For more than seventy years, semiconductor devices have functioned as the cornerstone for technological advancement, and as the defining transition into the information age. The III-Nitride family of semiconductors, in particular, underwent an impressive maturation over the past thirty years, which allowed for efficient light- emitting devices, photo-detectors, and power electronic devices. As researchers try to push the limits of semiconductor devices, and in particular, as they aim to design ultraviolet light emitters and high threshold power devices, the search for new materials with high band gaps, high breakdown voltages, unique optical properties, and variable lattice parameters is becoming a priority. Two interesting candidates that can help in achieving the aforementioned goals are the wurtzite BAlN and BGaN alloy systems, which are currently understudied due to difficulties associated with their growth in epitaxial settings. In our research, we will investigate the band alignment between BAlN and BGaN alloys, and other wurtzite III-Nitride semiconductors from first principle simulations. Through an understanding of band alignment types and a quantification of the band offset values, researchers will be able to foresee the applicability of a particular interface. As an example, a type-I band alignment with a high conduction band offset and a low valence band offset is a potential electron blocking layer to be implemented in standard LED designs. This first principle investigation will be aided by simulations using Density Functional Theory (DFT) as implemented in the Vienna Ab Initio Simulation Package (VASP) environment. In addition, we will detail an experiment from the literature that uses X- ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy on multiple samples to infer and quantify the band alignment between different materials of interest to us. We aim in this study to anticipate the band alignment in interfaces involving materials at the cutting edge of research. Our hope is to set a theoretical ground for future experimental studies on this same matter in parallel to the current efforts to improve the quality and stability of wurtzite BAlN and BGaN alloy crystals.

Complexes with pincer ligand moieties have garnered much attention in the past few decades. They have been shown to be highly active catalysts in several known transition metal-catalyzed organic reactions as well as some unprecedented organic transformations. At the same time, the use of computational organometallic chemistry to aid in the understanding of the mechanisms in organometallic catalysis for the development of improved catalysts is on the rise. While it was common in earlier studies to reduce computational cost by truncating donor group substituents on complexes such as tertbutyl or isopropyl groups to hydrogen or methyl groups, recent advancements in the processing capabilities of computer clusters and codes have streamlined the time required for calculations. As the full modeling of complexes become increasingly popular, a commonly overlooked aspect, especially in the case of complexes bearing isopropyl substituents, is the conformational analysis of complexes. Isopropyl groups generate a different conformer with each 120 ° rotation (rotamer), and it has been found that each rotamer typically resides in its own potential energy well in density functional theory studies. As a result, it can be challenging to select the most appropriate structure for a theoretical study, as the adjustment of isopropyl substituents from a higher-energy rotamer to the lowest-energy rotamer usually does not occur during structure optimization. In this report, the influence of the arrangement of isopropyl substituents in pincer complexes on calculated complex structure energies as well as a case study on the mechanism of the isomerization of an iPrPCP-Fe complex is covered. It was found that as many as 324 rotamers can be generated for a single complex, as in the case of an iPrPCP-Ni formato complex, with the energy difference between the global minimum and the highest local minimum being as large as 16.5 kcalmol-1. In the isomerization of a iPrPCP-Fe complex, it was found that the isopropyl substituents not only influence the calculated structure energies, but they dictate the mechanism of isomerization with the rotation of isopropyl substituents from the arrangement in the starting material complex to the arrangement in the product complex being the rate-determining step.

Perovskite oxides have the general chemical formula ABO3, where A is a rare-earth or alkali-metal cation and B is a transition metal cation. Perovskite oxides can be formed with a variety of constituent elements and exhibit a wide range of properties ranging from insulators, metals to even superconductors. With the development of growth and characterization techniques, more information on their physical and chemical properties has been revealed, which diversified their technological applications. Perovskite manganites are widely investigated compounds due to the discovery of the colossal magnetoresistance effect in 1994. They have a broad range of structural, electronic, magnetic properties and potential device applications in sensors and spintronics. There is not only the technological importance but also the need to understand the fundamental mechanisms of the unusual magnetic and transport properties that drive enormous attention. Manganites combined with other perovskite oxides are gaining interest due to novel properties especially at the interface, such as interfacial ferromagnetism, exchange bias, interfacial conductivity. Doped manganites exhibit diverse electrical properties as compared to the parent compounds. For instance, hole doped La0.7Sr0.3MnO3 is a ferromagnetic metal, whereas LaMnO3 is an antiferromagnetic insulator. Since manganites are strongly correlated systems, heterojunctions composed of manganites and other perovskite oxides are sunject to complex coupling of the spin, orbit, charge, and lattice degrees of freedom and exhibit unique electronic, magnetic, and transport properties. Electronic reconstructions, O defects, doping, intersite disorder, magnetic proximity, magnetic exchange, and polar catastrophe are some effects to explain these interfacial phenomena. In our work we use first-principles calculations to study the structural, electronic, and magnetic properties of manganite based superlattices. Firstly, we investigate the electronic structure of bulk CaMnO3 and LaNiO3. An onsite Coulomn interaction term U is tested for both the Mn and Ni atoms. G-type antiferromagnetism and insulating properties of CaMnO3 are reproduced with U = 3 eV and ferromagnetic ordering is favorable when CaMnO3 is strained to the substrate lattice constant. This implies that the CaMnO3 magnetism is sensitive to both strain and the U parameter. Antiparallel orientation of the Mn and Ti moments has been found experimentally in the BiMnO3/SrTiO3 superlattice. By introducing O defects at different layers, we find similar patterns when the defect is located in the BiO layer. The structural, electronic and magnetic properties are analysed. Strong hybridization between the d3z2−r2 orbitals of the Mn and Ti atoms near the O defect is found. The effect of uniaxial strain for the formation of a two-dimensional electron gas and the interfacial Ti magnetic moments of the (LaMnO3)2/(SrTiO3)2 superlattice are investigated. By tuning the strain state from compressive to tensile, we predict under which conditions the spin-polarization of the electron gas is enhanced. Since the thickness ratio of the superlattice correlates with the strain state, we also study the structural, electronic and magnetism trends of (LaMnO3)n/(SrTiO3)m superlattices with varying layer thicknesses. The main finding is that half-metallicity will vanish for n, m > 8. Reduction of the minority band gaps with increasing n and m originates mainly from an energetic downshift of the Ti dxy states. Along with these, the interrelation between the interface geometry and the electronic properties of the antiferromagnetic/ferromagnetic superlattice BiFeO3/ La0.7Sr0.3MnO3 is investigated. The magnetic and optical properties are also analysed by first principles calculations. The half-metallic character of bulk La0.7Sr0.3MnO3 is maintained in the superlattice, which implies potential applications on spintronics and memory devices.

Interface effects in two-dimensional (2D) materials play a critical role for the electronic properties and device characteristics. Here we use first-principles calculations to investigate interface effects in 2D materials enabling new applications. We first show that graphene in contact with monolayer and bilayer PtSe2 experiences weak van der Waals interaction. Analysis of the work functions and band bending at the interface reveals that graphene forms an n-type Schottky contact with monolayer PtSe2 and a p-type Schottky contact with bilayer PtSe2, whereas a small biaxial tensile strain makes the contact Ohmic in the latter case as required for transistor operation. For silicene, which is a 2D Dirac relative of graphene, structural buckling complicates the experimental synthesis and strong interaction with the substrate perturbs the characteristic linear dispersion. To remove this obstacle, we propose solid argon as a possible substrate for realizing quasi-freestanding silicene and argue that a weak van der Waals interaction and small binding energy indicate the possibility to separate silicene from the substrate. For the silicene-PtSe2 interface, we demonstrate much stronger interlayer interaction than previously reported for silicene on other semiconducting substrates. Due to the inversion symmetry breaking and proximity to PtSe2, a band gap opening and spin splittings in the valence and conduction bands of silicene are observed. It is also shown that the strong interlayer interaction can be effectively reduced by intercalating NH3 molecules between silicene and PtSe2, and a small NH3 discussion barrier makes intercalation a viable experimental approach. Silicene/germanene are categorized as key materials for the field of valleytronics due to stronger spin-orbit coupling as compared to graphene. However, no viable route exists so far to experimental realization. We propose F-doped WS2 as substrate that avoids detrimental effects and at the same time induces the required valley polarization. The behavior is explained by proximity effects on silicene/germanene due to the underlying substrate. Broken inversion symmetry in the presence of WS2 opens a substantial band gap in silicene/germanene. F doping of WS2 results in spin polarization, which, in conjunction with proximity-enhanced spin orbit coupling, creates sizable spin-valley polarization. For heterostructures of silicene and hexagonal boron nitride, we show that the stacking is fundamental for the details of the dispersion relation in the vicinity of the Fermi energy (gapped, non-gapped, linear, parabolic) despite small differences in the total energy. We also demonstrate that the tightbinding model of bilayer graphene is able to capture most of these features and we identify the limitations of the model.

Methane is an abundant resource existing in the form of natural and shale gas, and molybdenum-based catalysts, including molybdenum oxides and carbides, are the commonly used components in catalysts for converting methane to value-added chemicals. Therefore, understanding the catalytic mechanism underlying the methane conversion over molybdenum-based catalysts is key to designing highly efficient catalysts and optimizing the operating conditions. In this dissertation, I focus on the structural evolution from oxide to carbides and catalytic reactivity of the molybdenum-based catalysts for methane conversion based on the result from density functional theory (DFT) computational studies.First, the surface chemistry and reactivity of α-MoO3 toward C-H bond activation of methane by breaking the first C-H bond on the MoO3 (010) surface were used to evaluate various functionals of the DFT method. Our results indicate that surface reduction of α-MoO3 (010) occurs preferably through releasing the terminal oxygen atoms, generating oxygen vacancies while exposing the reduced Mo centers. These oxygen vacancies tend to be separated from each other at a higher density due to the repulsive interactions. Furthermore, the reduced α-MoO3 (010) surface promotes methane activation kinetically and thermodynamically by reducing the activation barrier for the first C-H bond breaking and stabilizing the product state as compared with those on the stoichiometric surface. There is a synergy between the reduced Mo active site and surface lattice oxygen for C-H bond cleavage. In addition, the performance of different functionals, including the pure-GGA PBE functional with the semi-empirical vdW correction and the meta-GGA SCAN functional, has been investigated. With the meta-GGA functional, we can predict the bulk structure of α-MoO3 more accurately while reproducing the thermal chemistry of MoO3. On the other hand, the reactivity based on the PBE functional is qualitatively consistent with that from the SCAN functional.We then conducted a systematic study of methane activation and conversion over the Mo-terminated surfaces derived from different phases of Mo2C carbides, i.e. the (001) surface of α-Mo2C and the (100) surface of β-Mo2C. The results show that Mo-terminated Mo2C with lower carburization in its subsurface (β-Mo2C) possesses a superior reactivity toward methane activation, resulting in a complete dissociation of methane to carbon adatom on the surface. This carbon adatom causes further carburization of the surface, lowering the reactivity toward methane activation. Moreover, the carburization occurs more easily in the near surface layers of Mo2C than in the bulk. Although carburization lowers the activities for methane activation, it promotes C-C coupling for dimerization of the (CH)ad species, resulting in (C2H2)ad on the Mo-terminated surfaces. On the deep carburized molybdenum carbide (MoC) surfaces, we mapped out the elementary steps of CH4 dissociation and possible mechanisms for forming the C2 species. The results indicate that the Mo-terminated MoC surfaces derived from different bulk phases (α- and δ-) of MoC possess a similar mechanism to that on the noble-metal surfaces for methane dissociation, i.e., CH4 dissociates sequentially to (CH)ad with both kinetic and thermodynamic feasibilities while breaking the last C-H bond in (CH)ad is highly activated. As such, C-C coupling through dimerization of the (CH)ad species occurs more readily, resulting in (C2H2)ad on the Mo-terminated surfaces. Such (C2H2)ad species can dehydrogenate easily to other C2 adsorbates such as (C2H)ad and (C2)ad. Consequently, these C2 species from CH4 dissociation will likely be the precursors for producing long chain hydrocarbons and/or aromatics on molybdenum carbide based catalysts.

This work discusses the C-H bond activation by transition metal complexes using various computational methods. First, we performed a DFT study of oxidative addition of methane to Ta(OC2H4)3A (where A may act as an ancillary ligand) to understand how A may affect the propensity of the complex to undergo oxidative addition. Among the A groups studied, they can be a Lewis acid (B or Al), a saturated, electron-precise moiety (CH or SiH), a σ-donor (N), or a σ-donor/π-acid (P). By varying A, we seek to understand how changing the electronic properties of A can affect the kinetics and thermodynamics of methane C–H activation by these complexes. For all A, the TS with H trans to A is favored kinetically over TS with CH3 trans to A. Upon moving from electron-deficient to electron-rich moieties (P and N), the computed C–H activation barrier for the kinetic product decreases significantly. Thus, changing A greatly influences the barrier for methane C–H oxidative addition by these complexes. Secondly, a computational study of oxidative addition (OA) of methane to M(OC2H4)3A (M = Ta, Re and A = ancillary ligand) was carried out using various computational methods. The purpose of this study was to understand how variation in A and M affects the kinetics and thermodynamics of OA. Results obtained from MP2 calculations revealed that for OA of CH4 to Re(OC2H4)3A, the order of ΔG‡ for a choice of ancillary ligand is B > Al > SiH > CH > N > P. Single point calculations for ΔG‡ obtained with CCSD(T) showed excellent agreement with those computed with MP2 methods. MCSCF calculations indicated that oxidative addition transition states are well described by a single electronic configuration, giving further confidence in the MP2 approach used for geometry optimization and ΔG‡ determination, and that the transition states are more electronically similar to the reactant than the product. Thirdly, a computational study of olefin polymerization has been performed on 51 zirconocene catalysts. The catalysts can be categorized into three classes according to the supporting ligand framework: Class I - Cp2ZrCl2 (ten catalysts), Class II - CpIndZrCl2 (thirty-eight catalysts), and Class III - Ind2ZrCl2 (three catalysts), Cp = η5-cyclopentaidenyl, Ind = η5-indenyl. Detailed reaction pathways, including chain propagation and chain termination steps, are modeled for ethylene polymerization using Class II catalysts. Optimized structures for reaction coordinates indicated the presence of α-agostic interactions in the transition states (TSs) for both the 1st and 2nd ethylene insertions as well as in the ethylene π-complex of the Zr-nPr cation. However, β-agostic interactions predominate in the cationic n-propyl and n-pentyl intermediates. The calculated relative Gibbs free energies show that the TS for insertion of ethylene into the Zr-CH3+ bond is the highest point on the computed reaction coordinates. This study, in concert with previous work, suggests that the type of ring attached to Zr (Cp vs. Ind) affects the reaction kinetics and thermodynamics less significantly than the type of substituents attached to the Cp and indenyl rings, and that substituent effects are even greater than those arising from changing the metal (Zr vs. Hf)

Becke's three-parameter hybrid density functional method in conjunction with Lee-Yang-Parr's correlation functional (B3LYP) was used to investigate the pyrolysis mechanisms of indole yielding benzyl cyanide and o- and m- tolunitriles. All equilibrium and transition state structures of the proposed reaction channels were fully optimized by B3LYP using the 6-31G** basis set. Single point energies were evaluated by B3LYP with the 6-311 + + G(2d,2p) basis set. Two hydrogen migration tautomers of indole, seemingly playing no important roles in the pyrolysis due to destruction of aromaticity of the benzene ring, were predicted to be easily accessible under the experimental conditions and may be important intermediates in the reactions. Two other transition states suggested to play important roles in the experimental study were not found and may not exist. Instead stepwise processes via hydrogen migration tautomers arriving at the same products are shown likely to be responsible for the observed products. IR spectral features of three hydrogen-migration tautomers are predicted to help future experimental identification.

Density functional theory (DFT) calculations (using Becke's exchange in conjunction with Lee-Yang-Parr's correlation functional (BLYP) and Becke's three-parameter hybrid DFT/HF method using Lee-Yang-Parr's correlation functional (B3LYP)) have been carried out to investigate the structure, dipole moment, and vibrational spectrum of azulene. Structural parameters obtained by both BLYP/6-31G* and B3LYP/6-31G* geometry optimization are in good agreement with available experimental data and show clearly the aromatic nature (bond equalization), a property the Hartree-Fock theory fails to describe correctly. The BLYP/6-31G* and B3LYP/6-31G* dipole moments are within experimental uncertainty and are in good agreement with results obtained from the much more expensive MP2 and MR-SDCI calculations. Most of the BLYP/6-31G* vibrational frequencies are in excellent agreement with available experimental assignments. On the basis of the calculated results, assignments of some missing frequencies in the experimental studies are proposed.

Ab initio Hartree-Fock and density functional theory calculations were carried out to investigate the structure and vibrational spectrum of 1,3-dithiole-2-thione. All the calculations predicted a planar structure with C2v symmetry. Harmonic force field and vibrational mode calculations provided convincing theoretical evidence for reassignments of some fundamental vibrational modes. The reassignments are in line with the observed polarization data of Dyer et al. This study shows that the density functional theory is a powerful tool for understanding the vibrational spectra of organic molecules.

Ab initio and density functional theory calculations confirm Craig's assignment of the fundamental vibrational modes of tetrafluorooxirane with the exception that assignments of the C-F stretching modes v9 (b1) and v13 (b2) should be exchanged. The calculated structural parameters are in good agreement with results of microwave studies except for the C-C bond length for which all the calculated results are slightly too long.