High-entropy alloys (HEAs) represent a special group of solid solutions containing five or more principal elements. The new design strategy has attracted extensive attention from the materials science community. The design and development of HEAs with desired properties have become an important subject in materials science and technology. For understanding the basic properties of HEAs, here we investigate the magnetic properties, Curie temperatures, electronic structures, phase stabilities, and elastic properties of paramagnetic (PM) body-centered cubic (bcc) and face-centered cubic (fcc) AlxCrMnFeCoNi (0 ≤ x ≤ 5, in molar fraction) HEAs using the first-principles exact muffin-tin orbitals (EMTO) method in combination with the coherent potential approximation (CPA) for dealing with the chemical and magnetic disorder. Whenever possible, we compare the theoretical predictions to the available experimental data in order to verify our methodology. In addition, we make use of the previous theoretical investigations carried out on AlxCrFeCoNi HEAs to reveal and understand the role of Mn in the present HEAs. The theoretical lattice constants are found to increase with increasing x, which is in good agreement with the available experimental data. The magnetic transition temperature for the bcc structure strongly decreases with x, whereas that for the fcc structure shows a weak composition dependence. Within their own stability fields, both structures are predicted to be PM at ambient conditions. Upon Al addition, the crystal structure changes from fcc to bcc with a broad two-phase field region, in line with the observations. Bain path calculations suggest that within the duplex region both phases are dynamically stable. Comparison with available experimental data demonstrates that the employed approach describes accurately the elastic moduli of the present HEAs. The elastic parameters exhibit complex composition dependences, although the predicted lattice constants increase monotonously with Al addition. The elastic anisotropy is unusually high for both phases. The brittle/ductile transitions formulated in terms of Cauchy pressure and Pugh ratio become consistent only when the strong elastic anisotropy is accounted for. The negative Cauchy pressure of CrMnFeCoNi is found to be due to the relatively low bulk modulus and C12 elastic constant, which in turn are consistent with the relatively low cohesive energy. Our findings in combination with the experimental data suggest anomalous metallic character for the present HEAs system. The work and results presented in this thesis give a good background to go further and study the plasticity of AlxCrMnFeCoNi type of HEAs as a function of chemistry and temperature. This is a very challenging task and only a very careful pre-study concerning the phase stability, magnetism and elasticity can provide enough information to turn my plan regarding ab initio description of the thermo-plastic deformation mechanisms in AlxCrMnFeCoNi HEAs into a successful research.

<p>Combination of the Calphad method and theoretical calculations provides new possibilities for the study of materials science. This work is a part of the efforts within the CCT project (Centre of Computational Thermodynamics) to combine these methods to facilitate modeling and to extend the thermodynamic databases with critically assessed volume data. In this work, the theoretical calculations refer to first-principles and Debye-Grüneisen calculations. The first-principles (i.e. ab initio) electronic structure calculations, based on the Density- Functional Theory (DFT), are capable of predicting various physical properties at 0 K, such as formation energy, volume and bulk modulus. The ab initio simulation software, VASP, was used to calculate the binding curves (i.e. equation of state at 0 K) of metallic elements, cubic carbides and nitrides. From the binding curves, the equilibrium volumes at 0 K were calculated for several metastable structures as well as stable structures. The vibrational contribution to the free energy was calculated using the Debye-Grüneisen model combined with first-principles calculations. Two different approximations for the Grüneisen parameter, γ, were used in the Debye-Grüneisen model, i.e. Slater’s and Dugdale-MacDonald’s expressions. The thermal electronic contribution was evaluated from the calculated electronic density of states. The calculated thermal expansivities for metallic elements, cubic carbides and nitrides were compared with Calphad assessments. It was found that the experimental data are within the limits of the calculations using the two approximations for γ. By fitting experimental heat capacity and thermal expansivity around Debye temperatures, we obtained optimal Poisson’s ratio values and used them to evaluate Young’s and Shear moduli. In order to reach a reasonable agreement with the experiments, it is necessary to use the logarithmic averaged mass of the constitutional atoms. The agreements between the calculations and experiments are generally better for bulk modulus and Young’s modulus than that for shear modulus. A new model describing thermodynamic properties at high pressures was implemented in Thermo-Calc. The model is based on an empirical relation between volume and isothermal bulk modulus. Pure Fe and solid MgO were assessed using this model. Solution phases will be considered in a future work to check the model for compositional dependence.</p>

<p>Methods for performing large-scale parallel Molecular Dynamics(MD) simulations are investigated. A perspective on the field of parallel MD simulations is given. Hardware and software aspects are characterized and the interplay between the two is briefly discussed. </p><p>A method for performing <i>ab initio </i>MD is described; the method essentially recomputes the interaction potential at each time-step. It has been tested on a system of liquid water by comparing results with other simulation methods and experimental results. Different strategies for parallelization are explored.</p><p>Furthermore, data-parallel methods for short-range and long-range interactions on massively parallel platforms are described and compared. </p><p>Next, a method for treating electrostatic interactions in MD simulations is developed. It combines the traditional Ewald summation technique with the nonuniform Fast Fourier transform---ENUF for short. The method scales as <i>N log N</i>, where <i>N </i>is the number of charges in the system. ENUF has a behavior very similar to Ewald summation and can be easily and efficiently implemented in existing simulation programs.</p><p>Finally, an outlook is given and some directions for further developments are suggested.</p>

This thesis is a theoretical study of configurational and magnetic interactions in multicomponent solids. These interactions are the projections onto the configurational and magnetic degrees of freedom of the underlying electronic quantum mechanical system, and can be used to model, explain and predict the properties of materials. For example, the interactions govern temperature induced configurational and magnetic order-disorder transitions in Heusler alloys and ternary nitrides. In particular three perspectives are studied. The first is how the interactions can be derived from first-principles calculations at relevant physical conditions. The second is their consequences, like the critical temperatures for disordering, obtained with e.g. Monte Carlo simulations. The third is their origin in terms of the underlying electronic structure of the materials. Intrinsic defects in the half-Heusler system NiMnSb are studied and it is found that low-energy defects do not destroy the important half-metallic property at low concentrations. Deliberate doping of NiMnSb with 3d-metals is considered and it is found that replacing some Ni with extra Mn or Cr creates new strong magnetic interactions which could be beneficial for applications at elevated temperature. A self-consistent scheme to include the effects of thermal expansion and one-electron excitations in the calculation of the magnetic critical temperature is introduced and applied to a study of Ni1−xCuxMnSb. A supercell implementation of the disordered local moments approach is suggested and benchmarked for the treatment of paramagnetic CrN as a disordered magnetic phase. It is found that the orthorhombic-to-cubic phase transition in this nitride can be understood as a first-order magnetic order-disorder transition. The ferromagnetism in Ti1−xCrxN solid solutions, an unusual property in nitrides, is explained in terms of a charge transfer induced change in the Cr-Cr magnetic interactions. Cubic Ti1−xAlxN solid solutions displays a complex and concentration dependent phase separation tendency. A unified cluster expansion method is presented that can be used to simulate the configurational thermodynamics of this system. It is shown that short range clustering do influence the free energy of mixing but only slightly change the isostructural phase diagram as compared to mean-field estimates.

Materials intended for disposal of spent nuclear fuel require a particular combination of physical and chemical properties. The driving forces and mechanisms underlying the material’s behavior must be scientifically understood in order to enable modeling at the relevant time- and length-scales. The processes that determine the mechanical behavior of copper canisters and iron inserts, as well as the evolution of their mechanical properties, are strongly dependent on the properties of various defects in the bulk copper and iron alloys. The first part of the present thesis deals with precipitation in the cast iron insert. A nodular cast iron insert will be used as the inner container of the spent nuclear fuel. Precipitation is investigated by computing effective interaction energies for point defect pairs (solute–solute and vacancy–solute) in bcc iron using first-principles calculations. The main considered impurities in the iron matrix include 3sp (Si, P, S) and 3d (Cr, Mn, Ni, Cu) solute elements. By computing interaction energies possibility of formation of different second phase particles such as late blooming phases (LBPs) in the cast iron insert is evaluated. The second part is devoted to the fundamentals of dislocations and their role in plastic deformation of metals. Deformation of single-crystal copper under high strain rates is simulated by employing dislocation dynamics (DD) method to examine the effect of strain rate on mechanical properties as well as dislocation microstructure development. Creep deformation of copper canister at low temperatures is studied. The copper canister will be used in the long-term storage of spent nuclear fuel as the outer shell of the waste package to provide corrosion protection. A glide rate is derived based on the assumption that at low temperatures it is controlled by the climb rate of jogs on the dislocations. Using DD simulation creep deformation of copper at low temperatures is modeled by taking glide but not climb into account. Moreover, effective stresses acting on dislocations are computed using the data extracted from DD simulations. / <p>QC 20170428</p>

Les nanostructures, et en particulier les nanofils semi-conducteurs, ont suscité ces dernières années un très grand intérêt pour de nombreuses applications comme les systèmes de récupération d'énergie ou les capteurs de très haute précision. Dans de telles structures des expérimentations et des calculs théoriques ab-initio ont mis en évidence des effets de taille, pouvant modifier significativement les propriétés électromécaniques pour des diamètres de fils en dessous de 10 nm. L'objectif de ce travail de thèse est de proposer des modélisations multi échelle des nanostructures électromécaniques, telles que les nanofils ioniques et des nanocomposites stratifiés, permettant de reproduire les effets de taille associés à l'échelle nanométrique dans un cadre continu, en se basant sur des calculs ab-initio pour identifier et valider les modèles. Dans une première partie, les effets de surface dans des nanofils piézoélectriques isolés homogènes sont modélisés. Une approche multi échelle est développée, incluant une modélisation continue des nanofils en prenant en compte une énergie de surface supplémentaire dans un cadre piézoélectrique, dont les paramètres associés sont identifiés par calculs ab-initio. Pour cela, une procédure basée sur un modèle de films minces est développée, permettant au travers de calculs ab-initio sur des films d'épaisseurs successives d'isoler l'énergie volumique et de surface, et d'en déduire les coefficients élastiques et piézoélectriques de surface. Les équations du modèle continu sont ensuite résolues par une méthode d'éléments finis incluant des éléments de surface adaptés. Le modèle multi échelle continu est comparé à des calculs ab-initio impliquant des modèles atomistiques complets de nanofils de différents diamètres (de 0,6 à 3,9 nm) pour valider les effets de taille des propriétés électromécaniques. Dans une deuxième partie, des modèles multi échelles sont construits en vue de modéliser les effets de taille pour des nanostructures hétérogènes. Ces structures incluent des nanofils revêtus, ou des nanocomposites stratifiés. Pour les nanofils avec hétérogénéités radiales, l'approche précédemment développée est étendue au cas des surfaces revêtues, et le modèle continu fait intervenir une énergie de surface incluant les effets du revêtement. Pour les nanocomposites stratifiés AlN/GaN, les effets de taille observés par calculs ab-initio sont dus à des effets d'interface et induisent des propriétés élastiques dépendantes des épaisseurs des couches. Un modèle de matériau homogénéisé continu est proposé, incluant un modèle d'interface imparfaite, permettant d'inclure les effets de taille, identifié par calculs ab-initio. Dans une dernière partie, des applications à des systèmes de nanogénérateurs à base de nanofils sont proposées, faisant intervenir des ensembles de nanofils alignés dans une matrice polymère et surmontés par une feuille de graphène. Les approches précédemment développées sont utilisées pour modéliser ces structures par éléments finis / Nanostructures, and more specifically semiconductor nanowires, have drawn special attention in recent years for many applications such as energy harvesting systems or sensors of very high precision. Many recent experiments and theoretical ab-initio calculations have evidenced size effects, which can significantly modify the electromechanical properties of nanowires for diameters below 10 nm. The objective of this thesis is to provide multi-scale modeling of electromechanical properties of nanostructures, such as ionic nanowires and laminated nanocomposites, to reproduce the size effects associated with nanoscale in a continuum model, based on ab-initio calculations to identify and validate the models. In a first part, the surface effects in isolated homogeneous piezoelectric nanowires are modeled. A multi-scale approach is developed, including continuous nanowires modeling taking into account an additional surface energy in the piezoelectric laminates where the associated parameters are identified by ab-initio calculations. For this, a procedure based on slabs is developed, allowing through first-principles calculations on successive slabs thicknesses to isolate the surface energy and to deduce the surface elastic and piezoelectric coefficients. The equations of the continuous model are then solved by a finite element method including appropriate surface elements. The continuous multi-scale model is compared with ab-initio calculations involving full atomistic models of nanowires with different diameters (from 0.6 to 3.9 nm) to validate model regarding size effects of electromechanical properties. In the second part, multi-scale models are constructed to describe the size effects for heterogeneous nanostructures. These structures include coated nanowires or laminated nanocomposites. For nanowires with radial heterogeneity, the previously developed approach is extended to the case of coated surfaces, and involves a continuous surface energy incorporating the effects of the coating. For laminated AlN/GaN nanocomposites, size effects observed by ab-initio calculations are caused by the presence of the interfaces and induce size-dependent elastic properties with respect to the layer thickness. A continuum model based on an imperfect interface is proposed to describe the size dependent effective elastic properties of the overall composite, which are identified by ab-initio calculations. In the last part, nanogenerators system based on nanowires are modeled, involving nanowires arrays aligned in polymer substrates with graphene electrode. The previously developed finite element models are used to simulate the electromechanical properties of such systems

Les monofeuillets de dichalcogénures de métaux de transition (TMDC) tels que MoS2 ou WSe2 sont des semiconducteurs bidimensionnels à gap direct, dont les allées K et K' sont inéquivalentes dans la première zone de Brillouin : la levée de dégénérescence induite par le couplage spin-orbite entre les bandes de spin up et dawn est inversée entre les vallées K et K'. Des contacts métalliques magnétiques devraient permettre une injection de spin efficace depuis une électrode magnétique vers un TMDC. Les indices de vallée (Kou K') et de spin (up ou dawn) étant fortement couplés, cela permettrait de sélectionner électriquement l'une ou l'autre des vallées et de réaliser des dispositifs à base de TMDC pour la spintronique (exploitant le spin des électrons) ou pour la valléetronique (exploitant l'indice de vallée des électrons). Dans cette thèse, nous explorons les propriétés physiques des interfaces Co(OOOl)/MoS2 et Ni(lll)/WSe2 par des méthodes de calcul ab-initia basées sur la théorie de la fonctionnelle de la densité. Nous démontrons la nature covalente des liaisons à l'interface entre les monofeuillets de TMDC et les surfaces magnétiques Co(OOOl) et Ni(lll). Nous décrivons la structure atomique de ces interfaces, ainsi que la modification des moments magnétiques induite par des transferts de charge électrique entre atomes. Les liaisons covalentes aux interfaces confèrent aux monofeuillets de MoS2 et de WSe2 un caractère métallique. Nos calculs donnent finalement accès à la polarisation en spin au niveau de Fermi du TMDC connecté à ces électrodes magnétiques, ainsi qu'à la hauteur de la barrière Schottky (différence entre le niveau de Fermi dans la phase métallique du TMDC situé sous le contact magnétique et le bas de la bande de conduction du TMDC pur dans le canal). / Transition metal dichalcogenide (TMDC) single layers like MoS2 or WSe2 are direct band gap two-dimensional semiconductors, with non-equivalent K and K' valleys in the first Brillouin zone. The degeneracy liftingbetween spin-up and spin-down energy bands induced by spin-orbit coupling is inverted between the K and K' valleys . Magnetic metallic contacts should allow spin-injection from a magnetic electrode to a TMDC single layer. The valley (K or K') and spin (up or down) indexes being strongly coupled, this should also allow to electrically select one of the valleys in TMDC-based spintronic or valleytronic deviees. In this Thesis, we have studied the physical properties of the Co(OOOl)/MoS2 and Ni(lll)/WSe2 interfaces with first-principles methods based on the density functional theory. We demonstrated that the TMDC single layers are covalently bound to the Co(OOOl) and Ni(lll) surfaces. We describe the atomic structure of these interfaces and the modification of the magnetic moments induced by charge transfer between interface atomes. The MoS2 and WSe2 single layers become metallic when they are covalently bound to the magnetic metals. We also calculated the spin-polarization at the Fermi level of the TMDC layers connected to th Co and Ni electrodes and the Schottky barrier height (difference between the Fermi level in the metallic phase of the TMDC below the magnetic contact and the bottom of the conduction band in a pure TMDC channel).

Ces dernières années, les oxydes de métaux de transition ont suscité de grands intérêts du point de vue fondamental et technologique. A cet égard, nous nous concentrons sur deux types d'oxydes : le première, le Perovskite double Pb2FeMoO6, avec un potentiel d'application sur des appareils magnétorésistances et spintroniques ; le deuxième, la zircone ZrO2 avec de excellentes propriétés mécaniques et diélectriques pour être utilisée dans les domaines de matériaux structuraux et fonctionnels. Dans la présente étude, nous utilisons la méthode ab-initio (first-principles calculation) pour étudier les détails des orbites décomposés des structures électroniques et des propriétés magnétiques du Pb2FeMoO6 massif de structure parfaite, massif avec des défauts et en structure de plaque. En même temps, les détails des orbites décomposés des structures électroniques, les propriétés mécaniques, dynamiques et diélectriques de six phases de la ZrO2 (cubique, tétragonale, monoclinique, orthorhombique I (Pbca), orthorhombique II (Pnma) et (Pca21)) ont également été étudiés. D'abord nous allons faire les calculs ab-initio sur les propriétés structurales, électroniques et magnétiques de double pérovskite Pb2FeMoO6 massif avec structure parfaite, massif avec défauts et en structure de plaque. La densité des états orbitaux décomposés montre le champ cristallin octaédrique des six atomes d'oxygène autour de métal de transition (des Fe ou des Mo) et divise les cinq états dégénérés des atomes libres de Fe ou Mo dans un états triplement dégénéré t2g (dxy, dyz et dzx) avec une énergie plus faible et dans un états doublement dégénéré eg (dz2 et dx2-y2) avec une énergie plus élevée. La nature semi-métalliques et les propriétés de transport complètes (100%) de spin de polarisation de Pb2FeMoO6 massif et en structures de plaque reflètent un grand potentiel d’application dans les dispositifs magnéto-résistifs et spintroniques. Le caractère semi-métallique est maintenu pour le composé Pb2FeMoO6 désordonné contenant d’antisites Fe(Mo), de lacunes de VFe, VO ou VPb, alors qu'il disparaît quand les antisites Mo(Fe), les échanges entre Fe-Mo ou les lacunes de VMo sont présents même la concentration de défauts est réduite jusqu'à C = 6,25%. Ainsi, les antisites Mo(Fe), les échanges entre Fe-Mo ou les lacunes de VMo doivent être évités afin de préserver le caractère semi-métallique du composé Pb2FeMoO6 et donc être utilisables dans des dispositifs magnéto-résistifs et spintroniques.Ensuite, basé sur la rigidité élastique constantes individuelle calculée Cij de six phases de ZrO2, les propriétés élastiques et mécaniques des agrégats polycristallins ont été prédits. Nous avons donc examiné le caractère isolant de la phase cubique/tétragonale de ZrO2 sous forme film avec différentes combinaisons et différentes épaisseurs possibles dans des plans avec des faibles indices de Miller [(001), (110) et (111)] (pour la phase cubique) et [(001), (100), (110), (101) et (111)] pour la phase tétragonale. Il se trouve que pour les différentes combinaisons et épaisseurs possibles dans ces trois / cinq plans avec faibles indices de Miller, seulement ZrO2-terminé sous forme d’un film orienté dans le plan (110)/(100) et O-terminé sous forme d’un film orienté (111)/(101) des phases cubique/tétragonale de ZrO2 maintiennent le caractère isolant même les épaisseurs d’empilement est réduit jusqu'à deux et trois couches atomiques. Puisque cubique et tétragonale ZrO2 ont grande anisotropie élastique, comme un exemple, le stress et l'énergie de déformation densité ont été calculées pour tous {hkl} -oriented grains d'un film ZrO2 cubique polycristallin. / Transition-metal oxides have attracted exceptional research interest in recent years from both fundamental and technological perspectives. In this respect, we focus on two types of oxides, first, the double perovskite, Pb2FeMoO6 for a potential magnetoresistive and spintronics device application, second, zirconia ZrO2 with great mechanical and dielectric properties can be widely used in both structural and functional material fields. In this thesis we use first-principles calculations (ab-initio) to study systematically the detailed orbital-decomposed electronic structures and magnetic properties of Pb2FeMoO6 in the perfected bulk, defected bulk and slab structures. The detailed orbital-decomposed electronic structures, the mechanical, dynamical and dielectric properties of the ZrO2 in six phases (cubic, tetragonal, monoclinic, orthoI (Pbca), orthoII (Pnma) and (Pca21)) have also been studied.Firstly, considering the comparable ionic radius of Pb2+ (1.49Å) with that of Sr2+ (1.44Å), we propose for the first time to substitute Sr2+ ion with Pb2+ ion in Sr2FeMoO6 and a detailed study has been performed on the Pb2FeMoO6 in the perfected bulk, defected bulk and slab structures. The half-metallic nature and a complete (100%) spin-polarized transport properties reflect the bulk and especially slab Pb2FeMoO6 a potential application in magnetoresistive and spintronics devices; The detailed orbital-decomposed density of states show the octahedral crystal-field of the six oxygen atoms around transition-metal Fe or Mo atoms splits the five-fold degenerate states of the free Fe or Mo atoms into triply degenerate t2g (dxy, dyz and dzx) states with lower energy and doubly degenerate eg (dz2 and dx2-y2) states with higher energy, which cannot be observed in previous partial density of states ( ); The Fe3+ and Mo5+ ions are in the (3d5, s=5/2) and (4d1, s=1/2) states with positive and negative magnetic moments respectively and thus antiferromagnetic coupling via oxygen between them; The half-metallic character is maintained for the disordered Pb2FeMoO6 compounds containing FeMo antisite, VFe, VO, or VPb vacancy, while it vanishes when MoFe antisite, Fe-Mo interchange or VMo vacancy are presented even the defect concentration reduce down to C=6.25%. So the MoFe antisite, Fe-Mo interchange or VMo vacancy defects have to be avoided in order to preserve the half-metallic character of the Pb2FeMoO6 compounds and thus usable in magnetoresistive and spintronics devices.Secondly, based on the calculated individual elastic stiffness constants Cij of six ZrO2 phases, the elastic and mechanical properties of the polycrystalline aggregates have been predicted. We further exam the insulating characters of the cubic/tetragonal ZrO2 slabs with various possible terminations and thicknesses within three [(001), (110) and (111)]/five [(001), (100), (110), (101) and (111)] lower index Miller planes. It is found for the first time that among various possible terminations and thicknesses within these three/five lower index Miller planes, only ZrO2-terminated slabs of the (110)/(100) Miller plane and O-terminated slabs of the (111)/(101) Miller plane of cubic/tetragonal ZrO2 maintain the insulating character and thus usable as a gate dielectric oxide in IC industry even the slab thicknesses reduce down to 2 and 3 atomic layers, respectively; Since cubic and tetragonal ZrO2 have larger elastic anisotropy, both stress and strain energy density have been calculated for all {hkl}-oriented grains of a cubic ZrO2 polycrystalline film as one example.

La transition de phase isostructurale du cérium a été et reste l'objet de nombreuses études pour tester les méthodes permettant de décrire les matériaux fortement corrélés.La Théorie du Champ Moyen Dynamique (DMFT) jointe à la Théorie de la fonctionnelle de la densité à permis de décrire de tels systèmes.Pourtant, le calcul des propriétés de l'état fondamental nécessite une très bonne précision de calcul à la fois de la part de la DFT et de la DMFT.Nous utilisons un résolveur Monte Carlo Quantique en Temps Continu (CT-QMC), rapide et capable de simuler les basses températures, combiné à une implantation ondes planes augmentées par projection de la DMFT pour calculer les énergies internes et libres -- et par conséquent l'entropie -- au cours de la transition de phase du cérium.D'importants calculs, utilisant cette implantation, nous ont permis de reconsidérer les propriétés de l'état fondamental et une grande partie de la thermodynamique de la transition de phase α<->γ du cérium à basses températures.En particulier, le bruit stochastique est suffisamment faible pour interpréter, sans ambiguïté, les courbes énergie en fonction du volume.Sur ces dernières, un double point d'inflexion est clairement visible pour l'énergie interne jusqu'à une température relativement basse.Les courbes d'énergie libre mettent, de plus, en évidence l'importance de l'entropie pour ce système.D'autre part, les spectres de photoemission tout au long de la transition de phase sont analysés.Le schéma DMFT est comparé avec des calculs DFT récents et des données expérimentales récentes.Enfin, nous mettons en avant les approximations utilisées et nous nous interrogeons sur leurs validité. / The isostructural phase transition of cerium has been and remains the aim of many studies in order to test methods developed to describe strongly correlated materials.The Dynamical Mean Field Theory (DMFT) combined with density functional theory (DFT) has been successful to describe such systems.However, the computation of the ground state properties requires a very good accuracy from both DFT and DMFT sides.We use thus a strong coupling Continuous Time Quantum Monte Carlo (CT-QMC) solver, which is fast and able to reach low temperatures, in combination with a projector augmented wave (PAW) DMFT implementation to calculate internls and free energies -- and thus the entropy -- during the phase transition of cerium.Extensive calculations using this implementation allows us to carefully reassess the ground state properties and almost all thermodynamics of the α<->γ phase transition in cerium at low temperatures.In particular, stochastic noise is small enough to avoid any ambiguity on the interpretation of energy versus volume curves.On those curves, a double inflexion point is clearly observable ont the internal energy curves untill a relatively low temperature.Moreover, free energy curves highlight the importance of including the entropy contribution.The DMFT picture is put in perspective with recent DFT calculations and recent experimental investigations.Furthermore, photoemission spectra are analysed while the phase transition.Finaly, we discuss the approximations used and raise curiosity about their consideration.

<p>Theoretical investigations of spectroscopic and magnetic properties of metallic systems in the bulk, as well as in nanostructured materials, have been performed within the density functional theory. The major part of the present work studies the differences between binding energies of electrons tightly bound to the atoms, the so-called core electrons (in contrast with the valence electrons), that is, core-level binding energy shift (CLS). </p><p>By comparison between corresponding elemental core-levels for atoms situated in different chemical environments we obtain fundamental understanding of bonding properties of materials. The method of choice was the complete screening picture, which includes initial and final state effects on the same footing. The usefulness of CLS stems from that it is sensitive to differences in the chemical environment of an atom, which can be affected on one hand by the global composition of e.g. disordered materials, surfaces and interfaces, and on the other hand by the very local environment around an atom. Here CLSs have been obtained for both components in the fcc random alloys AgPd, CuPd, CuNi, CuPt, CuAu, PdAu, NiPd and NiPt. Moreover the model was extended to the Auger kinetic energy shift for the LMM Auger transition in AgPd alloys. Studies were also applied to the near surface and interface regions of PdMn nano structures on Pd(100), thin CuPd and AgPd films on inert Ru(0001), and at interfaces. The disorder broadening on CLS due to local environment effects was calculated in selected alloys.</p><p>A part of the thesis concern investigations related to the magnetic ordering in Invar alloys, including the influence of local environment effects. A study was made for the dependence of effective exchange parameter on the electron concentration, volume and local chemical composition.</p>