity of the Gamma point, were not necessarily associated with the dynamic instability.
By means of ab-initio techniques we have investigated changes in the structure and electronic properties of alkaline-earth metal silicide (Ca2Si, Mg2Si and MgCaSi) nanotubes caused by the curvature-induced effects. It is revealed that the curvature-induced effects can: 1) stabilize Mg2Si nanotubes in a phase, which is metastable for the parent 2D Mg2Si; 2) lead to an energy gain as a result of 2D to nanotube structural transformation in the case of ternary MgCaSi nanotubes; 3) modify the band dispersion and band gaps for nanotubes with the diameters less than 30 angstrom. In addition, Mg2Si and MgCaSi nanotubes are found to be direct band-gap (0.5-1.2 eV) materials with appreciable oscillator strength of the first direct transitions.
The intense increase in energy consumption around the world has prompted a great deal of research on alternative and sustainable energy storage systems such as organic batteries. The fundamental understanding of the physics of organic salts and the ion insertion mechanism plays a key role in the development of electrode materials used in such sustainable batteries. The system studied in this project is of Lithium (2,5-dilithium-oxy)-terephthalate where a previous project studied this system from a different angle. The electronic structure generation of the system is based on Density Functional Theory (DFT) along with an evolutionary algorithm to find the structures with minimum energy. The effects of varying the description of the exchange-correlation interaction were studied while introducing lithium ions to the system. This was done while also monitoring the repercussions of crystal structure optimization on the voltages, charge redistribution, and bonds of the system. The geometrical optimization of the hybrid functional resulted in the potential of the 2-electron step between Li2-p-DHT/ Li4-p-DHT of 2.6 V being closer to the experimental value recorded at 2.7 V.
The world’s ever-growing energy demand has evoked great interest in exploring renewable energy sources along with sustainable energy storage systems. While inorganic physics of rocking chair mechanism used in Li-ion battery have proven to provide high energy density and high performance, there are problems yet to be overcome in terms of sustainability and recyclability. This is why research in organic batteries has been on the rise, yet the diversity of organic battery frameworks remains limited and requires overcoming multiple obstacles that restrain the performance of an all-organic battery system. A recent advance in the design of organic electrode material by Wang et al. has shown the possibility of a new stable and tunable class of conjugated sulfonamides (CSA) with an experimental voltage range between 2.85V and 3.45V [5]. A theoretical approach to study these organic materials is taken in this thesis research where the effects of such compounds on the redox potential, physics of ion insertion, and other thermodynamical properties are examined. Density Functional Theory (DFT) is employed in this investigation along with an evolutionary algorithm to generate information about the crystal structure of mentioned systems, their density of states (DOS), and charge distribution in pristine form and after lithiation. Quinone systems with oxygen groups were investigated in a previous research project that complements this thesis which looks into a quinone system with sulfonamide compounds where a comparison between the two could offer more understanding of the electrochemistry of such systems for their application in batteries as high performing organic cathode materials on a par with other inorganic materials.
Electron energy-loss magnetic chiral dichroism (EMCD) has the potential to measure magnetic properties of the materials at atomic resolution but the complex distribution of magnetic signals in the zone axis and the overlapping diffraction discs at higher beam convergence angles make the EMCD signal acquisition challenging. Recently, the use of ventilator apertures to acquire the EMCD signals with atomic resolution was proposed. Here we give the experimental demonstration of several types of ventilator apertures and obtain a clear EMCD signal at beam semiconvergence angles of 5 mrad. To simplify the experimental procedures, we propose a modified ventilator aperture which not only simplifies the complex scattering conditions but reduces the influence of lens aberrations on the EMCD signal as compared to the originally proposed ventilator apertures. In addition, this modified aperture can be used to analyze magnetic crystals with various symmetries and we demonstrate this feature by acquiring EMCD signals on different zone axis orientations of an Fe crystal. With the same aperture we obtain EMCD signals with convergence angles corresponding to atomic resolution electron probes. After the theoretical demonstration of the EMCD signal on a zone axis orientation at high beam convergence angles, this work thus overcomes the experimental and methodological hurdles and enables atomic resolution EMCD on the zone axis by using apertures.
Electron magnetic circular dichroism (EMCD) is a powerful technique for estimating element-specific magnetic moments of materials on nanoscale with the potential to reach atomic resolution in transmission electron microscopes. However, the fundamentally weak EMCD signal strength complicates quantification of magnetic moments, as this requires very high precision, especially in the denominator of the sum rules. Here, we employ a statistical resampling technique known as bootstrapping to an experimental EMCD dataset to produce an empirical estimate of the noise-dependent error distribution resulting from application of EMCD sum rules to bcc iron in a 3-beam orientation. We observe clear experimental evidence that noisy EMCD signals preferentially bias the estimation of magnetic moments, further supporting this with error distributions produced by Monte-Carlo simulations. Finally, we propose guidelines for the recognition and minimization of this bias in the estimation of magnetic moments.
When magnetic properties are analysed in a transmission electron microscope using the technique of electron magnetic circular dichroism (EMCD), one of the critical parameters is the sample orientation. Since small orientation changes can have a strong impact on the measurement of the EMCD signal and such measurements need two separate measurements of conjugate EELS spectra, it is experimentally non-trivial to measure the EMCD signal as a function of sample orientation. Here, we have developed a methodology to simultaneously map the quantitative EMCD signals and the local orientation of the crystal. We analyse, both experimentally and by simulations, how the measured magnetic signals evolve with a change in the crystal tilt. Based on this analysis, we establish an accurate relationship between the crystal orientations and the EMCD signals. Our results demonstrate that a small variation in crystal tilt can significantly alter the strength of the EMCD signal. From an optimisation of the crystal orientation, we obtain quantitative EMCD measurements.
The role of noncovalent ion-pi interactions in controlling the intramolecular magnetic exchange interaction in 1,3-phenylene-based bis(aminoxyl) diradical has been investigated computationally through deploying an external ion in the vicinity of the pi-cloud of the phenylene coupler. Using spin-polarized hybrid density functional theory-based calculations, we observe that the anions drastically enhance the magnetic exchange interaction for distances below the equilibrium distance. The phenomenon could be understood by two simultaneously occurring effects, which influence the intramolecular magnetic exchange interaction. The first one is the enhancement of the paratropic current density on the aryl couplers due to a small amount of charge transfer. The other one is the attainment of magnetization density on the anionic species due to such charge transfer, favorably altering the magnetic exchange pathway. The achieved understanding provides prospects of a completely new strategy of enhancing the intramolecular ferromagnetic coupling through the assistance of external ionic species inserted in molecular crystals.
A detailed knowledge of the electronic structure and magnetic and optical properties of hemozoin, the malaria pigment, is essential for the design of effective antimalarial drugs and malarial diagnosis. By employing state-of-the-art electronic structure calculations, we have performed an in-depth investigation of the malaria pigment. Specifically, molecular bond lengths and spin states of the two Fe-III heme centers and their exchange interaction, the UV/Vis absorption spectrum, and the IR vibrational spectra were calculated and compared with available experimental data. Our density functional theory (DFT)-based calculations predict a singlet ground spin state that stems from an S=5/2 spin state on each of the Fe heme centers with a very weak antiferromagnetic exchange interaction between them. Our theoretical UV/Vis and IR spectra provide explanations for various spectroscopic studies of hemozoin and -hematin (a synthetic analogue of hemozoin). A good comparison of calculated and measured properties demonstrates the convincing unveiling of the electronic structure of the malaria pigment. Based on the predicted vibrational spectra, we propose a unique spectral band from the nuclear resonance vibrational spectroscopy (NRVS) results that could be used as a key fingerprint for malarial detection.
The electronic structures, spin-states, and geometrical parameters of tetra-, penta-, and hexa-coordinated iron-porphyrins are investigated applying density functional theory (DFT) based calculations, utilizing the plane-wave pseudopotential as well as localized basis set approaches. The splitting of the spin multiplet energies are investigated applying various functionals including recently developed hybrid meta-GGA (M06 family) functionals. Almost all of the hybrid functionals accurately reproduce the experimental ground state spins of the investigated Fe-porphyrins. However, the energetic ordering of the spin-states and the energies between them are still an issue. The widely used B3LYP provides consistent results for all chosen systems. The GGA+U functionals are found to be equally competent. After assessing the performance of various functionals in spin-state calculations, the potential energy surfaces of the oxygen binding process by heme is investigated. This reveals a "double spin-crossover" feature for the lowest energy reaction path that is consistent with previous CASPT2 calculations but predicting a lowest energy singlet state. The calculations have hence captured the spin-crossover as well as spin-flip processes. These are driven by the intra-atomic orbital polarization on the central metal atom due to the atomic and orbitals rearrangements. The nature of the chemical bonding and a molecular orbital analysis are also performed for the geometrically simple but electronic structurally complicated system tetra-coordinated planar Fe porphyrin in comparison to the penta-coordinated systems. This analysis explains the observed paradoxical appearance of certain peaks in the local density of states (DOS).
Switching of the magnetic exchange coupling from ferro- to antiferromagnetic or vice versa in a single molecule is an appealing but rarely occurring phenomenon in molecular magnetism. Here, we report this for an unprecedented pure organic system, computationally designed by tailoring a conformationally restricted, known nitroxide-diradical (Rajca et al. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2007, 129, 10159). This ferro- to antiferromagnetic coupling switching of an "m-phenylene" based diradical is governed by a stereoelectronic effect and controlled by a redox-driven chemical reaction.
The purpose of this review is to highlight recent scientific developments and provide an overview of virus self-assembly and viral particle dynamics. Viruses are organized supramolecular structures with distinct yet related features and functions. Plant viruses are extensively used in biotechnology, and virus-like particulate matter is generated by genetic modification. Both provide a material-based means for selective distribution and delivery of drug molecules. Through surface engineering of their capsids, virus-derived nanomaterials facilitate various potential applications for selective drug delivery. Viruses have significant implications in chemotherapy, gene transfer, vaccine production, immunotherapy and molecular imaging. Lay abstract: The purpose of this review is to highlight recent scientific developments and provide an overview of virus self-assembly and viral particle dynamics. Viruses are organized supramolecular structures with distinct yet related features and functions. Plant viruses are extensively used in biotechnology, and virus-like particulate matter is generated by genetic modification. Both provide a material-based means for selective distribution and delivery of drug molecules. Through surface engineering of their capsids, virus-derived nanomaterials facilitate various potential applications for selective drug delivery. Viruses have significant implications in chemotherapy, gene transfer, vaccine production, immunotherapy and molecular imaging. Here we performed a comprehensive database search to review findings in this area, demonstrating that viral nanostructures possess unique properties that make them ideal for applications in diagnostics, cell labeling, contrasting agents and drug delivery structures.
The high-pressure behaviour of the ternary sulphides, RbXS2 (X = Y and La), has been investigated by using first-principle calculations based on density functional theory. Upon applying hydrostatic pressure, the unit-cell parameters (a, c) decrease with different rates, indicating an anisotropic axial compression. The most of RbYS2 and RbLaS2 crystals compressibility comes from Rb+1-S-2 bonds. Elastic constants and their dependence on pressure and related mechanical properties have been reported and analysed. From Pugh's criterion, RbYS2 and RbLaS2 turn from brittle to ductile material for applied pressures beyond 3.1 GPa and 2.9 GPa, respectively. Stability criteria show that RbYS2 and RbLaS2 are not mechanically stable in ci-NaFeO2 crystal structure above 20.63 GPa and 16.24 GPa, respectively. Both RbYS2 and RbLaS2 have indirect band gap, which decreases with increasing pressure. However, no indirectdirect band gap transition is observed for both materials. Finally, the calculated optical spectrum of both compounds exhibits an anisotropy and a broadening at high pressures.
The ternary sulfides KYS2 and KLaS2 are two promising candidates for numerous applications, as much as white LED, X-ray phosphor and transparent conductor materials. However, theoretical studies on these materials are lacking, and many of their physical properties are still unknown. The aim of this work is to investigate the physical properties of the ternary sulfides KYS2 and KLaS2 namely, structural, elastic, optoelectronic, thermodynamic analysis, and set the substitution effect of Y and La elements in the two compounds. The fundamental properties calculations are based on ab-initio pseudopotential framework, with both local density approximation (LDA) and generalized gradient approximations (GGA) along with an expanded set of plane waves. The Becke, 3-parameter, Lee–Yang–Parr (B3LYP) hybrid functional is also employed to describe the electronic structures and optical properties. The optimized crystal parameters are correlated very well with the existing experimental data. The predicted values of the elastic constants demonstrate that the two compounds are mechanically stable and can be classified as brittle materials. The band structure analysis reveals that both KYS2 and KLaS2 have indirect band gap. The optical properties, like the refractive index, extinction, absorption and reflectivity coefficients, are determined for various polarizations of incident light, while both compounds present optical anisotropy. The obtained optical properties indicate the high transparency of KYS2 and KLaS2 in the infrared and visible regions, which makes them promising candidates for many of transparent applications. The thermodynamic properties are investigated with the help of quasiharmonic Debye model approximation. KYS2 has a larger bulk modulus value, which make it more beneficial in engineering applications. Calculations of thermodynamical properties indicate that KYS2 compound has better thermal conductivity, stronger chemical bonds and bigger hardness.
Transparent conducting materials (TCMs) combine two exclusive properties, electrical conductivity and visible light transparency; which make them a unique class of materials. They are required in a wide range of applications in modern life ranging from touchscreen-based devices, flat panel displays, light-emitting diodes (LED), and solar cells. Most of the commercially and widely used TCMs are n-type, whereas the development of highperformance p-type TCMs remains an outstanding challenge in the actual time. Herein, using the newly developed SCAN meta-GGA and the hybrid HSE06 functionals, we have explored the structural stability and physical properties of not-yet-synthesized ternary materials CsScS2, CsYS2, and APmS(2) (A = Li, Na, K, Rb, Cs) to identify promising p-type TCMs. As result, the calculated formation energy, phase diagram and phonon dispersion curves confirm that these materials are thermodynamically stable and feasible to synthesize experimentally. All these materials, have large optical band gaps (larger than 3.4 eV), small hole effective masses (except for LiPmS2), and have no absorption and weak reflectivity of the visible light. Our work demonstrates that these compounds have suitable properties for p-type TCMs applications.
Modern room temperature ferroelectrics/piezoelectrics significantly impact advanced nanoelectronics than conventional chemical compounds. Changes in crystallinity modulation, long-range order of atoms in metalloids permits the design of novel materials. The ferroelectric like nature of a single element (selenium, Se) is demonstrated via in-plane (E perpendicular to(ar) to the Se helical chains in micro-rod (MR)) and out-of-plane (E parallel to(el) to the Se helical chains in MR) polarization. Atomic electron microscopy shows large stacks of covalently bound Se atoms in a c-axis orientation for tip bias voltage-dependent switchable domains with a 180 degrees phase and butterfly displacement curves. The single crystalline Se MR has a high in-plane piezoelectric coefficient of 30 pm/V relative to polycrystalline samples due to larger grains, crystal imperfections in MR, and tuned helical chains. The energy conversion of a single Se-MR demonstrated via d(13), d(12) (or d(15)) piezoelectric modes.
In the present work, we prepared pure and Cr(III) and Mo(V)-doped BiNbO4 and BiTaO4 by the citrate method. Pure BiNbO4 and BiTaO4 were obtained in triclinic phase at 600 degrees C and 800 degrees C, respectively. The metal doping influenced strongly the crystal structure as well as the photocatalytic activity of the oxides. The XRD data could prove that the Mo(V) doping induces the orthorhombic phase, while the Cr(III) doping favors the triclinic phase for both oxides. Metal doping also modified the photosensitivity of the oxides, extending the absorption toward the visible light region. The photocatalytic activity in water splitting under visible light irradiation was evaluated by monitoring the H-2, CO2 and CO evolution. The results showed that Cr(III)-doped BiTaO4 and BiNbO4, in general, are more selective for hydrogen production, while Mo(V)-doped materials are more selective for CO2 generation. Comparing the photocatalytic activity of BiTaO4 and BiNbO4, the former shows higher activity for hydrogen production as well as for CO2 generation, specially when the concentration was 2% in Cr(III) and Mo(V), respectively. Those results are in agreement with the computational study to access the effect of doping on the electronic structure. For Mo(V)-doped materials a negligible change of conduction band minimum potential was found, indicating that there might be no improvement on the reduction power of the material following the substitutional doping. In Cr(III)-doped BiNbO4 there is a slight shift of the CBM potential increasing a little bit the reduction power. However, the effect is much stronger in the Cr(III)-doped BiTaO4.
First principles electronic structure calculations based on the density functional theory (DFT) framework are performed to investigate hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) on two-dimensional Al2C monolayers. In addition to the pristine Al2C monolayer, monolayers doped with Nitrogen (N), Phosphorous (P), Boron (B), and Sulphur (S) are also investigated. After determining the individual adsorption energy of hydrogen and oxygen on the different functionalized Al2C monolayers, the adsorption free energies are predicted for each of the functionalized monolayers in order to assess their suitability for HER or OER. The density of states and optical absorption spectra calculations along with the work function of the functionalized Al2C monolayers enable us to gain a profound understanding of the electronic structure for the individual system and their relation to the water splitting mechanism.
Lexitropsins are small molecules that bind to the minor groove of DNA as antiparallel dimers in a specific orientation. These molecules have shown therapeutic potential in the treatment of several diseases; however, the development of these molecules to target particular genes requires revealing the factors that dictate their preferred orientation in the minor grooves, which to date have not been investigated. In this study, a distinct structure (thzC) was carefully designed as an analog of a well-characterized lexitropsin (thzA) to reveal the factors that dictate the preferred binding orientation. Comparative evaluations of the biophysical and molecular modeling results of both compounds showed that the position of the dimethylaminopropyl group and the orientation of the amide links of the ligand with respect to the 5'-3'-ends; dictate the preferred orientation of lexitropsins in the minor grooves. These findings could be useful in the design of novel lexitropsins to selectively target specific genes.
In this work, we investigate electronic transport through a double quantum dot junction, where each dot couple to external localized spins. The junction is embedded in between two metallic leads,functioning as continues electron reservoirs. The double quantum dotjunction forms in the junction a bonding and anti-bonding state, muchresembling the electronic structure of a molecule, hence provides in-sight to such systems. Due to the nature of the parallel coupling weexpect a reduced tunneling through the anti-bonding state as a resultof destructive interference as the tunneling is provided multiple path-ways through the molecule. We predict that signature effects arisecorrelating the quantum observable to the effective exchange couplingbetween the localized spin moment and the electronic structure of theDQD. We expect the Fano resonance to disappear entirely when the anti-bonding state is localized and the transmission is carried purely through the bonding state. We further investigate the effects of in-clusion of Rashba Spin-Orbit coupling, allowing decoherence in thetransport. Here, a further degree of freedom is available and morecontrol of the quantum interference and hence the signatures in theexchange is allowed.
We investigate the basis set convergence of the exact muffin-tin orbitals by monitoring the equation of state for Al, Cu, and Rh calculated in the conventional face-centered-cubic lattice (str-I) and in a face-centered-cubic lattice with one atomic and three empty sites per primitive cell (str-II). We demonstrate that three (spd) muffin-tin orbitals are sufficient to describe Al in both structures, but for str-II Cu and Rh at least five (spdfg) orbitals are needed to get converged equilibrium Wigner-Seitz radius (within <= 0.8%) and bulk modulus (<= 3.3%). We ascribe this slow convergence to the nearly spherical densities localized around the Cu and Rh atoms, which create strongly asymmetric charge distributions within the nearest cells around the empty sites. The potential sphere radius dependence of the theoretical results for structure str-II is discussed. It is shown that a properly optimized overlapping muffin-tin potential in combination with the spdfg basis yields acceptable errors in the equilibrium bulk properties. The basis set convergence is also shown on hydrogenated Sc and Sc-based alloys.
Employing the first-principles exact muffin-tin orbital method in combination with the coherent potential approximation, we calculated the total energy and local magnetic moments of paramagnetic Fe-Cr-M (M = Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni) alloys along the tetragonal distortion (Bain) path connecting the body centered cubic (bcc) and the face centered cubic (fcc) structures. The paramagnetic phase is modeled by the disordered local magnetic moment scheme. For all alloys, the local magnetic moments on Fe atoms decrease from the maximum value corresponding to the bcc phase toward the minimum value realized for the fcc phase. Cobalt atoms have non-vanishing local magnetic moments only for tetragonal lattices with c/a < 1.30, whereas the local magnetic moments of Mn show weak crystal structure dependence. We find that Cr stabilizes the bcc lattice and increases the energy barrier as going from the bcc toward the fcc phase. Both Co and Ni favor the fcc lattice and decrease the energy barrier relative to the bcc phase. On the other hand, the tetragonal distortion around the fcc phase is facilitated by Cr and to a somewhat lesser extent also by Ni, but strongly impeded by Co. Manganese has negligible effect on the structural energy difference as well as on the energy barrier along the Bain path. Our findings on the alloying induced softening or hardening of Fe-Cr based alloys against tetragonal distortions are important for understanding the interstitial driven martensitic transformations in alloy steels.
Ab initio total energy calculations, based on the projector augmented wave method and the exact muffin-tin orbitals method in combination with the coherent-potential approximation, are used to examine the effect of magnesium on hydrogen absorption/desorption temperature and phase stability of hydrogenated ScAl(1-x)Mg(x) (0 <= x <= 0.3) alloys. According to the experiments, ScAl(1-x)Mg(x) adopts the CsCl structure, and upon hydrogen absorption it decomposes into ScH(2) with CaF(2) structure and Al-Mg with face centered cubic structure. Here we demonstrate that the stability field of the hydrogenated alloys depends sensitively on Mg content and on the microstructure of the decomposed system. For a given microstructure, the critical temperature for hydrogen absorption/desorption increases with Mg concentration.
We scrutinise the muffin-tin approximation and the screening within the framework of the Exact Muffin-Tin Orbitals method in the case of cubic and tetragonal crystal symmetries. Systematic total energy calculations are carried out for the Bain path including the body-centred cubic and face-centred cubic structures for a set of simple and transition metals. The present converged results in terms of potential sphere radius (S) and hard sphere radius (b) are in good agreement with previous theoretical calculations. We demonstrate that for all structures considered here, potential sphere radii around and slightly larger than the average Wigner-Seitz radius (w) yield accurate total energy results whereas S values smaller than w give large errors. It is shown that for converged total energies hard spheres with radii b = 0.7-0.8w should be used for an efficient screening within real space clusters consisting typically of 70-90 lattice sites. The less efficient convergence of the total energy in the case of small hard spheres is ascribed to the delocalisation of the screened spherical waves, which leads to inaccurate interstitial overlap matrix. The above conclusions are not significantly affected by the volume of the system.
Using density-functional theory in combination with the exact muffin-tin orbital (EMTO) method and coherent potential approximation, we investigate the alloying effect on the tetragonality of Fe-C solid solution forming the basis of steels. In order to assess the accuracy of our approach, first we perform a detailed study of the performance of the EMTO method for the Fe(16)C(1) binary system by comparing the EMTO results to those obtained using the projector augmented wave method. In the second step, we introduce different substitutional alloying elements (Al, Cr, Co, Ni) into the Fe matrix and study their impact on the structural parameters. We demonstrate that a small amount of Al, Co, and Ni enhances the tetragonal lattice ratio of Fe(16)C(1) whereas Cr leaves the ratio almost unchanged. The obtained trends are correlated with the single-crystal elastic parameters calculated for carbon-free alloys.
We investigate the effect of manganese on lattice stability and magnetic moments of paramagnetic Fe-Cr-Mn steel alloys along the Bain path connecting the body-centered cubic (bcc) and face-centered cubic (fcc) structures. The calculations are carried out using the ab initio exact muffin-tin orbital method, in combination with the coherent potential approximation, and the paramagnetic phase is modeled by the disordered local magnetic moment scheme. For all Fe-Cr-Mn alloys considered here, the local magnetic moments on Fe atoms have the minimum values for the fcc structure and the maximum values for the bcc structure, whereas the local magnetic moments on Mn have almost the same value along the constant-volume Bain path. Our results show that Mn addition to paramagnetic Fe-Cr solid solution stabilizes the bcc structure. However, when considering the paramagnetic fcc phase relative to the ferromagnetic bcc ground state, then Mn turns out to be a clear fcc stabilizer, in line with observations.
Using the Exact Muffin-Tin Orbitals method within the Perdew-Burke-Ernzerhof exchange-correlation approximation for solids and solid surfaces (PBEso1), we study the single crystal elastic constants of 4d transition metals (atomic number Z between 39 and 47) and their binary alloys in the body centered cubic (bcc) and face centered cubic (fcc) structures. Alloys between the first neighbors Z(Z + 1) and between the second neighbors Z(Z + 2) are considered. The lattice constants, bulk moduli and elastic constants are found in good agreement with the available experimental and theoretical data. It is shown that the correlation between the relative tetragonal shear elastic constant C-fcc'-2C(bcc)' and the structural energy difference between the fcc and bcc lattices Delta E is superior to the previously considered models. For a given crystal structure, the equiatomic Z(Z + 2) alloys turn out to have similar structural and elastic properties as the pure elements with atomic number (Z + 1). Furthermore, alloys with composition Z(1-x)(Z + 2)(x) possess similar properties as Z(1-2x)(Z + 1)(2x). The present theoretical data on the structural and the elastic properties of 4d transition metal alloys provides consistent input for coarse scale modeling of material properties.
We show that the formation of the wetting layer and the experimentally observed continuous shift of the H2O-OH balance toward molecular water at increasing coverage on a TiO2(110) surface can be rationalized on a molecular level. The mechanism is based on the initial formation of stable hydroxyl pairs, a repulsive interaction between these pairs, and an attractive interaction with respect to water molecules. The experimental data are obtained by synchrotron radiation photoelectron spectroscopy and interpreted with the aid of density functional theory calculations and Monte Carlo simulations.