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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2021

Dielectric screening and electric field control of ferromagnetism at the CaMnO 3 /CaRuO 3 interface

Control of magnetism by an applied electric field is a desirable technique for the functionalization of magnetic materials. Motivated by recent experiments, we study the electric field control of the interfacial magnetism of CaRuO 3 /CaMnO 3 (CRO/CMO) (001), a prototype interface between a non-magnetic metal and an antiferromagnetic insulator. Even without the electric field, the interfacial CMO layer acquires a ferromagnetic moment due to a spin-canted state, caused by the Anderson-Hasegawa double exchange (DEX) between the Mn moments and the leaked electrons from the CRO side. An electric field would alter the carrier density at the interface, leading to the possibility of controlling the magnetism, since DEX is sensitive to the carrier density. We study this effect quantitatively using density-functional calculations in the slab geometry. We find a text-book like dielectric screening of the electric field, which introduces polarization charges at the interfaces and the surfaces. The extra charge at the interface enhances the ferromagnetism via the DEX interaction, while away from the interface the original AFM state of the Mn layers remains unchanged. The effect could have potential application in spintronics devices.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2021

Identification of a low-energy metastable 1 T -type phase for monolayer VSe 2

Elucidating the polymorphism of transition metal dichalcogenide layers and the interplay between structure and properties is a key challenge for the application of these materials. We identify a low-energy metastable phase of monolayer VSe 2 and elucidate its magnetic and electronic properties. This structure is distinct from the previously identified charge density wave (CDW) phase. However, while having rather distinct properties it is very close in energy to the CDW phase and is likely to be realized in experiments. Importantly, local bonding instabilities, as characterized by reconstruction of the electronic structure over a wide energy range, are important for this distortion, which includes both V off-centering in the octahedral coordination cages and a partial disproportionation into two distinct types of V. The phase does not have a ferromagnetic ground state. Furthermore, the results show that the physics of 1T–VSe 2 are richer than previously known with an interplay of Fermi surface instabilities and local bonding effects.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2022

Electronic structure of Humble defects in Ge and Ge 0.8⁢ Si 0.2

The group-IV diamond-structure elements are known to host a variety of planar defects, including {001} planar defects in C and {001}, {111}, and {113} planar defects in Si and Ge. Among the {001} planar defects, the Humble defect, known for some time to occur in Ge, has recently also been observed in Si-Ge alloys, but the details of its electronic structure remain poorly understood. Here, in this work, we perform first-principles density-functional calculations to study Humble defects in both Ge and Ge 0.8⁢ Si 0.2 . We also measure the Si L 2,3 -edge electron energy-loss spectra both at the defect and in a bulk-like region far from the defect and compare with theoretical calculations on corresponding Si sites in our first-principles calculations. We find that inclusion of core-hole effects in the theory is essential for reproducing the observed L 2,3 edge spectra, and that once they are included, the results provide a set of fingerprints for different types of local atomic bonding environments in Ge 0.8⁢ Si 0.2 . Our first-principles calculations reveal that the Humble defects have a tendency to enlarge the electronic band gap, which may have potential uses in band engineering. The use of hybrid functionals for an improved description of the band gap in these systems is also discussed.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2023

Local lattice distortions and electronic orders in strongly correlated systems by resonant total x-ray scattering: A case study of A Pt 2 X 2 intermetallics ( A = U , Ce, or La and X = Si or Ge)

Revealing local lattice distortions in physical systems is nontrivial, largely because such structural features often are not necessarily amenable to traditional crystallographic investigations. This poses limits to our understanding of the underlying physic, particularly in the case of strongly correlated systems where structural, electronic and magnetic degrees of freedom are intertwined. Using resonant total x-ray scattering coupled to differential pair distribution function analysis, we reveal the presence of pronounced local lattice distortions in the square net Pt planes in the prototypical strongly correlated APt 2 X 2 intermetallics (A = U, Ce or La and X = Si or Ge). The distortions are present before charge density wave, magnetic, Kondo lattice coherence and/or superconducting orders emerge in these materials and, as density functional calculations suggest, are likely to affect them. Finally, our study sheds light on the poorly known interactions between electronic orders and structural disorder in strongly correlated systems and also demonstrates an advanced experimental approach to determine it that is relevant to any physical system showing deviations from perfect crystallinity.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2024

Influence of temperature, doping, and amorphization on the electronic structure and magnetic damping of iron

Hybrid magnonic quantum systems have drawn increased attention in recent years for coherent quantum information processing, but too large magnetic damping is a persistent concern when metallic magnets are used. Their intrinsic damping is largely determined by electron-magnon scattering induced by spin-orbit interactions. In the low scattering limit, damping is dominated by intra-band electronic transitions, which has been theoretically shown to be proportional to the electronic density of states at the Fermi level. In this work, we focus on body-centered-cubic iron as a paradigmatic ferromagnetic material. We comprehensively study its electronic structure using first-principles density functional theory simulations and account for finite lattice temperature, boron (B) doping, and structure amorphization. Our results indicate that temperature induced atomic disorder and amorphous atomic geometries only have a minor influence. Instead, boron doping noticeably decreases the density of states near the Fermi level with an optimal doping level of 6.25%. In addition, we show that this reduction varies significantly for different atomic geometries and report that the highest reduction correlates with a large magnetization of the material. Furthermore, this may suggest materials growth under external magnetic fields as a route to explore in experiment.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2014

Weak competing interactions control assembly of strongly bonded TCNQ ionic acceptor molecules on silver surfaces

The energy scales of interactions that control molecular adsorption and assembly on surfaces can vary by several orders of magnitude, yet the importance of each contributing interaction is not apparent a priori. Tetracyanoquinodimethane (TCNQ) is an archetypal electron acceptor molecule and it is a key component of organic metals. On metal surfaces, this molecule also acts as an electron acceptor, producing negatively charged adsorbates. It is therefore rather intriguing to observe attractive molecular interactions in this system that were reported previously for copper and silver surfaces. In this paper, our experiments compared TCNQ adsorption on noble metal surfaces of Ag(100) and Ag(111). In both cases we found net attractive interactions down to the lowest coverage. However, the morphology of the assemblies was strikingly different, with two-dimensional islands on Ag(100) and one-dimensional chains on Ag(111) surfaces. This observation suggests that the registry effect governed by the molecular interaction with the underlying lattice potential is critical in determining the dimensionality of the molecular assembly. Using first-principles density functional calculations with a van der Waals correction scheme, we revealed that the strengths of major interactions (i.e., lattice potential corrugation, intermolecular attraction, and charge-transfer-induced repulsion) are all similar in energy. The van der Waals interactions, in particular, almost double the strength of attractive interactions, making the intermolecular potential comparable in strength to the diffusion potential and promoting self-assembly. However, it is the anisotropy of local intermolecular interactions that is primarily responsible for the difference in the topology of the molecular islands on Ag(100) and Ag(111) surfaces. Finally, we anticipate that the intermolecular potential will become more attractive and dominant over the diffusion potential with increasing molecular size, providing new design strategies for the structure and charge transfer within molecular layers.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2014

Ternary chalcogenides C s 2 Z n 3 S e 4 and C s 2 Z n 3 T e 4 : Potential p -type transparent conducting materials

Here we report prediction of two new ternary chalcogenides that can potentially be used as p-type transparent conductors along with experimental synthesis and initial characterization of these previously unknown compounds, Cs 2 Zn 3 Ch 4 (Ch = Se, Te). In particular, the structures are predicted based on density functional calculations and confirmed by experiments. Phase diagrams, electronic structure, optical properties, and defect properties of Cs 2 Zn 3 Se 4 and Cs 2 Zn 3 Te 4 are calculated to assess the viability of these materials as p-type TCMs. Cs 2 Zn 3 Se 4 and Cs 2 Zn 3 Te 4 , which are stable under ambient air, display large optical band gaps (calculated to be 3.61 and 2.83 eV, respectively) and have small hole effective masses (0.5-0.77 m e ) that compare favorably with other proposed p-type TCMs. Defect calculations show that undoped Cs2Zn3Se4 and Cs2Zn3Te4 are p-type materials. However, the free hole concentration may be limited by low-energy native donor defects, e.g., Zn interstitials. Lastly, non-equilibrium growth techniques should be useful for suppressing the formation of native donor defects, thereby increasing the hole concentration.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2015

Magnetic order and electronic structure of 5d 3 double perovskite Sr 2 ScOsO 6

The magnetic susceptibility, crystal and magnetic structures, and electronic structure of double perovskite Sr 2 ScOsO 6 are reported. Using both neutron and x-ray powder diffraction we find that the crystal structure is monoclinic P21/n from 3.5 to 300 K. Magnetization measurements indicate an antiferromagnetic transition at TN=92 K, one of the highest transition temperatures of any double perovskite hosting only one magnetic ion. Type I antiferromagnetic order is determined by neutron powder diffraction, with an Os moment of only 1.6(1) muB, close to half the spin-only value for a crystal field split 5d electron state with t2g^3 ground state. Density functional calculations show that this reduction is largely the result of strong Os-O hybridization, with spin-orbit coupling responsible for only a ~0.1 muB reduction in the moment.

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2015

Edge states and local electronic structure around an adsorbed impurity in a topological superconductor

Recently, topological superconducting states have attracted much interest. In this work, we consider a topological superconductor with Z 2 topological mirror order [Y.-Y. Tai et al., Phys. Rev. B 91, 041111(R) (2015)] and s ± -wave superconducting pairing symmetry, within a two-orbital model originally designed for iron-based superconductivity [Y.-Y. Tai et al., Europhys. Lett. 103, 67001 (2013)]. We predict the existence of gapless edge states. We also study the local electronic structure around an adsorbed interstitial magnetic impurity in the system, and find the existence of low-energy in-gap bound states even with a weak spin polarization on the impurity. We also discuss the relevance of our results to a recent scanning tunneling microscopy experiment on a Fe(Te,Se) compound with an adsorbed Fe impurity [J.-X. Yin et al., Nat. Phys. 11, 543 (2015)], for which our density functional calculations show the Fe impurity is spin polarized.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2016

Bismuth chalcohalides and oxyhalides as optoelectronic materials

Several Tl and Pb based halides and chalcohalides have recently been discovered as promising optoelectronic materials [i.e., photovoltaic (PV) and gamma-ray detection materials]. Efficient carrier transport in these materials is attributed partly to the special chemistry of ns 2 ions (e.g., Tl + , Pb 2+ , and Bi 3+ ). However, the toxicity of Tl and Pb is challenging to the development and the wide use of Tl and Pb based materials. In this paper, we investigate materials that contain Bi 3+ , which is also an ns 2 ion. By combining Bi halides with Bi chalcogenides or oxides, the resulting ternary compounds exhibit a wide range of band gaps, offering opportunities in various optoelectronic applications. Density functional calculations of electronic structure, dielectric properties, optical properties, and defect properties are performed on selected Bi 3+ based chalcohalides and oxyhalides, i.e., BiSeBr, BiSI, BiSeI, and BiOBr. We propose different applications for these Bi compounds based on calculated properties, i.e., n-BiSeBr, p-BiSI, and p-BiSeI as PV materials, BiSeBr and BiSI as room-temperature radiation detection materials, and BiOBr as a p-type transparent conducting material. BiSeBr, BiSI, and BiSeBr have chain structures while BiOBr has a layered structure. However, in BiSI, BiSeI, and BiOBr, significant valence-band dispersion is found in the directions perpendicular to the atomic chain or layer because the valence-band edge states are dominated by the halogen states that have strong interchain or interlayer coupling. We find significantly enhanced Born effective charges and anomalously large static dielectric constants of the Bi compounds, which should reduce carrier scattering and trapping and promote efficient carrier transport in these materials. The strong screening and the small anion coordination numbers in Bi chalcohalides should lead to weak potentials for electron localization at anion vacancies. As a result, defect calculations indeed show that the anion vacancies (Se and Br vacancies) in BiSeBr are shallow, which is beneficial to efficient electron transport.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2016

Possibility of realizing quantum spin Hall effect at room temperature in stanene / A l 2 O 3 ( 0001 )

Two-dimensional quantum spin Hall (QSH) insulators with reasonably wide band gaps are imperative for the development of various innovative technologies. Through systematic density functional calculations and tight-binding simulations, we found that stanene on an α -alumina surface may possess a sizeable topologically nontrivial band gap ( ~ 0.25 eV ) at the Γ point. Furthermore, stanene is atomically bonded to but electronically decoupled from the substrate, providing high structural stability and isolated QSH states to a large extent. We conclude the underlying physical mechanism is rather general, and this finding may lead to the opening of a new vista for the exploration of QSH insulators for room temperature device applications.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2018

High-pressure investigations on the semi-Heusler compound CuMnSb

The antiferromagnetic semi-Heusler compound CuMnSb has been investigated under high pressure by electrical resistivity and angle dispersive synchrotron x-ray diffraction measurements to 53 and 36 GPa, respectively. The Néel temperature at ~50 K is found to initially increase rapidly with pressure, reaching 83 K at 7 GPa. However, near 8 GPa at ambient temperature a sluggish first-order structural transition begins from a semimetallic cubic phase to a likely semimetallic tetragonal phase; thermal cycling to 355°C at 9.6 GPa serves to complete the transition. In the tetragonal phase no sign of magnetic ordering is visible in the resistivity R ( T ) over the measured temperature range 4–295 K. This suggests that magnetic ordering may have shifted to temperatures well above ambient. Indeed, density functional calculations find the magnetic ground state in the tetragonal phase to be antiferromagnetic. In conclusion, following decompression to 1 bar at ambient temperature, the high-pressure tetragonal phase is retained.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2019

Atomic and electronic structure of domains walls in a polar metal

Polar metals counterintuitively bring two well-known phenomena into coexistence, namely, bulk polar displacements, and an electronic Fermi surface giving rise to metallic conduction. Furthermore, little is known about the polar domains or domain walls in such materials. Using atomic resolution electron microscopy imaging combined with first principles density functional theory, we show that uncharged head-to-tail walls, and “charged” head-to-head and tail-to-tail walls can exist in the bulk of such crystals of polar metals Ca 3 Ru 2 O 7 , where both structural changes at the wall as well as electrostatic considerations define the wall nature. Significant built-in potentials of 30–170 meV are predicted at such walls.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2019

Status of free-energy representations for the homogeneous electron gas

Renewed interest in the homogeneous electron gas (HEG) has been stimulated by recent accurate simulations of it over a wide range of densities and temperatures. Those data, combined with known theoretical limits, have led to analytical representations of the free energy. Such a representation is, at least in principle, the complete HEG equation of state. The initial objective here is to establish that the two best representations of the simulation data and constraints are effectively the same in both functional form and accuracy of representation. The second objective is to disclose and delineate a significant difficulty. Despite their expected accuracy for the free energy, the underlying functional form is not adequate for derived thermodynamic properties. As an example, the specific heats obtained from the representations exhibit anomalies suggesting the need first for additional simulation data in critical regimes, then for refined fitting functions. Here, the existing representations are, however, almost certainly adequate for applications based on the free energy alone (e.g., density functional theory for warm dense matter). The third objective is to show that, despite their inability to provide a complete thermodynamic description of the HEG, the best analytical representations do provide a fully adequate exchange-correlation local density approximation for free energy density functional calculations.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2015

Ferromagnetism and Nonmetallic Transport of Thin-Film α - FeSi 2 : A Stabilized Metastable Material

The epitaxially stabilized metallic α - FeSi 2 thin films on Si(001) were grown using pulsed laser deposition. While the bulk material of α - FeSi 2 is a high temperature metastable phase and nonmagnetic, the thin film is stabilized at room temperature and shows unusual electronic transport and magnetic properties due to strain modification. The transport renders two different conducting states with a strong crossover at 50 K accompanied by an onset of ferromagnetism as well as a substantial magnetocaloric effect and magnetoresistance. These experimental results are discussed in terms of the unusual electronic structure of α - FeSi 2 obtained within density functional calculations and Boltzmann transport calculations with and without strain. Our findings provide an example of a tailored material with interesting physics properties for practical applications.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2015

Successive Magnetic-Field-Induced Transitions and Colossal Magnetoelectric Effect in Ni 3 TeO 6

In this paper, we report the discovery of a metamagnetic phase transition in a polar antiferromagnet Ni 3 TeO 6 that occurs at 52 T. The new phase transition accompanies a colossal magnetoelectric effect, with a magnetic-field-induced polarization change of 0.3 μC/cm 2 , a value that is 4 times larger than for the spin-flop transition at 9 T in the same material, and also comparable to the largest magnetically induced polarization changes observed to date. Via density-functional calculations we construct a full microscopic model that describes the data. We model the spin structures in all fields and clarify the physics behind the 52 T transition. The high-field transition involves a competition between multiple different exchange interactions which drives the polarization change through the exchange-striction mechanism. Finally, the resultant spin structure is rather counterintuitive and complex, thus providing new insights on design principles for materials with strong magnetoelectric coupling.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2015

Mass Measurement of 56Sc Reveals a Small A=56 Odd-Even Mass Staggering, Implying a Cooler Accreted Neutron Star Crust

We present the mass excesses of 52-57Sc, obtained from recent time-of-flight nuclear mass measurements at the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory at Michigan State University. The masses of 56Sc and 57Sc were determined for the first time with atomic mass excesses of -24.85(59)((+0)(-54)) MeV and -21.0(1.3) MeV, respectively, where the asymmetric uncertainty for 56Sc was included due to possible contamination from a long-lived isomer. The 56Sc mass indicates a small odd-even mass staggering in the A = 56 mass chain towards the neutron drip line, significantly deviating from trends predicted by the global FRDM mass model and favoring trends predicted by the UNEDF0 and UNEDF1 density functional calculations. Together with new shell-model calculations of the electron-capture strength function of 56Sc, our results strongly reduce uncertainties in model calculations of the heating and cooling at the 56Ti electron-capture layer in the outer crust of accreting neutron stars. We find that, in contrast to previous studies, neither strong neutrino cooling nor strong heating occurs in this layer. We conclude that Urca cooling in the outer crusts of accreting neutron stars that exhibit superbursts or high temperature steady-state burning, which are predicted to be rich in A approximate to 56 nuclei, is considerably weaker than predicted. Urca cooling must instead be dominated by electron capture on the small amounts of adjacent odd-A nuclei contained in the superburst and high temperature steady-state burning ashes. This may explain the absence of strong crust Urca cooling inferred from the observed cooling light curve of the transiently accreting x-ray source MAXI J0556-332.

Meisel, Z.↗