In the present thesis the electronic properties of two organic molecules were studied by means of density functional theory (DFT) in connection to their possible applications in organic photovoltaics and molecular spintronics respectively. The first analysed system is the C60 derivative PCBM extensively used in polymer solar cells for the charge separation process. Since fullerenes have been shown to undergo modifications as a result of light exposure, investigating their electronic structure is the first step in elucidating the photodegradation process. The electronic excitations from core levels to unoccupied molecular orbitals reveal not only the empty level structure of the molecule, but provide additional information related to the chemical bonds involving a specific atom type. In this way, they represent a means of determining the chemical changes that the molecule might withstand. The electronic transitions from carbon 1s core levels to unoccupied states are explained for the unmodified PCBM by a joint theoretical (DFT) and experimental study using the near edge x-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS) spectroscopy. The second investigated system is the transition metal phthalocyanine with a manganese atom as the metal center. Manganese phthalocyanine (MnPc) is a single molecular magnet in which the spin switch process can be triggered by various methods. It has been shown, for instance, that the adsorption of hydrogen to the Mn center changes the spin state of the molecule from 3/2 to 1. More interestingly, the process is reversible and can be controlled, opening up the possibility of using MnPc as a quantum bit in magnetic memory devices. Up to this date, the d orbital occupation in MnPc has been under a long debate, both theoretical and experimental studies revealing different configurations. In this thesis the electronic structure of the phthalocyanine is thoroughly analysed by means of DFT and the calculated results are compared to photoelectron spectroscopy measurements. The combination of theoretical and experimental tools reveals that in gas phase at high temepratures the molecule exhibits a mixed electronic configuration. In this light, the possible control of the specific electronic state of the central metal represents an interesting prospect for molecular spintronics.

This thesis focuses on the chemical concept of conjugation, i.e., electron delocalization, and the effect it has on electronic and optical properties of molecules. The emphasis is on electron delocalization across a saturated σ-bonded segment, and in our studies these segments are either inserted between π-conjugated moieties or joined together to form longer chains. The electronic and optical properties of these compounds are probed and compared to those of traditionally π-conjugated compounds. The investigations utilize a combination of qualitative chemical bonding theories, quantum chemical calculations, chemical syntheses and different spectroscopic methods. Herein, it is revealed that a saturated σ-bonded segment inserted between two π-systems can have optical and electronic properties similar to a cross-conjugated compound when substituents with heavy Group 14 elements (Si, Ge or Sn) are attached to the central atom. We coined the terminology cross-hyperconjugation for this interaction, and have shown it by both computational and spectroscopic means. This similarity is also found in cyclic compounds, for example in the 1,4-disilacyclohexa-2,5-dienes, as we reveal that there is a cyclic aspect of cross-hyperconjugation. Cross-hyperconjugation can further also be found in smaller rings such as siloles and cyclopentadienes, and we show on the similarities between these and their cross-π-conjugated analogues, the fulvenes. Here, this concept is combined with that of excited state aromaticity and the electronic properties of these systems are rationalized in terms of “aromatic chameleon” effects. We show that the optical properties of these systems can be rationally tuned and predicted through the choice of substituents and knowledge about the aromaticity rules in both ground and excited states. We computationally examine the relation between conjugation and conductance and reveal that oligomers of 1,4-disilacyclohexa-2,5-dienes and related analogues can display molecular cord properties. The conductance through several σ-conjugated silicon compounds were also examined and show that mixed silicon and carbon bicyclo[2.2.2]octane compounds do not provide significant benefits over the open-chain oligosilanes. However, cyclohexasilanes, a synthetic precursor to the bicyclic compounds, displayed conformer-dependent electronic structure variations that were not seen for cyclohexanes. This allowed for computational design of a mechanically activated conductance switch.

No description available.

There are significant differences between experiment and theoretical calculations of the electronic structure of GaSb/GaAs self-assembled quantum dots. Using a multi-band effective mass approximation it is shown that the influence of size and geometry of quantum dots has little or no effect in determining the hydrostatic strain. Furthermore, the valenceband ground state energies of the quantum dots studied are surprisingly consistent. This apparent paradox attributed to the influence of biaxial strain in shaping the heavy-hole and light-hole potentials. Consequently, it is shown that a simple, hydrostatically derived potential is insufficient to accurately describe the electronic structure of such quantum dots. In addition, using the latest experimental results measuring the conductionband offset, it has been shown that much better experimental contact may be achieved for the magnitude of the transition energies derived compared to theoretically derived transition energies. The transition energies of Si/Ge self-assembled quantum dots has also been calculated. In particular, a range of quantum dot structures have been proposed that are predicted to have an optical response in the 3-5 micron range.

Ferromagnetic shape memory alloys FSMAs have diverse application, especially in the aerospace and bio-medical industries. They are a class of active and smart materials exhibiting strains under the influence of an applied magnetic field. These magnetic properties are mainly attributed to the martensitic structural phase trans- formation these material experience in response to temperature variation. Co-Ni-Al based alloys are one of the most promising ferromagnetic shape memory alloy FSMA that has been put recently under extensive study by researchers. They have shown extensive and promising features specifically those related to self-actuation. The effect of valence electron concentration and magnetic properties of Co-Ni-Al based ferromagnetic shape memory alloys on the martensitic transformations were analyzed utilizing Ab-initio first principle calculations. The variations of martensite start temperatures (Ms) and magnetic properties of a number of stoichiometric and mnon-stoichiometric Co-Ni-Al ferromagnetic shape memory alloys (FSMA’s) with B2 austenite structure were studied and analyzed as a function of composition and lattice site ordering and site preference. A major conclusion of this thesis suggests that the magnetic valence number (Zm) should be considered in conjunction to the e/a ratio if the composition profile of the Ms is to be determined. Both Monte-Carlo and Ab-initio simulations were implemented to obtain the magnetic Heisenberg’s exchange coupling parameters (J m) and model the magnetic transformations in stoichiometric Co2NiAl FSMAs. Two different cubic structures, ordered and disordered were compared to their tetragonal distortions martensitic phases and their Curie temperature (TC ) were obtained from the Monte-Carlo magnetic susceptibility temperature profile.

An efficient numerical method for solving Schr&ouml / dinger&#039 / s and Poisson&#039 / s equations using a basis set of cubic B-splines is investigated. The method is applied to find both the wave functions and the corresponding eigenenergies of low-dimensional semiconductor structures. The computational efficiency of the method is explicitly shown by the multiresolution analysis, non-uniform grid construction and imposed boundary conditions by applying it to well-known single electron potentials. The method compares well with the results of analytical solutions and of the finite difference method.

The photosensitive molecule adsorption on titanium dioxide (TiO2) forms the so-called “dye sensitized TiO2” system, a typical organic/oxide heterojunction, which is of great interest in catalysis and energy applications, e.g. dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC). Traditionally, the transition metal complex dyes are the focus of the study. However, as the fast development of the organic semiconductors and invention of new pure organic dyes, it is necessary to expand the research horizon to cover these molecules and concrete the fundamental understanding of their basic properties, especially during sensitization.In this work, we focus on two different photosensitive molecules: phthalocyanines and triphenylamine-based dyes. Phthalocyanines are organic semiconductors with symmetric macro aromatic molecular structures. They possess good photoelectrical properties and good thermal and chemical stability, which make them widely used in the organic electronic industries. Triphenylamine-based dyes are new types of pure organic dyes which deliver high efficiency and reduce the cost of DSSC. They can be nominated as one of the strong candidates to substitute the ruthenium complex dyes in DSSC. The researches were carried out using classic surface science techniques on single crystal substrates and under ultrahigh vacuum condition. The photosensitive molecules were deposited by organic molecular beam deposition. The substrate reconstruction and ordering were checked by low energy electron diffraction. The molecular electronic, geometric structures and charge transfer properties were characterized by photoelectron spectroscopy, near edge X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy and resonant photoelectron spectroscopy (RPES). Scanning tunneling microscopy is used to directly image the molecular adsorption.For phthalocyanines, we select MgPc, ZnPc, FePc and TiOPc, which showed a general charge transfer from molecule to the substrate when adsorbed on rutile TiO2(110) surface with 1×1 and 1×2 reconstructions. This charge transfer can be prevented by modifying the TiO2 surface with pyridine derivatives (4-tert-butyl pyridine (4TBP), 2,2’-bipyridine and 4,4’-bipyridine), and furthermore the energy level alignment at the interface is modified by the surface dipole established by the pyridine molecules. Annealing also plays an important role to control the molecular structure and change the electronic structure together with the charge transfer properties, shown by TiOPc film. Special discussions were done for 4TBP for its ability to shift the substrate band bending by healing the oxygen vacancies, which makes it an important additive in the DSSC electrolyte. For the triphenylamine-based dye (TPAC), the systematic deposition enables the characterization of the coverage dependent changes of molecular electronic and geometric structures. The light polarization dependent charge transfer was revealed by RPES. Furthermore, the iodine doped TPAC on TiO2 were investigated to mimic the electrolyte/dye/TiO2 interface in the real DSSC.The whole work of this thesis aims to provide fundamental understanding of the interaction between photosensitive molecules on TiO2 surfaces at molecular level in the monolayer region, e.g. the formation of interfacial states and the coverage dependent atomic and electronic structures, etc. We explored the potential of the application of new dyes and modified of the existing system by identifying their advantage and disadvantage. The results may benefit the fields of dye syntheses, catalysis researches and designs of organic photovoltaic devices. / QC 20111114

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 1998. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [97]-102).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 1997. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 1997. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the Internet.