Coupled cluster (CC) and density functional theory (DFT) are highly regarded as robust quantum chemical methods for accurately predicting a wide variety of properties, such as molecular structures, thermochemical data, vibrational spectra, etc., but there has been little focus on the theoretical prediction of optical rotation. This property, also referred to as circular birefringence, is inherent to all chiral molecules and occurs because such samples exhibit different refractive indices for left- and right- circularly polarized light. This thesis focuses on the theoretical prediction of this chiroptic property using CC and DFT quantum chemical models. Several small chiral systems have been studied, including (S)-methyloxirane, (R)-epichlorohydrin, (R)-methylthiirane, and the conformationally flexible molecules, (R)-3-chloro-1-butene and (R)-2-chlorobutane. All predicted results have been compared to recently published gas-phase cavity ringdown polarimetry data. When applicable, well-converged Gibbs free energy differences among confomers were determined using complete-basis-set extrapolations of CC energies in order to obtain Boltzmann-averaged specific rotations. The overall results indicate that the theoretical rotation is highly dependent on the choice of optimized geometry and basis set (diffuse functions are shown to be extremely important), and that there is a large difference between the CC and DFT predicted values, with DFT usually predicting magnitudes that are larger than those of coupled cluster theory. / Ph. D.

The synthetic utility of nitrile-stabilized carbanions as reactive intermediates for selective carbon-carbon bond formation has prompted numerous studies toward characterization of the solution structure of these nucleophiles. In hopes of eventually gaining a better understanding of the structural properties which may mediate reactivity and selectivity, researchers have designed elegant structure elucidation strategies. These studies have offered key advancements toward the characterization of these intermediates; however, contradictory evidence has hindered unambiguous structural determination—particularly for lithiated benzylic nitriles in low dielectric, ethereal media. Chapter 1 of this dissertation presents a review of the synthetic utility of metalated nitriles and the spectroscopic and computational techniques employed to characterize their solution structure. Also reviewed herein are the controversial determinations drawn from these efforts. The research and data which follow in Chapters 2 and 3 focus on resolution of the conflicting structural determinations drawn from multinuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and vibrational (IR and Raman) spectroscopy. Employing a strategy to slow the lithium-nitrogen exchange rate in low dielectric media, new 7Li, 31P, and 15N NMR spectroscopic evidence (with support from computational modeling) lead us to amend our previous assessments and propose that lithiated arylacetonitriles adopt an aggregated triple-ion structure in THF/hexane with sub-stoichiometric HMPA. Due to the limitations of computer resources and the effect of non-linear scaling, theoretical modeling of aggregated and solvated lithiated benzylic nitriles became impractical at the 6-31+G(d) basis set. These limitations led to the use and comparative analysis of two alternative basis sets for the DFT analysis of lithiated benzylic nitrile derivatives' 6-31(+LiX)G(d) and 6-31â +â G(d). Defined upon the principal of resonance stabilization, these basis sets were constructed by application of varying levels of computational theory on a per-atom basis. By applying higher levels of theory only to the atoms most intimately involved in the electronic distribution, "accurate" replacement models for 6-31+G(d) structures were obtained with considerable savings in computational resources. This study in basis set economy is detailed fully within Chapters 4 and 5. / Ph. D.

We develop a theoretical framework for a priori estimation of catalytic activity of metal nanoparticles using geometry-based reactivity descriptors of surface atoms and kinetic analysis of reaction pathways at various types of active sites. We show that orbitalwise coordination numbers 𝐶𝑁^α (α = 𝑠 or 𝑑) can be used to predict chemical reactivity of a metal site (e.g., adsorption energies of critical reaction intermediates) by being aware of the neighboring chemical environment, outperforming their regular (𝐶𝑁) and generalized (𝐶̅𝑁̅) counterparts with little added computational cost. Here we include two examples to illustrate this method: CO oxidation on Au (5𝑑¹⁰6𝑠¹) and O₂ reduction on Pt (5𝑑⁹6𝑠¹). We also employ Bayesian learning and the Newns-Anderson model to advance the fundamental understanding of adsorbate-surface interactions on metal nanocatalysts, paving the path toward adsorbate-specific tuning of catalysis. / Doctor of Philosophy / The interactions between reaction intermediates and catalysts should be neither too strong nor too weak for catalytic optimization. This Sabatiers principle arising from the scaling relations among the energetics of reacting species at geometrically similar sites, provides the conceptual basis for designing improved catalysts, but imposes volcano-type limitations on the attainable catalytic activity and selectivity. One of the greatest challenges faced by the catalysis community today is how to develop design strategies and ultimately predictive models of catalytic systems that could circumvent energy scaling relations. This work brings the quantum-chemical modeling and machine learning technique together and develops a novel stochastic modeling approach to rationally design the catalysts with desired properties and bridges our knowledge gap between the empirical kinetics and atomistic mechanisms of catalytic reactions.

Yes / The adsorption of azobenzene (AB), ortho fluoro-azobenzene (FAB) and ortho chlor-azobenzol (ClAB), in both the cis and trans isomers, at the Au(111) and Ag(111) surfaces is investigated using plane-wave density functional calculations with the revPBE-vdW-DF functional. The resulting adsorption energies and internal structures of AB adsorbed to both metal surfaces are in broad agreement with available experimental data. In the gas phase, FAB and ClAB feature a significant reduction in the energy difference between the two isomeric states, compared with AB. This relative reduction in the energy difference is still significant for the adsorbed form of FAB but is only weakly apparent for ClAB. The absorption spectra of the molecules have also been calculated, with the halogen substituents generating significant changes in the gas phase, but only a modest difference for the adsorbed molecules.

Yes / The operation of many nanostructured biomolecular sensors and catalysts critically hinges on the manipulation of non-covalent adsorption of biomolecules on unfunctionalised noble-metal nanoparticles (NMNPs). Molecular-level structural details of the aqueous biomolecule/NMNP interface are pivotal to the successful realisation of these technologies, but such experimental data are currently scarce and challenging to obtain. Molecular simulations can generate these details, but are limited by the assumption of non-preferential adsorption to NMNP features. Here, via first principles calculations using a vdW-DF functional, and based on nanoscale sized NMNPs, we demonstrate that adsorption preferences to NP features vary with adsorbate chemistry. These results show a clear distinction between hydrocarbons, that prefer adsorption to facets over edges/vertices, over heteroatomic molecules that favour adsorption onto vertices over facets. Our data indicate the inability of widely used force-fields to correctly capture the adsorption of biomolecules onto NMNP surfaces under aqueous conditions. Our findings introduce a rational basis for the development of new force-fields that will reliably capture these phenomena.

Oxide dielectric breakdown is an old problem that has been studied over decades. It causes power dissipations and irreversible damage to the electronic devices. The aggressive downscaling of the device size exponentially increases the leakage current density, which also raises the risk of dielectric breakdown. It has been proposed that point defects, current leakages, impurity diffusions, etc. all contribute to the change of oxide chemical composition and ultimately lead to the dielectric breakdown. However, the conclusive cause and a clear understanding of the entire process of dielectric breakdown are still under debate. In this research, the electronic structure at metal/oxide interfaces is studied using first-principle calculations within the framework of Density Functional Theory (DFT) to investigate any possible key signature that would trigger the dielectric breakdown. A classical band alignment method, the Van de Walle method, is applied to the case study of the Al/crystal-SiO2 (Al/c-SiO2) interface. Point defects, such as oxygen vacancy (VO) and hydrogen impurity (IH), are introduced into the Al/c-SiO2 interface to study the effects on band offset and electronic structure caused by point defects at metal/oxide interfaces. It is shown that the bonding chemistry at metal/oxide interfaces, which is mainly ionic bond, polarizes the interface. It results in many interface effects such as the interface dipole, built-in voltage, band bending, etc. Charge density analysis also indicates that the interface can localize charge due to such ionic bonding. It is also found that VO at the interface traps metal electrons which closes the open -sp3 orbital. The analysis on local potential shows that the metal potential penetrates through a few layers of oxide starting from the interface, which metalizes the interfacial region and induces unoccupied states in the oxide band gap. In addition, it is shown that higher oxygen content at metal/oxide interfaces minimizes such metal potential invasion. In addition, an oxygen vacancy is created at multiple sites through the Al/c-SiO2 and Al/a-SiO2 interface systems, separately. The oxygen local pressure is also calculated before its removal using Quantum Stress Density theory. Correlations among electronic structure, stress density, and vacancy formation energy are found, which provide informative insights into the defect generation controlling and dielectric breakdown analysis. A new band alignment approach based on the projection of plane-waves (PWs) into the space-dependent atomic orbital (LCAO) basis is presented and tested against classical band offset methods -- the Van de Walle method. It is found that the new band alignment approach can provide a quantitative and reliable band alignment and can be applied to the heterojunctions consisting of amorphous materials. The new band alignment approach reveals the real-space dependency of the electronic structure at interfaces. In addition, it includes all interface effects, such as the interface dipole, built-in voltage, virtual oxide thinning, and band deformation, which cannot be derived using classical band offset methods. This new band alignment approach is applied to the case study of both the Al/amorphous-SiO2 (Al/a-SiO2) interface and the Al/c-SiO2. We have found that at extremely low dimensions, the reduction of the insulator character due to the virtual oxide thinning is a pure quantum effect. I highlight that the quantum tunneling current leakage is more critical than the decrease of the potential barrier height on the failure of the devices. / PHD / Metal/oxide interfaces have many applications in electronic devices such as Field Effect Transistors (FETs), resistive/dynamic Random-Access Memory (RAM) devices, Tunnel Junctions (TJs), Metal Oxide Semiconductor (MOS) devices, or Back-End-of-Line (BEOL) on integrate-circuits. The downscaling of devices dimension is still following the Moore’s Law. However, it brings several reliability challenges, such as the electric current leakage that is significant for ultrathin oxide films (< 5 nm). At low dimensionality, the stress induced leakage currents (SILC) caused by quantum effects exponentially increases. These electric conductions harm devices and constantly degrade insulating materials, until the degradation reaches a critical level called dielectric breakdown that ultimately leads to the electronic failure of the materials. The insulating/conducting transition is a complex and irreversible very well-known process. Experimentally, the observation of sudden electric current increase is a typical sign of the breakdown. Many experimental works in past decades suggest that point defects are very important to the initiation of dielectric breakdown, however they cannot be the only cause. Many other factors such as the electric voltage, material imperfection, mechanical stress, humidity, and temperature are also critical to the final breakdown. Therefore, a comprehensive and theoretical study is necessary to better understand the mechanisms behind the dielectric breakdown. It benefits the semiconductor industry for inventing new materials and exploring advanced techniques to prevent the occurrence of dielectric breakdown. In this dissertation, a set of theoretical case studies using the aluminum (Al) and silica (SiO₂) to explore correlations among different electronic, thermodynamic, and mechanical properties have been performed. This study reveals that all these material properties are intrinsically correlated and allow a clear understanding of the dielectric breakdown.

L'interaction entre la matière et le rayonnement est un domaine bien établi de la physique. Pour un physico-chimiste, cette interaction peut être utilisée comme une sonde (spectroscopie) ou pour provoquer des réactions chimiques (photo-chimie). Les mécanismes des réactions photochimiques sont difficiles à étudier expérimentalement et même les études les plus sophistiquées de spectroscopies femtosecondes peuvent bénéficier énormément des simulations théoriques.Les résultats spectroscopiques d'ailleurs ont souvent besoin des calculs théoriques pour l'analyse de leurs spectres. Les méthodes théoriques pour décrire les processus photochimiques ont été principalement développées en utilisant le concept de la fonction d'onde à N corps et ont eu des succès remarquables. Cependant de telles approches sont généralement limitées à des petites ou moyennes molécules. Heureusement la théorie de la fonctionnelle de la densité dépendant du temps (TD-DFT) a émergé comme une méthode simple de calcul pouvant être appliquée à des molécules plus grandes, avec une précision qui est souvent, mais pas toujours, semblable à la précision provenant des méthodes basés sur la fonction d'onde à N électrons. Une partie de cette thèse consiste à surmonter les difficultés des approximations utilisées de nos jours en TD-DFT. En particulier, nous avons examiné la qualité des intersections coniques quand l'approche du retournement de spin non collinéaire de Ziegler-Wang est utilisée et nous avons montré que l'approche du retournement de spin, parfois ,améliore dans des cas particuliers, mais que c'est n'est pas une solution générale pour mieux décrire les intersections coniques dans les simulations photochimiques basées sur la TD-DFT. La plupart des parties de cette thèse traite d'améliorations algorithmiques, soit pour améliorer l'analyse des résultats de la TD-DFT, soit pour étendre les calculs de TD-DFT à de grandes molécules. L'implémentation de l'analyse automatique des symétries des orbitales moléculaires dans deMon2k est une contribution pour améliorer l'analyse des résultats de la TD-DFT. Cela a aussi servi comme une introduction au projet de programmation majeur. La contribution méthodologique principale dans cette thèse est l'implémentation des équations de Casida dans le code BigDFT fondé sur le formalisme des ondelettes. Cette implémentation a aussi permis une analyse détaillée des arguments positifs et négatifs de l'utilisation de la TD-DFT fondée sur les ondelettes. On montre qu'il est plus facile d'obtenir des orbitales moléculaires précises qu'avec deMon2k. Par contre, la contribution des orbitales inoccupées est plus problématiques qu'avec un code de gaussienne comme deMon2k. Finalement, les équations de base des gradients analytiques des états excités sont dérivées pour la TD-DFT. La thèse se termine avec quelques perspectives de travaux futurs. / The interaction of light with matter is a well-established domain of physical science. For a chemical physicist, this interaction may be used as a probe (spectroscopy) or to induce chemical reactions (photo- chemistry.) Photochemical reaction mechanisms are difficult to study experimentally and even the most sophisticated modern femtosecond spectroscopic studies can benefit enormously from the light of theoret- ical simulations. Spectroscopic assignments often also require theoreti- cal calculations. Theoretical methods for describing photoprocesses have been developed based upon wave-function theory and show remarkable success when going to sophisticated higher-order approxi- mations. However such approaches are typically limited to small or at best medium-sized molecules. Fortunately time-dependent density- functional theory (TD-DFT) has emerged as a computationally-simpler method which can be applied to larger molecules with an accuracy which is often, but not always, similar to high-quality wave-function calculations. Part of this thesis concerns overcoming difficulties in- volving the approximate functionals used in present-day TD-DFT. In particular, we have examined the quality of conical intersections when the Ziegler-Wang noncollinear spin-flip approach is used and have shown that the spin-flip approach has merit as a particular solution in particular cases but is not a general solution to improving the de- scription of conical intersections in photochemical simulations based upon TD-DFT. Most of this thesis concerns algorithmic improvements aimed at either improving the analysis of TD-DFT results or extending practical TD-DFT calculations to larger molecules. The implementa- tion of automatic molecular orbital symmetry analysis in deMon2k is one contribution to improving the analysis of TD-DFT results. It also served as an introduction to a major programming project. The major methodological contribution in this thesis is the implementation of Casida's equations in the wavelet-based code BigDFT and the subse- quent analysis of the pros and cons of wavelet-based TD-DFT where it is shown that accurate molecular orbitals are more easily obtained in BigDFT than with deMon2k but that handling the contribution of unoccupied orbitals in wavelet-based TD-DFT is potentially more problematic than it is in a gaussian-based TD-DFT code such as de- Mon2k. Finally the basic equations for TD-DFT excited state gradients are derived. The thesis concludes with some perspectives about future work.

No description available.

Warm dense matter (WDM) is an extreme state of matter induced by extreme conditions and characterized as an intermediary state between (high-pressure) condensed matter and plasma. It has sparked a lot of attention in recent years as a result of current innovations in experiments and theoretical methods for modeling such complex systems. Such conditions naturally occur in astrophysical objects such as the interiors of the planets, and in white and brown dwarfs. WDM can be created in the laboratory via various methods such as laser compression, Z-pinches and heated diamond anvil cells. This thesis describes the results obtained for many such systems across a range of conditions modeled using ab-initio simulation methods. The first testbed concerns the electronic structure and linear response of the carbon phases under high-pressure and warm dense matter conditions. The focus is on modeling inelastic x-ray scattering spectra across a range of conditions useful for the analysis and interpretation of x-ray Thomson scattering (XRTS) experiments. Another major goal is to improve the existing models to compute static properties such as the equation of state, density of states with the inclusion of highly accurate data from quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) simulations relevant at finite-temperatures. This approach improves the accuracy and is also computationally inexpensive compared to path integral Monte Carlo (PIMC) methods. Lastly, improvements in linear response theory relevant for XRTS are incorporated with the inclusion of local field corrections (LFC) and finite-temperature local field corrections (T-LFC) using data from QMC simulations.

Cette thèse présente différentes approches quantiques pour l'exploration de processus dynamiques dans des systèmes multiélectroniques, en particulier après une forte excitation qui peut aboutir à des effets dissipatifs. Les théories de champ moyen sont un outil utile à cet égard. Malgré l'existence de nombreux travaux réalisés ces deux dernières décennies, ces théories peinent à reproduire complètement la corrélation à deux corps. La thermalisation est un des effets des collisions électron-électron. Après un chapitre introductif, on présentera dans le chapitre 2 le formalisme de plusieurs méthodes étudiées dans cette thèse, ayant pour but la description de ces effets en ajoutant un terme de collision au champ moyen. Ces méthodes sont appelées Stochastic Time-Dependent Hartree Fock (STDHF), Extended TDHF (ETDHF) et Collisional TDHF (CTDHF). Cette dernière méthode représente d'une certaine façon le résultat principal de cette thèse. L'implémentation numérique de chacune de ces méthodes sera aussi examinée en détail. Dans les chapitres 3, 4 et 5, nous appliquerons à différents systèmes les méthodes présentées dans le chapitre 2. Dans le chapitre 3, nous étudions d'abord un canal de réaction rare, ici la probabilité d'un électron de s'attacher à un petit agrégat d'eau. Un bon accord avec les données expérimentales a été observé. Dans le chapitre 4, un modèle fréquemment utilisé en physique nucléaire est résolu exactement et comparé quantitativement à STDHF. L'évolution temporelle des observables à un corps s'accorde entre les deux méthodes, plus particulièrement en ce qui concerne le comportement thermique. Néanmoins, pour permettre une bonne description de la dynamique, il est nécessaire d'avoir une grande statistique, ce qui peut être un frein à l'utilisation de STDHF sur de larges systèmes. Pour surpasser cette difficulté, dans le chapitre 5 nous testons CTDHF, qui a été introduit dans le chapitre 2, sur un modèle à une dimension (et sans émission électronique). Le modèle se compose d'électrons dans un potentiel de type jellium avec une interaction auto-cohérente sous la forme d'une fonctionnelle de la densité. L'avantage de ce modèle à une dimension est que les calculs STDHF sont possibles numériquement, ce qui permet une comparaison directe aux calculs CTDHF. Dans cette étude de validité du concept, CTDHF s'accorde remarquablement bien avec STDHF. Cela pose les jalons pour une description efficace de la dissipation dans des systèmes réalistes en trois dimensions par CTDHF. / This thesis presents various quantal approaches for the exploration of dynamical processes in multielectronic systems, especially after an intense excitation which can possibly lead to dissipative effects. Mean field theories constitute useful tools in that respect. Despite the existence of numerous works during the past two decades, they have strong difficulties to capture full 2-body correlations. Thermalization is one of these effects that stems from electron-electron collisions. After an introductory chapter, we present in Chapter 2 the formalism of the various schemes studied in this thesis toward the description of such an effect by including collisional terms on top of a mean field theory. These schemes are called Stochastic Time-Dependent Hartree Fock (STDHF), Extended TDHF (ETDHF) and Collisional TDHF (CTDHF). The latter scheme constitutes in some sense the main achievement of this thesis. The numerical realizations of each scheme are also discussed in detail. In Chapters 3, 4 and 5, we apply the approaches discussed in Chapter 2 but in various systems. In Chapter 3, we first explore a rare reaction channel, that is the probability of an electron to attach on small water clusters. Good agreement with experimental data is achieved. In Chapter 4, a model widely used in nuclear physics is exactly solved and quantitatively compared to STDHF. The time evolution of 1-body observables agrees well in both schemes, especially what concerns thermal behavior. However, to allow a good description of the dynamics, one is bound to use a large statistics, which can constitute a hindrance of the use of STDHF in larger systems. To overcome this problem, in Chapter 5, we go for a testing of CTDHF developed in Chapter 2 in a one-dimensional system (and without electronic emission). This system consists in electrons in a jellium potential with a simplified self-consistent interaction expressed as a functional of the density. The advantage of this 1D model is that STDHF calculations are numerically manageable and therefore allows a direct comparison with CTDHF calculations. In this proof of concept study, CTDHF compares remarkably well with STDHF. This thus paves the road toward an efficient description of dissipation in realistic 3D systems by CTDHF.