en: Pure magnesium (Mg) is an attractive metal for structural applications due to its low density, but also has low ductility and low fracture toughness. Dilute alloying of Mg with rare earth elements in small amounts improves the ductility, but the effects of alloying on fracture are not well-established. Here, the intrinsic fracture of a model Mg-3at%Y solid solution alloy is studied using a combination of anisotropic linear elastic fracture mechanics and atomistic simulations applied to a comprehensive set of crack configurations under mode I loading. The competition between brittle cleavage and ductile dislocation emission at the crack tip in Mg is improved slightly by alloying, because local fluctuations of the random solutes enable dislocation emission rather than cleavage fracture for a number of configurations where the differences in critical load for cleavage and emission are small. However, basalplane cleavage remains strongly preferred, as in pure Mg. The alloys do show higher fracture toughness for all configurations due to local solute-induced deformation phenomena at the crack tip. Thus, alloying with Y is expected to improve the fracture toughness of Mg, but the persistence of basal cleavage prevents the alloy from becoming intrinsically ductile for all orientations.

en: Intrinsic fracture behavior of Mg–Y alloys

alloy

display_name: alloy

fracture

display_name: fracture

magnesium

display_name: magnesium

molecular-dynamics-simulation

display_name: molecular-dynamics-simulation

snsf

display_name: snsf


$oid: OBSOLETE

en: The vast amount of computational studies on electrical conduction in solid-state electrolytes is not mirrored by comparable efforts addressing thermal conduction, which has been scarcely investigated despite its relevance to thermal management and (over)heating of batteries. The reason for this lies in the complexity of the calculations: on one hand, the diffusion of ionic charge carriers makes lattice methods formally unsuitable due to the lack of equilibrium atomic positions needed for normal-mode expansion. On the other hand, the prohibitive cost of large-scale molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of heat transport in large systems at ab initio levels has hindered the use of MD-based methods. In this work, we leverage recently developed machine-learning potentials targeting different ab initio functionals (PBEsol, r2SCAN, PBE0) and a state-of-the-art formulation of the Green-Kubo theory of heat transport in multicomponent systems to compute the thermal conductivity of a promising solid-state-electrolyte, Li3PS4, in all its polymorphs (α, β and γ). By comparing MD estimates with lattice methods on the low-temperature, non-diffusive γ-Li3PS4, we highlight strong anharmonicities and negligible nuclear quantum effects, hence further justifying MD-based methods even for non-diffusive phases. Finally, for the ion-conducting α and β phases, where the multicomponent Green-Kubo MD approach is mandatory, our simulations indicate a weak temperature dependence of the thermal conductivity, a glass-like behavior due to the effective local disorder characterizing these Li-diffusing phases.

materialscloud

approval_status: approved

en:
Materials Cloud is a platform built to enable the seamless sharing and dissemination of resources in computational materials science, offering educational, research, and archiving tools; simulation software and services; and curated and raw data. These underpin published results and empower data-based discovery, compliant with data management plans and the FAIR principles.

In the Materials Cloud you can browse, explore, download, or deposit raw and curated data (in the Discover, Explore, and Archive sections); you can access cloud or redeployable simulation services (from AiiDAlab turnkey simulations to the Quantum Mobile virtual machine, the AiiDA registry of plugins and workflows, and the OSSCAR notebooks, in the Work section), and you can use all our educational material, tutorials and lectures (in the Learn section).

en: Materials Cloud

de: Materials Cloud

fr: Materials Cloud

it: Materials Cloud

political_level: other

state: active

type: organization

psi

capacity: public

en: Thermal transport of Li₃PS₄ solid electrolytes with ab initio accuracy

type: dataset

key: guid

key: uri

value: DCAT Harvester Materials Cloud

envi

de: Umwelt

en: Environment

fr: Environnement

it: Ambiente

epfl

display_name: epfl

lab-cosmo

display_name: lab-cosmo

machine-learning

display_name: machine-learning

marvel

display_name: marvel

max

display_name: max

solid-state-electrolytes

display_name: solid-state-electrolytes

swissuniversities

display_name: swissuniversities

thermal-transport

display_name: thermal-transport


en: Body-centered-cubic (BCC) high entropy alloys (HEAs) can show exceptionally high strength up to high temperatures. Mechanistic theories are needed to guide alloy discovery within the immense multicomponent HEA compositional space. Here, two new theories for strengthening as controlled by screw and edge dislocations, respectively, are applied to predict the yield stresses of a range of BCC alloys over a wide range of temperatures. Results show that the screw theory, with one fitting parameter, can capture experiments in many dilute and non-dilute alloys while the parameter-free edge theory agrees with experiments in non-dilute alloys having a sufficiently large misfit parameter. These results indicate a transition in single-phase alloy strengthening from traditional screw dominance to edge dominance with increasing misfit that is enabled in complex non-dilute alloys. These results point to the use of the edge theory to guide design of high-temperature alloys in the non-dilute range.

en: Screw vs. edge dislocation strengthening in body-centered-cubic high entropy alloys and implications for guided alloy design

alloy-discovery

display_name: alloy-discovery

bcc

display_name: bcc

high-entropy-alloys

display_name: high-entropy-alloys

solute-strengthening

display_name: solute-strengthening


en:
We propose a variational algorithm to study the real time dynamics of quantum systems as a ground-state problem on quantum devices. The method is based on the original proposal of Feynman and Kitaev to encode time into a register of auxiliary qubits.
We prepare the Feynman-Kitaev Hamiltonian acting on the composed system as a qubit operator and find an approximate ground state using the Variational Quantum Eigensolver. We apply the algorithm to the study of the dynamics of a transverse field Ising chain with an increasing number of spins and time steps, proving a favorable scaling in terms of the number of two qubit gates.
Through numerical experiments, we investigate its robustness against hardware noise, showing that the method can be use to evaluate dynamical properties of quantum systems and detect the presence of dynamical quantum phase transitions by measuring Loschmidt echoes.
The scripts provided implement the algorithm both in Python, using the Qiskit library, and in Julia, using the Yao.jl package.
Moreover, we included the data to reproduce the figures of the manuscript without running the simulations.

en: Variational dynamics as a ground-state problem on a quantum computer

quantum-computing

display_name: quantum-computing

quantum-simulation

display_name: quantum-simulation

real-time-evolution

display_name: real-time-evolution


en: The piecewise linearity condition on the total energy with respect to the total magnetization of finite quantum systems is derived using the infinite-separation-limit technique. This generalizes the well-known constancy condition, related to static correlation error, in approximate density functional theory. The magnetic analog of Koopmans' theorem in density functional theory is also derived. Moving to fractional electron count, the tilted-plane condition is derived, lifting certain assumptions in previous works. This generalization of the flat-plane condition characterizes the total energy surface of a finite system for all values of electron count N and magnetization M. This result is used in combination with tabulated spectroscopic data to show the flat-plane structure of the oxygen atom, among others. We find that derivative discontinuities with respect to electron count sometimes occur at noninteger values. A diverse set of tilted-plane structures is shown to occur in d-orbital subspaces, depending on chemical coordination. General occupancy-based total-energy expressions are demonstrated thereby to be necessarily dependent on the symmetry-imposed degeneracies.

en: Tilted-plane structure of the energy of finite quantum systems

density-functional-theory

display_name: density-functional-theory

static-correlation-error

display_name: static-correlation-error


en: Superelasticity, being a reversible nonlinear strain response to stress stimuli beyond the linear elastic regime, is always associated with phase transformations in its host materials, mostly metals or polymers. Theoretical rationale indicates that inorganic materials with covalent/ionic bonding normally have large energy barriers for reversible structural transitions and thus host less opportunity to achieve superelasticity. Here, we demonstrate a directional tensile superelasticity in ceramic crystal GeSe through an unconventional reversible shuffle twinning mechanism instead of martensitic phase transition. We observed, with in-situ mechanical transmission electron microscopy, an evolution in stress‒strain curve from the linear elastic behavior to a nonlinear superelastic plateau, and confirmed that such superelasticity appears simultaneously together with the generation of stripy-shaped twin domains along  orientation. Theoretical calculations revealed that the shuffle twinning process from "Z-shaped" to "anti-Z-shaped" bond-configuration leads to the release of elastic potential energy, being responsible for the emergence of tensile superelasticity therein. Note that such a highly-directional superelasticity prefers to emerge at angles near the zigzag direction owing to the anisotropic Young's modulus and Poisson's ratio in GeSe, and has never been reported in superelastic materials. Our observation provides a novel strategy to exploit tensile superelasticity and nonlinear mechanics for advanced mechanical and flexible electronics.

en: A directional tensile superelasticity in ceramic crystal via reversible shuffle twinning

in-situ-tem

display_name: in-situ-tem

shuffle-twinning

display_name: shuffle-twinning

superelasticity

display_name: superelasticity


en: Metal halide perovskites (MHPs) demonstrate an exceptional combination of properties. Rapid progress has extended their application beyond solar cells, light-emitting diodes, photodetectors, and lasers to include memristors, artificial synapse devices, and pressure induced emission. In particular, the vacancy-ordered double perovskite Cs₂TiBr₆ has been identified as a promising material. The effective characterization of MHPs requires accurate and efficient methods for the calculation of electronic structure. Koopmans compliant (KC) functionals are an accurate and computationally efficient alternative to many-body perturbation theory using the GW approximation but have yet only been validated on a small number of simple materials. In this work, KC functionals were applied to the more complex case of Cs₂TiBr₆ and gave a zero-temperature fundamental gap of 4.28 eV, in close agreement with the value of 4.44 eV obtained using the accurate, but more computationally expensive, evGW₀ approach. The temperature-dependent renormalization of the bandgap has also been investigated and found to be significant. Agreement with the experimental optical bandgaps of 1.76–2.0 eV would also require the inclusion of exciton binding energy.

en: Accurate and efficient computation of the fundamental bandgap of the vacancy-ordered double perovskite Cs₂TiBr₆

koopmans-functionals

display_name: koopmans-functionals

marvel

display_name: marvel

metal-halide-perovskites

display_name: metal-halide-perovskites

quasi-particle-self-consistent-gw

display_name: quasi-particle-self-consistent-gw


en: Computational searches for new materials are naturally turning from binary systems, to ternary and other multicomponent systems, and beyond. Here, we select the industrially-relevant metals Ti and Al and report the results of an extensive structure prediction study on the ternary titanium-carbon-oxygen (Ti-C-O) and aluminium-carbon-oxygen (Al-C-O) systems. We map out for the first time the full phase stability of Ti-C-O and Al-C-O compounds using first-principles calculations, through simple, effcient and highly parallel random structure searching in conjunction with techniques based on complex network theory. This record contains the crystal structures used to generate our ternary convex hulls for these systems. We provide input files for the CASTEP density-functional theory code, crystallographic '.res' files of the relaxed structures, and CASTEP output files showing atomic positions and forces calculated during relaxation.

en: Navigating the Ti-C-O and Al-C-O ternary systems through theory-driven discovery

carbonate-minerals

display_name: carbonate-minerals

structure-prediction

display_name: structure-prediction

ternary-systems

display_name: ternary-systems


en: Using first-principles techniques, we study the structural, magnetic, and electronic properties of (111)-oriented (LaMnO₃)₂ₙ|(SrMnO₃)ₙ superlattices of varying thickness (n=2,4,6). We find that the properties of the thinnest superlattice (n=2) are similar to the celebrated half-metallic ferromagnetic alloy La2/3Sr1/3MnO₃, with quenched Jahn-Teller distortions. At intermediate thickness (n=4), the a⁻a⁻a⁻ tilting pattern transitions to the a⁻a⁻c⁺ tilting pattern, driven by the lattice degrees of freedom in the LaMnO₃ region. The emergence of the Jahn-Teller modes and the spatial extent needed for their development play a key role in this structural transition. For the largest thickness considered (n=6), we unveil an emergent separation of Jahn-Teller and volume-breathing orders in the ground-state structure with the a⁻a⁻c⁺ tilting pattern, whereas it vanishes in the antiferromagnetic configurations. The ground state of all superlattices is half-metallic ferromagnetic, not affected by the underlying series of structural transitions. Overall, these results outline a thickness-induced crossover between the physical properties of bulk La2/3Sr1/3MnO₃ and bulk LaMnO₃. The dataset includes the fully relaxed atomic positions of the most favorable tilting patterns, as well as the main output files of the electronic structure calculations. Selected files for the density of states are also included.

en: Emergent half-metal with mixed structural order in (111)-oriented (LaMnO₃)₂ₙ|(SrMnO₃)ₙ superlattices

dft

display_name: dft

dftu

display_name: dftu

electronic-properties

display_name: electronic-properties

magnetic-properties

display_name: magnetic-properties

oxide-heterostructures

display_name: oxide-heterostructures


en: Doping and compositing are two universal design strategies used to engineer the electronic state of a material and mitigate its disadvantages. These two strategies have been extensively applied to the design of efficient electrocatalysts for water splitting. Using cobalt oxide (CoO) as a model catalyst, we prove that the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) performance could be progressively improved, first by Fe-doping to form Fe-CoO solid solution, and further by the addition of CeO2 to produce a Fe-CoO/CeO2 composite. X-ray adsorption spectroscopy (XAS) reveals that distinct electronic interactions are induced by the processes of doping and compositing. Fe-doping of CoO can break down the structural symmetry in the pristine material, changing the electronic structure of both Co and O species at the surface and decreasing the flat-band potential (Vfb). In comparison, subsequent compositing of Fe-CoO with CeO2 induces negligible electronic changes in the as-synthesized Fe-CoO (as seen in ex-situ characterizations), but significantly modifies the oxidative transformations of both Co and Fe under OER conditions. Our spectroscopic investigations reveal that Fe-doping and CeO2 compositing play different roles in modifying the electronic properties of CoO in its pristine state and during OER catalysis, respectively, in return, providing useful guidance for the design of more efficient electrocatalysts using these two strategies.

materialscloud

en:
Materials Cloud is a platform built to enable the seamless sharing and dissemination of resources in computational materials science, offering educational, research, and archiving tools; simulation software and services; and curated and raw data. These underpin published results and empower data-based discovery, compliant with data management plans and the FAIR principles.

In the Materials Cloud you can browse, explore, download, or deposit raw and curated data (in the Discover, Explore, and Archive sections); you can access cloud or redeployable simulation services (from AiiDAlab turnkey simulations to the Quantum Mobile virtual machine, the AiiDA registry of plugins and workflows, and the OSSCAR notebooks, in the Work section), and you can use all our educational material, tutorials and lectures (in the Learn section).

en: Materials Cloud

en: Spectroscopic investigations of complex electronic interactions by elemental doping and material compositing of cobalt oxide for enhanced oxygen evolution reaction activity

compositing

display_name: compositing

doping

display_name: doping

electronic-interaction

display_name: electronic-interaction

oxygen-evolution-reaction

display_name: oxygen-evolution-reaction

x-ray-adsorption-spectroscopy

display_name: x-ray-adsorption-spectroscopy


en:
The electronic structure, interatomic bonding, and mechanical properties of two supercell models of Ni-based super alloys are calculated by using ab initio density functional theory methods. The alloys are in the face centered cubic lattice having 864 atoms and eleven elements: Haynes282 (Ni₄₄₄Cr₂₀₂Co₇₉Al₅₆Ti₂₅Mo₂₅Fe₁₂Mn₃Si₅C₁₂B) and Inconel740 (Ni₃₇₃Cr₂₄₆Co₁₅₃Al₃₃Ti₂₁Nb₆MoFe₆
Mn₃Si₁₇C₅). These multi-component alloys have very complex electronic structure, bonding and partial charge distributions depending on the composition and strength of local bonding environment. We employ the novel concept of total bond order density (TBOD) and its partial components (PBOD) to ascertain the internal cohesion that controls the intricate balance between the propensity of metallic bonding between Ni, Cr and Co, and the strong bonds with C and Al. We find Inconel740 has slightly stronger mechanical properties than Haynes282. Comparison with more conventional high entropy alloys with equal components are discussed.

en: Ab initio simulation of structure and properties in Ni-based superalloys Haynes282 and Inconel740

envi

en: Environment

effective-charge

display_name: effective-charge


en: In industrial metal forming processes, the generation of datasets for inline and optical quality assessment is expensive and time-consuming. Within the research project SimKI, conventional metal forming plants were digitalized under use of perception-based sensors in combination with a completely redesigned forming tool. The integration of optical quality observation methods connected with a retrofitting approach of the press tool provides the opportunity to generate an information-feedback loop that predicts part defects prior to their occurrence. The SimKI-method additionally combines conventional statistical measurement methods with AI-based defect detection algorithms that are trained by a) generic datasets of a finite-element simulation, b) real component images of a 3D imaging device, and c) a combination of both. The generated datasets are used to accelerate the training of a DNN-based algorithm in order to identify the position and deviation from the agreed quality. The high degree of innovation is based on obtaining real-time component quality information under use of AI-based optical quality assessment, which in turn provides information to the control algorithm of the smart forming tool.

en: Recursive quality optimization of a smart forming tool under use of perception based hybrid datasets for training of a deep neural network

artificial-intelligence

display_name: artificial-intelligence

defect-detection

display_name: defect-detection

gocator

display_name: gocator


en: High Entropy Alloys (HEAs) are a new broad class of near-random solid solution alloys that can possess some impressive mechanical and physical properties including high stability against grain growth (i.e. low grain boundary (GB) mobility). Here, it is shown that an initially flat GB in an HEA can become spontaneously rough, driven by natural local compositional fluctuations. Roughening lowers the total GB energy and thus can inhibit migration. A parameter-free theoretical framework is developed to demonstrate the energetics and size scales of the roughening in terms of solute/GB interaction energies and GB disconnection energies. Above a critical level of solute/GB interactions, a planar GB is predicted to roughen down to the scale of the GB periodic unit. A similar theory for 1D GBs (minimum periodic length in one direction) is also developed since such geometries are common in atomistic simulations. Specific predictions are made for the symmetric tilt boundaries Σ17 [100] (530) and Σ5 [100] (310) in a model CoCuFeNi alloy and atomistic simulations demonstrate roughening consistent with the theory. Analysis of the stresses needed to drive migration shows how migration can be inhibited or enhanced, rationalizing variations in mobility of GBs in HEAs.

en: Theory of spontaneous grain boundary roughening in high entropy alloys

grain-boundaries

display_name: grain-boundaries

high-entropy-alloys

display_name: high-entropy-alloys

pinning

display_name: pinning

spontaneous-roughening

display_name: spontaneous-roughening


en:
Despite governing heat management in any realistic device, the microscopic mechanisms of heat transport in all-solid-state electrolytes are poorly known: existing calculations, all based on simplistic semi-empirical models, are unreliable for superionic conductors and largely overestimate their thermal conductivity. In this work, we deploy a combination of state-of-the-art methods to calculate the thermal conductivity of a prototypical Li-ion conductor, the Li₃ClO antiperovskite. By leveraging ab initio, machine learning, and forcefield descriptions of interatomic forces, we are able to reveal the massive role of anharmonic interactions and diffusive defects on the thermal conductivity and its temperature dependence, and to eventually embed their effects into a simple rationale which is likely applicable to a wide class of ionic conductors.
In this record, we provide data and scripts to generate the plots supporting our findings. We also provide the machine learning model and the dataset to train it.

en: Temperature- and vacancy-concentration-dependence of heat transport in Li₃ClO from multi-method numerical simulations

batteries

display_name: batteries

heat-transport

display_name: heat-transport

max

display_name: max

snsf

display_name: snsf

solid-state-electrolytes

display_name: solid-state-electrolytes

superionics

display_name: superionics


en: Predicting the electrical properties of organic molecular crystals (OMCs) is challenging due to their complex crystal structures and electron-phonon (e-ph) interactions. Charge transport in OMCs is conventionally categorized into two limiting regimes – band transport, characterized by weak e-ph interactions, and charge hopping due to localized polarons formed by strong e-ph interactions. However, between these two limiting cases there is a less well understood intermediate regime where polarons are present but transport does not occur via hopping. Here we show a many-body first-principles approach that can accurately predict the carrier mobility in OMCs in the intermediate regime and shed light on its microscopic origin. Our approach combines a finite-temperature cumulant method to describe strong e-ph interactions with Green-Kubo transport calculations. We apply this parameter-free framework to naphthalene crystal, demonstrating electron mobility predictions within a factor of 1.5–2 of experiment between 100–300 K. Our analysis reveals that electrons couple strongly with both inter- and intramolecular phonons in the intermediate regime, as evidenced by the formation of a broad polaron satellite peak in the electron spectral function and the failure of the Boltzmann transport equation (BTE). Our study advances quantitative modeling of charge transport in complex organic crystals. This dataset contains input and output files required to reproduce the BTE results presented in our work.

en: Intermediate polaronic charge transport in organic crystals from a many-body first-principles approach

boltzmann-equation

display_name: boltzmann-equation

carrier-mobility

display_name: carrier-mobility

charge-transport

display_name: charge-transport

electron-phonon-coupling

display_name: electron-phonon-coupling

electron-phonon-scattering-rate

display_name: electron-phonon-scattering-rate

first-principles-calculations

display_name: first-principles-calculations

molecular-crystal

display_name: molecular-crystal

naphthalene

display_name: naphthalene

organic-crystal

display_name: organic-crystal

polaron

display_name: polaron


en:
Resonant inelastic X-ray scattering (RIXS) can probe localized excitations at selected atoms in materials, including particle-hole transitions from valence to the conduction bands. These transitions are governed by fundamental prop- erties of the corresponding Bloch wave-functions, including orbital and mag- netic degrees of freedom, and quantum geometric properties such as the Berry curvature. In particular, orbital angular momentum (OAM), which is closely linked to the Berry curvature, can exhibit a nontrivial momentum dependence. We demonstrate how information on such OAM textures can be extracted from the circular dichroism in RIXS. Based on accurate modeling with first-principles treatment of the key ingredient – the light-matter interaction – we simulate dichroic RIXS spectra for the prototypical transition metal dichalcogenide MoSe₂ and the two-dimensional topological insulator 1T′-MoS₂ . Guided by an in- tuitive picture for the optical selection rules, we discuss how the momentum- dependent OAM manifests itself in the dichroic RIXS signal if one controls the momentum transfer. Our calculations are performed for typical experimental geometries and parameter regimes, and demonstrate the possibility of observ- ing the predicted circular dichroism in forthcoming experiments. Thus, our work establishes a new avenue to observing Berry curvature and topological states in quantum materials.

The simulated RIXS spectra and the scripts to generate the plots in this work are available in this archive.

en: Probing magnetic orbitals and Berry curvature with circular dichroism in resonant inelastic X-ray scattering

marvel

display_name: marvel

quantum-espresso

display_name: quantum-espresso

two-dimensional

display_name: two-dimensional

wannier-functions

display_name: wannier-functions


en: This dataset includes the full computational workflows of a proof-of-concept study of various possible mechanisms (standard and bifunctional ones) for oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) on exfoliated NiOOH as electrocatalyst, including active edge sites (M5) and hydrogen acceptor sites in the same model system. Furthermore, explicit water is included in the model to describe the equilibration of the M-OOH species to M-OOH/eq, a crucial step that enables a bifunctional route to be operative. Additionally, different single Fe-dopant positions (M1, M2, M3, M4, M5, M6 and M7) are considered and four different reaction schemes (S1, S2, S3 and S4) are studied for the OER and the reverse ORR process. The results are relevant in alkaline conditions, where the studied model systems are stable. Certain Fe-dopant positions result in active Ni-edge sites with very low overpotentials provided that water is present within the model system.

en: Oxygen evolution and reduction on Fe‑doped NiOOH

electrochemical-overpotential

display_name: electrochemical-overpotential

mixed-metal-oxyhydroxides

display_name: mixed-metal-oxyhydroxides

oxygen-evolution-reaction

display_name: oxygen-evolution-reaction

oxygen-reduction-reaction

display_name: oxygen-reduction-reaction


en: We present evidence of a strong circular photon drag effect (PDE) in topological insulators (TIs) through the observation of threefold rotationally symmetric helicity-dependent topological photocurrents using THz spectroscopy in epitaxially-grown Bi₂Se₃ with reduced crystallographic twinning. We establish how twinned domains introduce competing nonlinear optical (NLO) responses inherent to the crystal structure that obscure geometry-sensitive optical processes through the introduction of a spurious mirror symmetry. Minimizing the twinning defect reveals strong NLO response currents whose magnitude and direction depend on the alignment of the excitation to the crystal axes and follow the threefold rotational symmetry of the crystal. Notably, photocurrents arising from helical light reverse direction for left/right circular polarizations and maintain a strong azimuthal dependence—a result uniquely attributable to the circular PDE, where the photon momentum acts as an applied in-plane field stationary in the laboratory frame. Our results demonstrate new levels of control over the magnitude and direction of photocurrents in TIs and that the study of single-domain films is crucial to reveal hidden phenomena that couple topological order and crystal symmetries.

materialscloud

en:
Materials Cloud is a platform built to enable the seamless sharing and dissemination of resources in computational materials science, offering educational, research, and archiving tools; simulation software and services; and curated and raw data. These underpin published results and empower data-based discovery, compliant with data management plans and the FAIR principles.

In the Materials Cloud you can browse, explore, download, or deposit raw and curated data (in the Discover, Explore, and Archive sections); you can access cloud or redeployable simulation services (from AiiDAlab turnkey simulations to the Quantum Mobile virtual machine, the AiiDA registry of plugins and workflows, and the OSSCAR notebooks, in the Work section), and you can use all our educational material, tutorials and lectures (in the Learn section).

en: Materials Cloud

en: Emergence of threefold symmetric helical photocurrents in epitaxial low twinned Bi₂Se₃

electronic-structure

display_name: electronic-structure

experimental

display_name: experimental

photon-drag-effect

display_name: photon-drag-effect

spectroscopy

display_name: spectroscopy

terahertz

display_name: terahertz

topological-materials

display_name: topological-materials


en: A catalyst possessing a broad substrate scope, in terms of both turnover and enantioselectivity, is sometimes called "general". Despite their great utility in asymmetric synthesis, truly general catalysts are difficult or expensive to discover via traditional high-throughput screening and are, therefore, rare. Existing computational tools accelerate the evaluation of reaction conditions from a pre-defined set of experiments to identify the most general ones, but cannot generate entirely new catalysts with enhanced substrate breadth. For these reasons, we report an inverse design strategy based on the open-source genetic algorithm NaviCatGA and on the OSCAR database of organocatalysts to simultaneously probe the catalyst and substrate scope and optimize generality as primary target. We apply this strategy to the Pictet–Spengler condensation, for which we curate a database of 820 reactions, used to train statistical models of selectivity and activity. Starting from OSCAR, we define a combinatorial space of millions of catalyst possibilities, and perform evolutionary experiments on a diverse substrate scope that is representative of the whole chemical space of tetrahydro-β-carboline products. While privileged catalysts emerge, we show how genetic optimization can address the broader question of generality in asymmetric synthesis, extracting structure–performance relationships from the challenging areas of chemical space.

en: A genetic optimization strategy with generality in asymmetric organocatalysis as primary target

envi

en: Environment

catalysis

display_name: catalysis

enantioselectivity

display_name: enantioselectivity

generality

display_name: generality

genetic-optimization

display_name: genetic-optimization

machine-learning

display_name: machine-learning

nccr-catalysis

display_name: nccr-catalysis

organic-molecules

display_name: organic-molecules

organocatalysis

display_name: organocatalysis


en: Raman spectroscopy is a widely-used non-destructive material characterization method, which provides information about the vibrational modes of the material and therefore of its atomic structure and chemical composition. Raman spectra can be simulated using atomistic first-principles methods but these are computationally demanding and thus the existing databases of computational Raman spectra are fairly small. We developed an optimized workflow to efficiently calculate the Raman tensors, from which the Raman spectra can be straightforwardly simulated. The workflow was benchmarked and validated by comparison to experiments and previous computational methods for select technologically relevant material systems. Using the workflow, we performed high-throughput calculations for a large set of materials (5099) belonging to many different material classes, and collected the results to a database.

en: High-throughput computation of Raman spectra from first principles

density-functional-theory

display_name: density-functional-theory

high-throughput

display_name: high-throughput

raman-tensors

display_name: raman-tensors


en: We present a density-functional theory (DFT) study of the structural, electronic, and chemical bonding behavior in germanium (Ge)-doped vanadium dioxide (VO2). Our motivation is to explain the reported increase of the metal-insulator transition temperature under Ge doping and to understand how much of the fundamental physics and chemistry behind it can be captured at the conventional DFT level. We model doping using a supercell approach, with various concentrations and different spatial distributions of Ge atoms in VO2. Our results suggest that the addition of Ge atoms strongly perturbs the high-symmetry metallic rutile phase and induces structural distortions that partially resemble the dimerization of the experimental insulating structure. Our work, therefore, hints at a possible explanation of the observed increase in transition temperature under Ge doping, motivating further studies into understanding the interplay of structural and electronic transitions in VO2.

en: Influence of germanium substitution on the structural and electronic stability of the competing vanadium dioxide phases

dft

display_name: dft

doping

display_name: doping


en:
We show that, contrary to popular assumptions, predictions from machine learning potentials built upon high-dimensional atom-density representations almost exclusively occur in regions of the representation space which lie outside the convex hull defined by the training set points. We then propose a perspective to rationalise the domain of robust extrapolation and accurate prediction of atomistic machine learning potentials in terms of the probability density induced by training points in the representation space.
The data here contained can be used to reproduce all results and graphs shown in the article. We also include the trajectory files for the Au13 dataset we generate by running molecular dynamics simulations of an Au nanoparticle containing 13 atoms at temperatures of 50K, 100K, 200K, 300K, and 400K. Details regarding the generation of such dataset can be found in the supplementary information file for the article.

en: On the robust extrapolation of high-dimensional machine learning potentials

molecular-dynamics-simulation

display_name: molecular-dynamics-simulation


en: The understanding of dynamic process of epitaxial microstructure forming in laser additive manufacturing is of vital importance for achieving products with single crystalline texture. Here, we perform in-situ, real-time synchrotron Laue diffraction experiments to capture the microstructural evolution of nickel-based single-crystal superalloys during rapid laser remelting process. In-situ synchrotron radiation Laue diffraction characterizes the crystal rotation behavior and stray grains formation process. With complementary thermo-mechanical coupled finite element simulation and molecular dynamics simulation, we identify that the crystal rotation is governed by the localized heating/cooling heterogeneity induced deformation gradient, and that the subgrains rotation caused by rapid dislocation movement and complex stress field could be the major mechanism in the generation of granular stray grains at the bottom of the melt pool.

en: Dynamic crystal rocking of nickel-based single crystal superalloy during the epitaxial growth of the additive manufacturing process

in-situ-laue-diffraction

display_name: in-situ-laue-diffraction

laser-remelting

display_name: laser-remelting

microstructural-evolution

display_name: microstructural-evolution

nickel-based-superalloy

display_name: nickel-based-superalloy


en: Hydroxyapatite (HA, Ca10PO4(OH)2) is a widely explored material in the experimental domain of biomaterials science, because of its resemblance with natural bone minerals. Specifically, in the bioceramic community, HA doped with multivalent cations (e.g., Mg+2, Fe+2, Sr+2, etc.) has been extensively investigated in the last few decades. Experimental research largely established the critical role of dopant content on the changes in mechanical and biocompatibility properties. The plethora of experimental measurements of mechanical response on doped HA is based on compression or indentation testing of polycrystalline materials. Such measurements, as well as computational predictions of me,  on single crystalline (doped) HA are scarce. On that premise, the present study aims to build atomistic models of Fe2+-doped HA, a model system, with varying Fe content (10, 20, 30, and 40 mol%) and to explore their uniaxial tensile response by means of molecular dynamics (MD) simulation, together with the calculation of IR spectrum. In the equilibrated unit cell structures, Ca(1) sites were found to be energetically favourable for Fe2+ substitution. The local distribution of Fe2+ ions significantly affect the atomic partial charge distribution and chemical symmetry surrounding the functional groups. These signatures are reflected in the significant decrease in the intensity of IR peaks and are found in the Fe-doped HA, together with peak splitting because of the symmetry change in the crystal structure. Another important objective of this work is to computationally predict the mechanical response of doped HA in their single crystal format. An interesting observation is that the elastic anisotropy of undoped HA was not compromised with Fe-doping. Tensile strength (TS) is systematically reduced in doped HA with Fe+2 dopant content and a decrease in TS with temperature can be attributed to the increased thermal agitation of atoms at elevated temperatures. The physics of the tensile response was rationalized in terms of the strain dependent changes in covalent/ionic framework (Ca-P distance, P-O bond strain, O-P-O angular strain, O-H bond distance). Further, the dynamic changes in covalent bond network were energetically analyzed by calculating the changes in O-H and P-O bond vibrational energy. Summarizing, the current work develops our foundational understanding of the atomistic phenomena involved in the phase stability and tensile response of Fe-doped HA single crystals.

en: In silico study on probing atomistic insight into structural stability and tensile properties of Fe-doped hydroxyapatite single crystals

hydroxyapatite

display_name: hydroxyapatite

iron-doping

display_name: iron-doping

md-simulation

display_name: md-simulation

mechanical-response

display_name: mechanical-response


en: We present a first-principles method to calculate electron-phonon coupling elements in atomic systems, and showcase its application to the evaluation of the phonon-limited mobility of n-type single-layer MoS₂. The method combines a density functional theory (DFT) plane-wave supercell approach with a real-space maximally localized Wannier basis. It enables the calculation of electronic structure, phonon displacements with their corresponding frequencies, and real-space electron-phonon coupling elements on the same footing, without the need for density functional perturbation theory (DFPT) or Wannier interpolation. We report a low-field, intrinsic mobility of 274 cm²/Vs at room temperature for MoS₂, and highlight its dependence on carrier density and temperature. In addition, we compare our findings to the latest available modeling data and put them in perspective with the experimentally measured values. Based on these observations, the mobilities presented in this work appear to be compatible with experimental results, when taking into account other scattering sources. Hence, the proposed approach provides a reliable framework for mobility calculations that can be extended towards large-scale device simulations.

en: Electron-phonon calculations using a wannier-based supercell approach: applications to the monolayer MoS₂ mobility

ab-initio

display_name: ab-initio

carrier-transport

display_name: carrier-transport

electron-mobility

display_name: electron-mobility

electron-phonon-coupling

display_name: electron-phonon-coupling

snsf

display_name: snsf


en:
In a recent preprint, entitled: "Development of a machine learning interatomic potential for exploring pressure-dependent kinetics of phase transitions in Germanium", we presented a novel Neural-Network (NN)  interatomic potential for Ge. We recall that Ge phases different from the cubic-diamond one are of particular interest for applications. Hexagonal Ge, for instance, displays superior optical properties. It is therefore important to investigate how, exploiting pressure, Ge can be transformed into different allotropes. In order to build a potential tackling kinetics of pressure-induced phase transformations, several kinetic paths (mainly sampled using the solid-state Nudged Elastic Band method) were added to the database, following a suitable active-learning procedure. Energies, forces, and stressed relative to the various configurations were computed ab initio using VASP with the PBE functional. The NN potential was trained using the Deep Potential Molecular Dynamic package (DeePMDkit). The potential greatly reproduces the relative stability of several Ge phases and yields at least a semi-quantitative description of the energetics along complex phase-transformation paths.
In the present archive, we provide the full potential for use in LAMMPS and ASE, together with the full database produced using VASP.

materialscloud

en:
Materials Cloud is a platform built to enable the seamless sharing and dissemination of resources in computational materials science, offering educational, research, and archiving tools; simulation software and services; and curated and raw data. These underpin published results and empower data-based discovery, compliant with data management plans and the FAIR principles.

In the Materials Cloud you can browse, explore, download, or deposit raw and curated data (in the Discover, Explore, and Archive sections); you can access cloud or redeployable simulation services (from AiiDAlab turnkey simulations to the Quantum Mobile virtual machine, the AiiDA registry of plugins and workflows, and the OSSCAR notebooks, in the Work section), and you can use all our educational material, tutorials and lectures (in the Learn section).

en: Materials Cloud

en: A NN-Potential for phase transformations in Ge

deepmd

display_name: deepmd

germanium

display_name: germanium

neural-network

display_name: neural-network

phase-transitions

display_name: phase-transitions


en: The development of unified regenerative fuel cells (URFC) necessitates an active and stable bifunctional oxygen electrocatalyst. The unique challenge of possessing high activity for both the oxygen reduction (ORR) and oxygen evolution (OER) reactions, while maintaining stability over a wide potential window impedes the design of bifunctional oxygen electrocatalysts. Herein, two design strategies are explored to optimize their performance. The first incorporates active sites for ORR and OER, Mn and Co, into a single perovskite structure, which is achieved with the perovskites Ba0.5Sr0.5Co0.8Mn0.2O3-δ (BSCM) and La0.5Ba0.25Sr0.25Co0.5Mn0.5O3-δ (LBSCM). The second combines an active ORR perovskite catalyst (La0.4Sr0.6MnO3-δ (LSM)) with an OER active perovskite catalyst (Ba0.5Sr0.5Co0.8Fe0.2O3-δ (BSCF)) in a physical mixed composite (BSCF/LSM). The success of the two strategies is investigated by measuring the catalysts' catalytic performance and response to alternating reducing and oxidizing potentials to mimic the dynamic conditions experienced during operation of URFCs. Additionally, the continuous, potentiodynamic change in Mn, Co, and Fe oxidation state during ORR and OER is elucidated with operando X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) measurements, revealing key insights into the nature of the active sites. The results reveal important catalyst physiochemical properties and provide a guide for future research and design principles for bifunctional oxygen electrocatalysts.

en: Designing bifunctional perovskite catalysts for the oxygen reduction and evolution reactions

envi

en: Environment

oer

display_name: oer

orr

display_name: orr

perovskite

display_name: perovskite


en: We calculate the screened electron-electron interaction for the charge-disproportionated insulator CaFeO₃ using the constrained random-phase approximation (cRPA). While in many correlated materials, the formation of a Mott-insulating state is driven by a large local Coulomb repulsion, represented by the Hubbard U, several cases have been identified more recently where U is strongly screened and instead the Hund's interaction J dominates the physics. Our results confirm a strong screening of the local Coulomb repulsion U in CaFeO₃ whereas J is much less screened and can thus stabilize a charge-disproportionated insulating state. This is consistent with the case of the rare-earth nickelates where similar behavior has been demonstrated. In addition, we validate some common assumptions used for parametrizing the local electron-electron interaction in first-principles calculations based on density-functional theory (DFT), assess the dependence of the interaction on the choice of correlated orbitals, and discuss the use of the calculated interaction parameters in DFT+U calculations of CaFeO₃. Our work also highlights certain limitations for the direct use of cRPA results in DFT-based first-principles calculations, in particular for systems with strong entanglement between the correlated and uncorrelated bands.

en: Calculation of screened Coulomb interaction parameters for the charge-disproportionated insulator CaFeO₃

charge-disproportionation

display_name: charge-disproportionation

constrained-random-phase-approximation

display_name: constrained-random-phase-approximation

metal-insulator-transition

display_name: metal-insulator-transition


en: Field-effect transistors (FETs) based on two-dimensional materials (2DMs) with atomically thin channels have emerged as a promising platform for beyond-silicon electronics. However, low carrier mobility in 2DM transistors driven by phonon scattering remains a critical challenge. To address this issue, we propose the controlled introduction of localized tensile strain as an effective mean to inhibit electron-phonon scattering in 2DM. Strain is achieved by conformally adhering the 2DM via van-der-Waals forces to a dielectric layer previously nanoengineered with a gray-tone topography. Our results show that monolayer MoS₂ FETs under tensile strain achieve an 8-fold increase in on-state current, reaching mobilities of 185 cm²/Vs at room temperature, in good agreement with theoretical calculations. The present work on nanotopographic grayscale surface engineering and the use of high-quality dielectric materials has the potential to find application in the nanofabrication of photonic and nanoelectronic devices. Here we report the main data and codes needed to reproduce the theoretical findings of this work.

en: Deterministic grayscale nanotopography to engineer mobilities in strained MoS₂ FETs

density-functional-theory

display_name: density-functional-theory

first-principles

display_name: first-principles

transport

display_name: transport


en: Several methods have been developed to improve the predictions of density functional theory (DFT) in the case of strongly correlated electron systems. Out of these approaches, DFT+U, which corresponds to a static treatment of the local interaction, and DFT combined with dynamical mean field theory (DFT+DMFT), which considers local fluctuations, have both proven incredibly valuable in tackling the description of materials with strong local electron-electron interactions. While it is in principle known that the Hartree-Fock (HF) limit of the DFT+DMFT approach should recover DFT+U, demonstrating this equivalence in practice is challenging, due to the very different ways in which the two approaches are generally implemented. In this work, we introduce a way to perform DFT+U calculations in QE using Wannier functions as calculated by Wannier90, which allows us to use the same Hubbard projector functions both in DFT+U and in DFT+DMFT. We benchmark these DFT+U calculations against DFT+DMFT calculations where the DMFT impurity problem is solved within the HF approximation. Considering a number of prototypical materials including NiO, MnO, LaMnO₃, and LuNiO₃, we establish the sameness of the two approaches. Finally, we showcase the versatility of our approach by going beyond the commonly used atomic orbital-like projectors by performing DFT+U calculations for VO₂ using a special set of bond-centered Wannier functions.

en: Explicit demonstration of the equivalence between DFT+U and the Hartree-Fock limit of DFT+DMFT

dftdmft

display_name: dftdmft

dftu

display_name: dftu

hartree-fock

display_name: hartree-fock

marvel

display_name: marvel


en: This database contains the neural network potential (NNP) model and training data for aqueous ZnCl₂ solutions from 1 m to 30 m. The NNP model can be used to compute total energies and atomic forces, with one of its major applications being large-scale molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. The model was trained using DeePMD-kit v2.2.1, with training data generated through an active learning approach implemented in DP-GEN. The energies and forces in the training set were obtained from density functional theory (DFT) calculations using the SCAN exchange-correlation functional performed using Quantum ESPRESSO. Further details on the ab initio calculation procedures and model training methodology are available in the associated manuscript (see reference below).

en: Resolving the solvation structure and transport properties of aqueous zinc electrolytes from salt-in-water to water-in-salt using neural network potential

deepmd

display_name: deepmd

neural-network-potential

display_name: neural-network-potential

water

display_name: water

water-in-salt

display_name: water-in-salt


en: Mn₅Si₃ displays an unusual and complex magnetic ground state, which is considered to be the origin of the anomalous transport and thermodynamic properties that it exhibits. We report the magnetic exchange couplings of the noncollinear antiferromagnetic phase of Mn₅Si₃ using inelastic neutron scattering measurements and density functional theory calculations. We determine the ground-state spin configuration and compute its magnon dispersion relations which are in good agreement with the ones obtained experimentally. Furthermore, we investigate the evolution of the spin texture under the application of an external magnetic field to demonstrate theoretically the multiple field-induced phase transitions that Mn₅Si₃ undergoes. Finally, we model the stability of some of the material's magnetic moments under a magnetic field and we find that very susceptible magnetic moments in a frustrated arrangement can be tuned by the field. This data set contains the data relevant to perform the DFT calculations with the JuKKR code, the spin dynamics simulations with the Spirit code, the spin-wave calculations with the SWIS code, and the neutron scattering experimental data.

en: Complex magnetic structure and spin waves of the noncollinear antiferromagnet Mn₅Si₃

antiferromagnetism

display_name: antiferromagnetism

frustration

display_name: frustration

inelastic-neutron-scattering

display_name: inelastic-neutron-scattering

intersect

display_name: intersect

noncollinear-magnetism

display_name: noncollinear-magnetism

spin-waves

display_name: spin-waves


en: Co-based catalysts are promising candidates to replace the Ir/Ru-based oxides for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in an acidic environment. However, both the reaction mechanism and the active species in an acidic environment remain unclear. In this study, by combining surface-sensitive soft X-ray adsorption spectroscopy (sXAS) characterization with electrochemical analysis, we unveil the truly active Co species for acidic OER. Surfaces composed of only high-spin CoII are found to be not active due to their unfavorable deprotonation to form CoIII-OH species. In contrast, we show that the presence of low-spin CoIII is essential to promote surface reconstruction and catalysis of OER. The correlation between OER activity and Co oxidation/spin state represents a breakthrough in the structure-activity relationship of Co-based catalysts for acidic OER, which interestingly does not hold in the alkaline and neutral environments. These findings not only help to design efficient acidic OER catalysts, but also deepen the understanding of the reaction mechanism.

en: Unveiling the pH-dependent structure-activity relationship of Co-based catalysts toward oxygen evolution reaction

acidic-oxygen-evolution

display_name: acidic-oxygen-evolution

co-oxidation-state

display_name: co-oxidation-state

cobalt-based-catalyst

display_name: cobalt-based-catalyst

spin-state

display_name: spin-state

structure-activity-relationship

display_name: structure-activity-relationship


en:
We use a combination of symmetry analysis, phenomenological modeling, and first-principles density functional theory to explore the interplay between the magnetic ground state and the detailed atomic structure in the hexagonal rare-earth manganites. We find that the magnetic ordering is sensitive to a breathing mode distortion of the Mn and O ions in the ab plane, which is described by the K1 mode of the high-symmetry structure. Our density functional calculations of the magnetic interactions indicate that this mode particularly affects the single-ion anisotropy and the interplanar symmetric exchanges. By extracting the parameters of a magnetic model Hamiltonian from our first-principles results, we develop a phase diagram to describe the magnetic structure as a function of the anisotropy and exchange interactions. This in turn allows us to explain the dependence of the magnetic ground state on the identity of the rare-earth ion and on the K1 mode.
The attached files contain VASP input files and bash scripts for running all the DFT calculations in the manuscript.

materialscloud

en:
Materials Cloud is a platform built to enable the seamless sharing and dissemination of resources in computational materials science, offering educational, research, and archiving tools; simulation software and services; and curated and raw data. These underpin published results and empower data-based discovery, compliant with data management plans and the FAIR principles.

In the Materials Cloud you can browse, explore, download, or deposit raw and curated data (in the Discover, Explore, and Archive sections); you can access cloud or redeployable simulation services (from AiiDAlab turnkey simulations to the Quantum Mobile virtual machine, the AiiDA registry of plugins and workflows, and the OSSCAR notebooks, in the Work section), and you can use all our educational material, tutorials and lectures (in the Learn section).

en: Materials Cloud

en: Influence of the triangular Mn-O breathing mode on magnetic ordering in multiferroic hexagonal manganites

ab-initio

display_name: ab-initio

dftu

display_name: dftu

erc

display_name: erc


en: Understanding the phononic origin of the infrared dielectric properties of yttria (Y₂O₃) and other rare-earth sesquioxides (RE₂O₃) is a fundamental task in the search of appropriate RE₂O₃ materials that serve particular infrared optical applications. We herein investigate the infrared dielectric properties of RE₂O₃ (RE = Y, Gd, Ho, Lu) using DFT-based phonon calculations and Lorentz oscillator model. The abundant IR-active optical phonon modes that are available for effective absorption of photons result in high reflectance of RE₂O₃, among which four IR-active modes originated from large distortions of REO₆ octahedra are found to contribute dominantly to the phonon dielectric constants. Particularly, the present calculation method by considering one-phonon absorption process is demonstrated with good reliability in predicting the infrared dielectric parameters of RE₂O₃ at the far-infrared as well as the vicinity of mid-infrared region, and the potential cutoff frequency/wavelength of its applicability is disclosed as characterized by the maximum frequency of IR-active longitudinal phonon modes. The results deepen the understanding on infrared dielectric properties of RE₂O₃, and aid the computational design of materials with appropriate infrared properties.

en: Phononic origin of the infrared dielectric properties of RE₂O₃ (RE = Y, Gd, Ho, Lu) compounds

envi

en: Environment

first-principles

display_name: first-principles

infrared

display_name: infrared

phonon

display_name: phonon

sesquioxides

display_name: sesquioxides


en: The AV₃Sb₅ kagome superconductors series are of intense interest due to their diverse and intricate properties. The breaking of time-reversal symmetry (TRS) in the normal state of these superconductors stands as a significant feature, yet the extent to which this effect can be tuned remains uncertain. Here, we employ a unique low-energy muon spin rotation technique combined with local field numerical analysis to study the TRS breaking response as a function of depth from the surface in single crystals of RbV₃Sb₅ with charge order and Cs(V0.86Ta0.14)₃Sb₅ without charge order. In the bulk (specifically above 30 nm from the sur face) of RbV₃Sb₅, we have detected a notable increase in the internal field width experienced by the muon ensemble. This increase occurs within the charge ordered state. Intriguingly, the muon spin relaxation rate is significantly enhanced near the surface of RbV₃Sb₅ (specifically within a depth range of 30-40 nm from the surface), and this effect commences at temperatures significantly higher than the onset of charge order. Conversely, in Cs(V0.86Ta0.14)₃Sb₅, which lacks charge order, we do not observe a similar enhancement in the internal field width, neither in the bulk nor at the surface. These observations indicate a strong connection between charge order and TRS breaking on one hand, and on the other hand, suggest that TRS breaking can be manipulated to occur prior to long-range charge order. This research offers compelling evidence for depth-dependent magnetism in AV₃Sb₅ superconductors in the presence of charge order. Such findings are likely to illuminate the intricate microscopic mechanisms that underpin the TRS breaking phenomena in these materials.

en: Depth-dependent time reversal symmetry breaking response in the charge-ordered kagome material RbV₃Sb₅

dft

display_name: dft

kagome-metal

display_name: kagome-metal

muon-spin-spectroscopy

display_name: muon-spin-spectroscopy


en: The reliable ab-initio description of strongly correlated materials is a long-sought capability in condensed matter physics. The GW+EDMFT method is a promising scheme, which provides a self-consistent description of correlations and screening, and does not require user-provided parameters. In order to test the reliability of this approach we apply it to the experimentally well characterized perovskite compound Ca₂RuO₄, in which a temperature-dependent structural deformation drives a paramagnetic metal-insulator transition. Our results demonstrate that the nonlocal polarization and self-energy components introduced by GW are essential for setting the correct balance between interactions and bandwidths, and that the GW+EDMFT scheme produces remarkably accurate predictions of the electronic properties of this strongly correlated material.

en: Fully ab-initio electronic structure of Ca₂RuO₄

electronic-structure

display_name: electronic-structure

gw-method

display_name: gw-method

snsf

display_name: snsf

strongly-correlated-systems

display_name: strongly-correlated-systems


en: We perform extensive molecular dynamics simulations of an ensemble of realistic microgel particles in swollen conditions in a wide range of packing fractions ζ. We compare neutral and charged microgels, where we consider charge distribution adherent to experimental conditions. Through a detailed analysis of singleparticle behavior, we are able to identify the different regimes occurring upon increasing concentration: from shrinking to deformation and interpenetration, always connecting our findings with available experimental observations. We then link these single-particle features with the collective behavior of the suspension, finding evidence of a structural reentrance that has no counterpart in the dynamics. Hence, while the maximum of the radial distribution function displays a nonmonotonic behavior with increasing ζ, the dynamics, quantified by the microgels' mean-squared displacement, always slows down. This behavior, at odds with the simple Hertzian model, can be described by a phenomenological multi-Hertzian model, which takes into account the enhanced internal stiffness of the core. However, also this model fails when deformation enters into play, whereby more realistic many-body models are required. Thanks to our analysis, we are able to unveil the key physical mechanisms, shrinking and deformation, giving rise to the structural reentrance that holds up to very large packing fractions. We further identify key similarities and differences between neutral and charged microgels, for which we detect at high enough ζ the fusion of charged shells, previously invoked to explain key experimental findings, and responsible for the structural reentrance. Overall, our study establishes a powerful framework to uncover the physics of microgel suspensions, paving the way to tackle different regimes, e.g., high temperature, and internal architectures, such as for hollow and ultralow-cross-linked microgels, where experimental evidence is still limited.

en: Numerical study of neutral and charged microgel suspensions: from single-particle to collective behavior

collective-behavior

display_name: collective-behavior

elasticity

display_name: elasticity

microgels

display_name: microgels


en: Prismatic slip of the screw  dislocation in magnesium at temperatures ≳ 150 K is understood to be governed by double-cross-slip of the stable basal screw through the unstable prism screw and back to the basal screw, with the activation energy controlled by the formation energy of two basal-basal kinks. However, atomistic studies of the double-kink process predict activation energies roughly twice those derived experimentally. Here, a new mechanism of prism glide is proposed, analyzed theoretically, and demonstrated qualitatively and quantitatively via direct molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. The new mechanism is intrinsically 3d, and involves the nucleation of a single kink at the junction where a 3d prismatic dislocation loop transitions from the basal screw segment to non-screw prismatic character. The relevant kink energies are calculated using recently-developed Neural-Network Potentials (NNPs) for Mg that show good agreement versus DFT for basal and prism  dislocations, enabling a parameter-free analytic model for the activation barrier. Direct MD simulations show both operation of the precise proposed mechanism and a stress-dependent activation barrier that agrees reasonably with the analytic model. Predictions of dislocation velocity compare very well with in-situ TEM data, and macroscopic strength versus temperature can also be understood. Overall, the new intrinsically 3d mechanism for dislocation glide due to single kink nucleation rather than double-kink nucleation explains key features of the prismatic slip in Mg and may have broader applicability in other metals where kink nucleation processes control thermally-activated flow.

en: Mechanism of thermally-activated prismatic slip in Mg

magnesium

display_name: magnesium

marvel

display_name: marvel

neural-network-potential

display_name: neural-network-potential

prismatic-slip

display_name: prismatic-slip


en: Magnetic materials can display many solutions to the electronic-structure problem, corresponding to different local or global minima of the energy functional. In Hartree-Fock or density-functional theory different single-determinant solutions lead to different magnetizations, ionic oxidation states, hybridizations, and inter-site magnetic couplings. The vast majority of these states can be fingerprinted through their projection on the atomic orbitals of the magnetic ions. We have devised an approach that provides an effective control over these occupation matrices, allowing us to systematically explore the landscape of the potential energy surface. We showcase the emergence of a complex zoology of self-consistent states; even more so when semi-local density-functional theory is augmented - and typically made more accurate - by Hubbard corrections. Such extensive explorations allow to robustly identify the ground state of magnetic systems, and to assess the accuracy (or not) of current functionals and approximations

en: The energy landscape of magnetic materials

density-functional-theory

display_name: density-functional-theory

high-throughput

display_name: high-throughput

openmodel

display_name: openmodel


en: In contrast to inorganic quantum wells, hybrid quantum wells (HQWs) based on metal-organic semiconductors are characterized by relatively soft lattices, in which excitonic states can strongly couple to lattice phonons. Therefore, understanding the lattice's impact on exciton dynamics is essential for harnessing the optoelectronic potential of HQWs. Beyond 2D metal halide perovskites, layered metal-organic chalcogenides (MOCs) are an air-stable, underexplored material class hosting room-temperature excitons that could be exploited as photodetectors, light emitting devices, and ultrafast photoswitches. Here, we elucidate the role of phonons in the optical transitions of the prototypical MOC [AgSePh]∞. Impulsive stimulated Raman scattering (ISRS) allows us to detect coherent exciton oscillations driven by Fröhlich interaction with low-energy optical phonons. Steady state absorption and Raman spectroscopies reveal a strong exciton-phonon coupling (Huang-Rhys parameter ~1.7) and its anharmonicity, manifested as non-trivial temperature-dependent Stokes shift. Our ab initio calculations support these observations, hinting at an anharmonic behavior of the low-energy phonons < 200 cm⁻¹. Our results untangle complex exciton-phonon interactions in MOCs, establishing an ideal testbed for room-temperature many-body phenomena.

en: Anharmonic exciton-phonon coupling in metal-organic chalcogenides hybrid quantum wells

exciton-phonon-coupling

display_name: exciton-phonon-coupling

metal-organic-chalcogenides

display_name: metal-organic-chalcogenides

raman-spectroscopy

display_name: raman-spectroscopy


en: The α/β interface is central to the microstructure and mechanical properties of titanium alloys. We investigate the structure, thermodynamics and migration of the coherent and semicoherent Ti α/β interfaces as a function of temperature and misfit strain via molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, thermodynamic integration and an accurate, DFT-trained Deep Potential. The structure of an equilibrium semicoherent interface consists of an array of steps, an array of misfit dislocations, and coherent terraces. Analysis determines the dislocation and step (disconnection) array structure and habit plane. The MD simulations show the detailed interface morphology dictated by intersecting disconnection arrays. The steps are shown to facilitate α/β interface migration, while the misfit dislocations lead to interface drag; the drag mechanism is different depending on the direction of interface migration. These results are used to predict the nature of α phase nucleation on cooling through the α-β phase transition.

materialscloud

en:
Materials Cloud is a platform built to enable the seamless sharing and dissemination of resources in computational materials science, offering educational, research, and archiving tools; simulation software and services; and curated and raw data. These underpin published results and empower data-based discovery, compliant with data management plans and the FAIR principles.

In the Materials Cloud you can browse, explore, download, or deposit raw and curated data (in the Discover, Explore, and Archive sections); you can access cloud or redeployable simulation services (from AiiDAlab turnkey simulations to the Quantum Mobile virtual machine, the AiiDA registry of plugins and workflows, and the OSSCAR notebooks, in the Work section), and you can use all our educational material, tutorials and lectures (in the Learn section).

en: Materials Cloud

en: Coherent and semicoherent interfaces in titanium: structure, thermodynamics, migration

free-energy

display_name: free-energy

molecular-dynamics-simulation

display_name: molecular-dynamics-simulation

titanium-interfaces

display_name: titanium-interfaces


en: Linear scaling relations have led to an understanding of trends in catalytic activity and selectivity of many reactions in heterogeneous and electro-catalysis. Yet, linear scaling between the chemisorption energies of any two small molecule adsorbates is not guaranteed. A prominent example is the lack of scaling between the chemisorption energies of carbon and oxygen on transition metal surfaces. In this work, we show that this lack of scaling originates from different re-normalised adsorbate valence energies of lower-lying oxygen versus higher-lying carbon. We develop a model for chemisorption of small molecule adsorbates within the d-band model by combining a modified form of the Newns-Anderson hybridisation energy with an effective orthogonalization term. We develop a general descriptor to a priori determine if two adsorbates are likely to scale with each other. This record contains the AiiDA archive required to reproduce all calculations in the manuscript.

en: Limits to scaling relations between adsorption energies?

envi

en: Environment

catalysis

display_name: catalysis

d-band-model

display_name: d-band-model

scaling-relations

display_name: scaling-relations


en: Oxides containing metals or semimetals from the p-block of the periodic table, e.g., indium oxide or antimony oxide, are of interest as transparent conductors and light absorbers for solar energy conversion due to the tunability of their electronic conductivity and optical absorption. Comparatively, these oxides have found limited applications in solar-to-hydrogen photocatalysis primarily due to their high electronegativity, which impedes electron transfer for converting protons into hydrogen. We have shown recently that inserting s-block metal cations into p-block oxides is effective at lowering electronegativities while affording further control of band gaps. Here, we explain the origins of this dual tunability by demonstrating the mediator role of s-block metal cations in modulating orbital hybridization while not contributing to frontier electronic states. From this result, we carry out a comprehensive computational study of 109 ternary oxides of s- and p-block metal elements as candidate photocatalysts for solar hydrogen generation. We downselect the most desirable materials using band gaps and band edges obtained from Hubbard-corrected density-functional theory with Hubbard parameters computed entirely from first principles, evaluate the stability of these oxides in aqueous conditions, and characterize experimentally four of the remaining materials, synthesized with high phase uniformity, to critically assess the accuracy of the computational models. We thus propose nine oxide semiconductors, including CsIn₃O₅, Sr₂In₂O₅, and KSbO₂ which, to the extent of our literature review, have not been previously considered as water-splitting photocatalysts. This record contains the data for the simulations discussed in our manuscript.

en: Ternary oxides of s- and p-block metals for photocatalytic solar-to-hydrogen conversion

dftu

display_name: dftu

photocatalysis

display_name: photocatalysis


en: The temperature-dependent properties of the aqueous electron have been extensively studied using mixed quantum-classical simulations in a wide range of thermodynamic conditions based on one-electron pseudopotentials. While the cavity model appears to explain most of the physical properties of the aqueous electron, only a non-cavity model has so far been successful in accounting for the temperature dependence of the absorption spectrum. Here, we present an accurate and efficient description of the aqueous electron under various thermodynamic conditions by combining hybrid functional-based molecular dynamics, machine learning techniques, and multiple time-step methods. Our advanced simulations accurately describe the temperature dependence of the absorption maximum in the presence of cavity formation. Specifically, our work reveals that the red shift of the absorption maximum results from an increasing gyration radius with temperature, rather than from global density variations as previously suggested.

en: Temperature dependent properties of the aqueous electron

ab-initio-molecular-dynamics

display_name: ab-initio-molecular-dynamics

aqueous-electron

display_name: aqueous-electron

hybrid-functional

display_name: hybrid-functional

machine-learning

display_name: machine-learning

marvel

display_name: marvel


en: Topological data analysis based on persistent homology has been applied to the molecular dynamics simulation for the fast ion-conducting phase (α-phase) of AgI, to show its effectiveness on the ion-migration mechanism analysis. Time-averaged persistence diagrams of α-AgI, which quantitatively records the shape and size of the ring structures in the given atomic configurations, clearly showed the emergence of the four-membered rings formed by two Ag and two I ions at high temperatures. They were identified as common structures during the Ag ion migration. The averaged potential energy change due to the deformation of four-membered ring agrees well with the activation energy calculated from the conductivity Arrhenius plot. The concerted motion of two Ag ions via the four-membered ring was also successfully extracted from molecular dynamics simulations by our approach, providing the new insight into the specific mechanism of the concerted motion.

en: Topological data analysis of superionic conductor silver iodide

ion-migration

display_name: ion-migration

persistence-diagram

display_name: persistence-diagram


en: Recent neutron-diffraction experiments in honeycomb CrI₃ quasi-2D ferromagnets have evinced the existence of a gap at the Dirac point in their spin-wave spectra. The existence of this gap has been attributed to strong in-plane Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya or Kitaev (DM/K) interactions and suggested to set the stage for topologically protected edge states to sustain non-dissipative spin transport. We perform state-of-the-art simulations of the spin-wave spectra in monolayer CrI₃, based on time-dependent density-functional perturbation theory (TDDFpT) and fully accounting for spin-orbit couplings (SOC) from which DM/K interactions ultimately stem. While our results are in qualitative agreement with experiments, the computed TDDFpT magnon gap at the Dirac point is found to be 0.47 meV, roughly six times smaller than the most recent experimental estimates, so questioning that intralayer anisotropies alone can explain the observed gap. Lattice-dynamical calculations, performed within density-functional perturbation theory (DFpT), indicate that a substantial degeneracy and a strong coupling between vibrational and magnetic excitations exist in this system, providing a possible additional gap-opening mechanism in the spin-wave spectra. To pursue this path, we introduce an interacting magnon-phonon Hamiltonian featuring a linear coupling between lattice and spin fluctuations, enabled by the magnetic anisotropy induced by SOC. Upon determination of the relevant interaction constants by DFpT and supercell calculations, this model allows us to propose magnon-phonon interactions as an important microscopic mechanism responsible for the enhancement of the gap in the range of ≈4meV around the Dirac point of the CrI₃ monolayer.

en: Magnon-phonon interactions enhance the gap at the Dirac point in the spin-wave spectra of CrI₃ two-dimensional magnets

dfpt

display_name: dfpt

magnon-phonon-coupling

display_name: magnon-phonon-coupling

magnons

display_name: magnons

phonons

display_name: phonons

quantum-espresso

display_name: quantum-espresso

tddft

display_name: tddft


en:
Super-resolution microscopy has become a powerful tool to investigate the internal structure of complex colloidal and polymeric systems, such as microgels, at the nanometer scale. An interesting feature of this method is the possibility of monitoring microgel response to temperature changes in situ. However, when performing advanced microscopy experiments, interactions between the particle and the environment can be important. Often microgels are deposited on a substrate, since they have to remain still for several minutes during the experiment. In the publication associated with this data, we use direct stochastic optical reconstruction microscopy (dSTORM) and advanced coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulations to investigate how individual microgels anchored on hydrophilic and hydrophobic surfaces undergo their volume phase transition with temperature. We find that, in the presence of a hydrophilic substrate, the structure of the microgel is unperturbed and the resulting density profiles quantitatively agree with simulations performed under bulk conditions. Instead, when a hydrophobic surface is used, the microgel spreads at the interface and an interesting competition between the two hydrophobic strengths, monomer–monomer vs monomer–surface, comes into play at high temperatures.
The data deposited on the Materials Cloud Archive contains the initial microgel configuration in LAMMPS read format, the calculated radii and the density profiles under the different temperatures and surfaces.

en: Probing temperature responsivity of microgels and its interplay with a solid surface by super-resolution microscopy and numerical simulations

cineca-iscra

display_name: cineca-iscra

experimental

display_name: experimental

microgels

display_name: microgels

molecular-dynamics

display_name: molecular-dynamics

volume-phase-transition

display_name: volume-phase-transition


en: Cobalt-based oxides are active electrocatalysts for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in alkaline electrolytes. However, their OER activity at near-neutral pHs is generally low and more active OER catalysts at neutral pHs are desired for practical applications. Herein, La0.2Sr0.8CoO3–δ, La0.2Sr0.8Co0.8Fe0.2O3–δ, La0.5Sr1.5CoO4–δ and CoOx catalysts were prepared by the flame spray synthesis method and their surface was functionalized by a dry phosphate incorporation process. Small amount of P was incorporated on the surface of the catalyst (in the range of ppm). All the samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and soft and hard X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) before and after the functionalization process. The electrocatalytic activity towards OER of the different nanoparticle catalysts was investigated in electrolytes with different pH values (pH = 7, 12.5, 13, and 13.5).

en: The role of phosphate functionalization on the oxygen evolution reaction activity of cobalt-based oxides at different pH values

alkaline-water-electrolysis

display_name: alkaline-water-electrolysis

neutral-ph

display_name: neutral-ph

phosphate-ion-functionalization

display_name: phosphate-ion-functionalization


en: Fracture dictates the service limits of metallic structures. Damage tolerance of materials may be characterized by fracture toughness rigorously developed from fracture mechanics, or less rigorous yet more easily obtained impact toughness (or impact energy as a variant). Given the promise of high-entropy alloys (HEAs) in structural and damage-tolerance applications, we compiled a dataset of fracture toughness and impact toughness/energy from the literature till mid-2022. The dataset is subdivided into three categories, i.e., fracture toughness, impact toughness, and impact energy, which contain 148, 14, and 78 distinct data records, respectively. On top of the alloy chemistry and measured fracture quantities, each data record also records the factors influential to fracture. Examples are material processing history, phase structure, grain size, uniaxial tensile properties such as yield strength and elongation, and testing conditions.

materialscloud

en:
Materials Cloud is a platform built to enable the seamless sharing and dissemination of resources in computational materials science, offering educational, research, and archiving tools; simulation software and services; and curated and raw data. These underpin published results and empower data-based discovery, compliant with data management plans and the FAIR principles.

In the Materials Cloud you can browse, explore, download, or deposit raw and curated data (in the Discover, Explore, and Archive sections); you can access cloud or redeployable simulation services (from AiiDAlab turnkey simulations to the Quantum Mobile virtual machine, the AiiDA registry of plugins and workflows, and the OSSCAR notebooks, in the Work section), and you can use all our educational material, tutorials and lectures (in the Learn section).

en: Materials Cloud

en: Dataset for fracture and impact toughness of high-entropy alloys

fracture-toughness

display_name: fracture-toughness

high-entropy-alloys

display_name: high-entropy-alloys

impact-energy

display_name: impact-energy

impact-toughness

display_name: impact-toughness


en: We present a potential explanation for the strain-induced metal-insulator transition that has recently been observed in thin films of SrCrO₃ using density-functional theory (DFT) and its extension to DFT+U. Our calculations show that the unstrained system exhibits a C-type antiferromagnetically ordered ground state, which is near to a Jahn-Teller instability, given realistic values of the Hubbard U parameter. However, the significant energy overlap between the higher-lying dxy band and the dxz/dyz band works against the JT distortion's. When epitaxially strained, this overlap is reduced by the lowering of the dxyband relative to dxz/dyz as the system gets closer to the nominal integer filling. The degeneracy between the dxz and dyz orbitals is subsequently lifted by the JT distortion, opening a gap in the electronic band structure.

en: Evidence for Jahn-Teller-driven metal-insulator transition in strained SrCrO₃ from first principles calculations

envi

en: Environment

dftu

display_name: dftu

jahn-teller-effect

display_name: jahn-teller-effect

orbital-order

display_name: orbital-order


en: The crystal structure of a material is essentially determined by the nature of its chemical bonding. Consequently, the atomic coordination intimately correlates with the degree of ionicity or covalency of the material. Based on this principle, materials with similar chemical compositions can be successfully categorized into different coordination groups. However, counterexamples recently emerged in complex ternary compounds. For instance, strongly covalent IB-IIIA-VIA₂ compounds, such as AgInS₂, prefer tetrahedrally coordinated structure (TCS), while strongly ionic IA-VA-VIA₂ compounds, such as NaBiS₂, would favor octahedrally coordinated structure (OCS). One naturally expects that IB-VA-VIA₂ compounds with intermediate ionicity or covalency, such as AgBiS₂, should then have a mix-coordinated structure (MCS) consisting of covalent AgS₄ tetrahedra and ionic BiS₆ octahedra. Surprisingly, only OCS was observed experimentally for AgBiS₂. To resolve this puzzle, we perform first-principles studies of the phase stabilities of ternary compounds at finite temperatures. We find that AgBiS₂ indeed prefers MCS at the ground state, in agreement with the typical expectation, but under experimental synthesis conditions disordered OCS becomes energetically more favorable because of its low mixing energy and high configurational entropy. This dataset includes structural information for the MCS and OCS configurations of ABX₂ compounds, along with the principal input data used for each calculation.

en: Dataset of disorder-stabilized unfavorable coordination in complex ABX₂ compounds

first-principles

display_name: first-principles

grand-canonical-monte-carlo

display_name: grand-canonical-monte-carlo

vasp

display_name: vasp


en: In this work, we systematically evaluate the accuracy in band gap prediction of range-separated hybrid functionals on a large set of semiconducting and insulating materials and carry out comparisons with the performance of their global counterparts. We observe that all the range-separated hybrid functionals that correctly describe the long-range dielectric screening significantly improve from standard hybrid functionals such as PBE0 and HSE06. Among this group, the choice of the short-range Fock exchange fraction and the screening length can further reduce the predicted error. We then propose a universal expression for the selection of the inverse screening parameter as a function of the short-range and long-range Fock exchange fractions, which results in a mean absolute error as small as 0.15 eV for band gap prediction.

en: Range-separated hybrid functionals for accurate prediction of band gaps of extended systems

density-functional-theory

display_name: density-functional-theory

hybrid-functional

display_name: hybrid-functional

quantum-espresso

display_name: quantum-espresso


en: This dataset includes all the atomic coordinates of the optimized computational models from electronic structure calculations reported in the manuscript. In this work, we highlight that single-site noble metal dopants on the Cu surface can influence C–O bond dissociation in a key selectivity-determining intermediate (e.g., oxygen-bound *CH₂CHO), which in turn direct the post-C–C coupling pathways to ethylene versus ethanol. Combining theoretical and experimental analyses, we demonstrate that the favorability of C–O bond scission is controlled by the oxygen affinity of the metal dopant on the Cu catalyst. We find that the selectivity ratio of ethylene-to-ethanol displays a volcano relationship with respect to the oxygen binding strength on the doped surfaces.

en: Directing CO₂ electroreduction pathways for selective C₂ product formation using single-site doped Cu catalysts

selectivity

display_name: selectivity

single-site-doped-catalysts

display_name: single-site-doped-catalysts


en: Electrosynthesis of urea from CO2 and NOX provides an exceptional opportunity for human society, given the increasingly available renewable energy. To raise the overall electrosynthesis efficiency, the most critical reaction step for such electrosynthesis, C-N coupling, needs to be significantly improved. The C-N coupling can only happen at a narrow potential window, generally in the low overpotential region, and a fundamental understanding of the C-N coupling is needed for further development of this strategy. In this regard, we performed ab initio Molecular Dynamics (AIMD) simulations to reveal the origin of C-N coupling under a small electrode potential window with both the dynamic nature of water as a solvent, and the electrode potentials considered. We explored the key reaction networks for urea formation on Cu(100) surface in neutral electrolytes. Our work shows excellent agreement with experimentally observed selectivity under different potentials on the Cu electrode. We discovered that the *NH and *CO are the key precursors for C-N bonds formation at low overpotential, while at high overpotential the C-N coupling occurs between adsorbed *NH and solvated CO. These insights provide vital information for future spectroscopic measurements and enable us to design new electrochemical systems for more value-added chemicals.

en: Mechanism of C-N bonds formation in electrocatalytic urea production revealed by ab initio molecular dynamics simulation

aimd

display_name: aimd

electrocatalysis

display_name: electrocatalysis

nox-reduction

display_name: nox-reduction


en: Low-crosslinked polymer networks have recently been found to behave auxetically when subjected to small tensions, that is, their Poisson's ratio ν becomes negative. In addition, for specific state points, numerical simulations revealed that diamond-like networks reach the limit of mechanical stability, exhibiting values of ν = −1, a condition that we define as hyper-auxeticity. This behavior is interesting per se for its consequences in materials science but is also appealing for fundamental physics because the mechanical instability is accompanied by evidence of criticality. In this work, we deepen our understanding of this phenomenon by performing a large set of equilibrium and stress–strain simulations in combination with phenomenological elasticity theory. The two approaches are found to be in good agreement, confirming the above results. We also extend our investigations to disordered polymer networks and find that the hyper-auxetic behavior also holds in this case, still manifesting a similar critical-like behavior as in the diamond one. Finally, we highlight the role of the number density, which is found to be a relevant control parameter determining the elastic properties of the system. The validity of the results under disordered conditions paves the way for an experimental investigation of this phenomenon in real systems, such as hydrogels.

en: Auxetic polymer networks: The role of crosslinking, density, and disorder

auxetic-materials

display_name: auxetic-materials

elasticity

display_name: elasticity

hydrogels

display_name: hydrogels


en:
Interface stress is a fundamental descriptor for interphase boundaries and is defined in strict relation to the interface energy. In nanomultilayered coatings with their intrinsically high interface density, the functional properties are generally dictated by the interface structure, which in turn is governed by the delicate interaction of residual interface and volume stresses in the coating system. In the present work, experimental estimations of the interface stress in Cu/W NMLs (with a variable residual stress state from tensile to compressive) were compared with corresponding theoretical values as calculated using DFT (adopting an incoherent bcc W{110}/fcc Cu{111} interface with variable in-plane strain). The Cu/W interface stress was experimentally tuned monotonically from positive to negative values by changing the residual stress in the W nanolayers by increasing the Ar pressure during the W deposition steps. Qualitative agreement between experiment and simulation was achieved, both confirming a decrease of the interface stress from the compressive to the tensile regime. The DFT simulations showed that Cu atoms in the vicinity of the strained Cu/W interfaces are displaced along the in-plane and out-of-plane directions in response to the acting
interface stress. Using a preliminary developed neural network potential for the immiscible Cu-W system, specific in-plane crystallographic orientation relationships for the Cu/W interfaces were also tested, which improved quantitative agreement between experiment and theory. Assumptions and limitations in experiments and theory for deriving the interface stress are critically discussed.

en: Experimental and ab initio derivation of interface stress in nanomultilayered coatings: application to immiscible Cu/W system with variable in-plane stress

ab-initio

display_name: ab-initio

copper-tungsten

display_name: copper-tungsten

interface-stress

display_name: interface-stress

neural-network-potential

display_name: neural-network-potential

xrd

display_name: xrd


en: Recently a highly ordered Moiré dislocation lattice was identified at the interface between a SrTiO₃ (STO) thin film and the (LaAlO₃)₀.₃(Sr₂TaAlO₆)₀.₇ (LSAT) substrate. A fundamental understanding of the local ionic and electronic structure around the dislocation cores is crucial to further engineer the properties of these complex multifunctional heterostructures. Here we combine experimental characterization via analytical scanning transmission electron microscopy with results of molecular dynamics and density functional theory calculations to gain insights into the structure and defect chemistry of these dislocation arrays. Our results show that these dislocations lead to undercoordinated Ta/Al cations at the dislocation core, where oxygen vacancies can easily be formed, further facilitated by the presence of cation vacancies. The reduced Ti³⁺ observed experimentally at the dislocations by electron energy-loss spectroscopy are a consequence of both the structure of the dislocation itself, as well as of the electron-doping due to oxygen vacancy formation. Finally, the experimentally observed Ti diffusion into LSAT around the dislocation core occurs only together with cation-vacancy formation in LSAT or Ta diffusion into STO.

materialscloud

en:
Materials Cloud is a platform built to enable the seamless sharing and dissemination of resources in computational materials science, offering educational, research, and archiving tools; simulation software and services; and curated and raw data. These underpin published results and empower data-based discovery, compliant with data management plans and the FAIR principles.

In the Materials Cloud you can browse, explore, download, or deposit raw and curated data (in the Discover, Explore, and Archive sections); you can access cloud or redeployable simulation services (from AiiDAlab turnkey simulations to the Quantum Mobile virtual machine, the AiiDA registry of plugins and workflows, and the OSSCAR notebooks, in the Work section), and you can use all our educational material, tutorials and lectures (in the Learn section).

en: Materials Cloud

en: Combined theoretical and experimental study of the Moiré dislocation network at the SrTiO₃-(La,Sr)(Al,Ta)O₃ interface

complex-oxide-interface

display_name: complex-oxide-interface

dislocation

display_name: dislocation

point-defects

display_name: point-defects


en: The presence of defects, such as copper and oxygen vacancies, in cuprous oxide films determines their characteristic carrier conductivity and consequently their application as semiconducting systems. There are still open questions on the induced electronic re-distribution, including the formation of polarons. Indeed, to accurately reproduce the structural and electronic properties at the cuprous oxide surface, very large slab models and theoretical approaches that go beyond the standard generalized gradient corrected density functional theory are needed. In this work we investigate oxygen vacancies formed in proximity of a reconstructed Cu₂O(111) surface, where the outermost unsaturated copper atoms are removed, thus forming non-stoichiometric surface layers with copper vacancies. We address simultaneously surface and bulk properties by modelling a thick and symmetric slab, to find that hybrid exchange-correlation functionals are needed to describe the oxygen vacancy in this system. Our simulations show that the formation of oxygen vacancies is favoured in the sub-surface layer. Moreover, the oxygen vacancy leads to a splitting and left-shift of the shallow hole states in the gap, which are associated with the deficiency of copper at the surface. These findings suggest that surface electronic structure and reactivity are sensitive to the presence of oxygen vacancies, also when the latter are formed deeper within the film.

en: Understanding the role of oxygen-vacancy defects in Cu₂O(111) from first-principle calculations

envi

en: Environment

hybrid-dft

display_name: hybrid-dft

oxygen-vacancy-defects

display_name: oxygen-vacancy-defects