Metallic fuels have an important role to play in "fast breeder" Gen-IV type nuclear reactors, and U-Pu-Zr is one of the prototypical systems. Because of the variability in fuel chemistry during burn-up, it is important to understand the effect of minor actinides and fission products on phase stability. Within this framework, we present a study on phase equilibria in the binary Np-Zr alloy system on which little work has been published. To resolve the contradictory reports on the ordering/ clustering trends of the bcc phase, a thermodynamic study is performed using the CALPHAD method. The calculated Np-Zr phase diagram is consistent with two sets of data: formation enthalpies of the bcc phase that are calculated with ab initio KKR-ASA-CPA electronic-structure method and lattice stabilities of solution phases obtained from first-principles technique. Another important feature in the Np-Zr alloy system is the non-stoichiometric delta-NpZr2 phase that forms in a hexagonal C32 structure similar to the delta-phase in the U-Zr system and the w-phase in pure Zr. An increase in the homogeneity range of the delta-phase when going from Pu to Np and to U is attributed to a lowering of its heat of formation that is caused by an increase in d-band occupation. Two different possibilities for the stability of the delta- and w- phases have been proposed in the present work. Additionally, calculated changes in enthalpy versus temperature are plotted for two alloy compositions of the Np-Zr system to guide future experimental work in resolving important issues in this system. Finally, an ab initio study, implemented with the L(S)DA U formalism, is performed for pure Np that reveals a transition from a non-magnetic to a magnetic state at a critical U parameter.

Properties of nanocrystals are extremely sensitive to their sizes when their sizes are smaller or of the order of the excitonic diameter due to the quantum confinement effect. The interest in this field has been concentrated basically in understanding the size-property relations of nanocrystals, for example, the pronounced variation in the bandgap of the material or the fluorescence emission properties, by tuning the sizes of the nanocrystals. Thus, the optical and electronic properties of semiconductor nanocrystals can be tailor-made to suit the needs of the specific application and hence is of immense importance. One of the major aspects necessary for the actual realization of the various applications is the ability to synthesize nanocrystals of the required size with a controlled size distribution. The growing demand to obtain such nanocrystals with the required size and controlled size distribution is met largely by the solution route synthesis of nanocrystals, that constitutes an important class of synthesis methods due to their ease of implementation and the high degree of flexibility. The main difficulty of this method is that the dependence of the average size and the size distribution of the generated particles on parameters of the reaction are not understood in detail and therefore, the optimal reaction conditions are arrived at essentially in an empirical and intuitive manner. From a fundamental point of view, understanding the growth kinetics of various nanocrystals can provide a deeper insight into the phenomena. The study of growth kinetics can be experimentally achieved by measuring the time evolution of diameter using several in-situ techniques like UV-absorption and small angle X-ray scattering. Having understood the mechanism of growth of nanocrystals, it is possible to obtain the required size of the nanocrystal using optimized synthesis conditions. The properties of these high quality nanocrystals can be further tuned by doping with a small percentage of magnetic ions. The optical and magnetic properties of these nanocrystals play an important role in the various technological applications. The first part of the thesis concentrates on the theoretical methods to study the electronic structure of semiconductor nanocrystals. The second part describes the studies performed on growth of various nanocrystal systems, both in the presence and absence of capping agents. The third part of the thesis describes the studies carried out on ZnO and doped ZnO nanocrystals, synthesized using optimal conditions that were obtained in the earlier part of the thesis. The thesis is divided into five chapters which are described below. Chapter 1 provides a brief overall perspective of various interesting properties of semiconductor nanocrystals, including various concepts relevant for the study of such systems. Chapter 2 describes experimental and theoretical methods used for the study of nanocrystals reported in this thesis. In Chapter 3 of this thesis, we report results of theoretical studies carried out on III-V and II-VI semiconductors using the tight-binding (TB) methodology. Chapter 4 presents the investigations on the growth kinetics of several nanocrystal systems. Chapter 5 presents experimental investigations carried out on undoped and various transition metal (TM) doped ZnO nanocrystals. In summary, we have performed electronic structure calculations on various nanocrystal systems, devised a novel method to obtain the size distribution from UV-absorption spectrum and studied the mechanism of growth in the presence and absence of capping agents in various II-VI semiconductors. Using the optimal conditions obtained from the growth studies, we prepare high quality ZnO nanocrystals of required size, both in free-standing and capped states and doped it with small percentages of various transition metals like Mn, Cu and Fe. We have then studied their optical and magnetic properties.

Im Rahmen der vorliegenden Arbeit werden ab initio Berechnungen des Restwiderstandes von metallischen Nanostrukturen vorgestellt. Die elektronische Struktur der idealen Systeme wird mit Hilfe einer Screened KKR Greenschen Funktionsmethode im Rahmen der Vielfachstreutheorie auf der Grundlage der Dichtefunktionaltheorie berechnet. Die Potentiale von Punktdefekten werden selbstkonsistent mit Hilfe einer Dyson-Gleichung für die Greensche Funktion des gestörten Systems berechnet. Unter Nutzung der ab initio Ubergangswahrscheinlichkeiten wird der Restwiderstand durch Lösung der quasi-klassischen Boltzmann-Gleichung bestimmt. Ergebnisse für ultradünne Cu-Filme und die Leitfähigkeitsanomalie während des Wachstums von Co/Cu-Vielfachschichten werden vorgestellt. Der Einfluss von Oberflächen, geordneten und ungeordneten Grenzflächenlegierungen und von Defekten an verschiedenen Positionen in der Vielfachschicht auf den Effekt des Giant Magnetoresistance wird untersucht. Die selbstkonsistente Berechnung der Streueigenschaften und die verbesserte Lösung der Boltzmann-Transportgleichung unter Einbeziehung der Vertex-Korrekturen stellen ein leistungsfähiges Werkzeug zur umfassenden theoretischen Beschreibung dar. Sie verhelfen zu nützlichen Einsichten in die mikroskopischen Prozesse, die die Transporteigenschaften von nanostrukturierten Materialen bestimmen. / A powerful formalism for the calculation of the residual resistivity of metallic nanostructured materials without adjustable parameters is presented. The electronic structure of the unperturbed system is calculated using a screended KKR multiple scattering Green's function formalism in the framework of density functional theory. The scattering potential of point defects is calculated self-consistently by solving a Dyson equation for the Green's function of the perturbed system. Using the ab initio scattering probabilities the residual resistivity was calculated solving the quasiclassical Boltzmann equation. Examples are given for the resistivity of ultrathin Cu films and the conductance anomaly during the growth of a Co/Cu multilayer. Furthermore, the influence of surfaces, ordered and disordered interface alloys and defects at different positions in the multilayer on the effect of Giant Magnetoresistance is investigated. The self-consistent calculation of the scattering properties and the improved treatment of the Boltzmann transport equation including vertex corrections provide a powerful tool for a comprehensive theoretical description and a helpful insight into the microscopic processes determining the transport properties of magnetic nanostructured materials.

No description available.

Density functional theory (DFT) is not only an accurate but also a widely used theory for describing the quantum-mechanical electronic structure of matter. In this approach, the intractable problem of interacting electrons is simplified to a tractable problem of non-interacting electrons moving in an effective potential. Even with this simplification, DFT remains extremely computationally expensive. In particular, DFT scales cubically with respect to the number of atoms, which restricts the size of systems that can be studied. Orbital free density functional theory (OF-DFT) represents a simplification of DFT applicable to metallic systems that behave like a free-electron gas. Current implementations of OF-DFT employ the plane-wave basis, the global nature of the basis prevents the efficient use of modern high-performance computer archi- tectures. We present a real-space formulation and higher-order finite-difference implementation of periodic Orbital-free Density Functional Theory (OF-DFT). Specifically, utilizing a local reformulation of the electrostatic and kernel terms, we develop a gener- alized framework suitable for performing OF-DFT simulations with different variants of the electronic kinetic energy. In particular, we develop a self-consistent field (SCF) type fixed-point method for calculations involving linear-response kinetic energy functionals. In doing so, we make the calculation of the electronic ground-state and forces on the nuclei amenable to computations that altogether scale linearly with the number of atoms. We develop a parallel implementation of our method using Portable, Extensible Toolkit for scientific computations (PETSc) suite of data structures and routines. The communication between processors is handled via the Message Passing Interface(MPI). We implement this formulation using the finite-difference discretization, us- ing which we demonstrate that higher-order finite-differences can achieve relatively large convergence rates with respect to mesh-size in both the energies and forces. Additionally, we establish that the fixed-point iteration converges rapidly, and that it can be further accelerated using extrapolation techniques like Anderson mixing. We verify the accuracy of our results by comparing the energies and forces with plane-wave methods for selected examples, one of which is the vacancy formation energy in Aluminum. Overall, we demonstrate that the proposed formulation and implementation is an attractive choice for performing OF-DFT calculations.

The investigation and control of molecular properties is currently a dynamic research field. Here I present molecular level studies of porphyrin molecules adsorbed on metal surfaces via Low Temperature Scanning Tunneling Microscopy/Spectroscopy (STM/STS), supported by complementary X-ray absorption experiments. Intermolecular and molecule-surface interactions of tetrapyrdil porphyrin (TPyP) on Ag(111) and Cu(111) were investigated. TPyP self-assembles on Ag(111) over a wide sample temperature range into large, highly-ordered 2D chiral domains. By contrast, adsorption of TPyP on the more reactive Cu(111) leads to temperature dependent assemblies, governed decisively by the strong substrate influence. The increased metal-surface interactions on Cu(111) are accompanied by a conformational distortion of the porphyrin macrocycle. The TPyP’s pyridil groups were coordinated with single iron molecules, forming metal-organic complexes. Furthermore, the porphyrin’s macrocycle was metalated by exposing a layer of well-ordered TPyP to an iron atom beam, demonstrating a novel approach towards the fabrication of metallo-tetraaryl porphyrins performed in two dimensions under ultrahigh vacuum conditions. This method was similarly used to form lanthanideporphyrinates by coordinating tetraphenyl porphyrin (TPP) macrocycles with cerium. The influence of the metal center on the porphyrins’ electronic structure was investigated via STS for TPP, TPyP,Fe−TPyP, Fe−TPP, Ce−TPP, and Co−TPP, whereby the inhomogenous electron density distribution associated with individual frontier orbitals were imaged via dI/dV mapping. The symmetry and form of the molecular orbitals could be directly correlated to the saddle-shaped conformational adaptation for the case of Co −TPP.

In the dissertation AVBVICVII type compounds are analyzed theoretically and experimentally. Theoretical studies were carried out using Density Functional Theory (DFT), along with the Full Potential Linearized Augmented Plane Wave (FP-LAPW) method and the Generalized Gradient Approximation (GGA). For calculations Wien2k and PHONON comp. packages were used. Experimental studies were performed using spectroscopic ellipsometry method and measuring permittivity (electrical capacitance) as a function of temperature. The study discusses AVBVICVII type compounds’ inter-atomic chemical bonding, the electronic structure, optical properties, lattice dynamics, vibrational thermodynamic functions and dielectric properties in the paraelectric, ferroelectric and antiferroelectric phases. / Disertacijoje teoriškai ir eksperimentiškai nagrinėjami AVBVICVII tipo junginiai. Teoriniai tyrimai atlikti naudojantis tankio funkcionalo teorija kartu su pilno potencialo tiesinių padidintų plokščių bangų metodu ir apibendrinto gradiento aproksimacija. Skaičiavimams naudoti Wien2k ir PHONON komp. paketai. Eksperimentiniai tyrimai buvo atliekami naudojantis spektroskopinės elipsometrijos metodais bei matuojant dielektrinės skvarbos (elektrinės talpos) priklausomybes nuo temperatūros. Darbe nagrinėjamas AVBVICVII tipo junginių tarpatominis cheminis ryšys, elektroninė struktūra, optinės savybės, gardelės dinamika, virpesių termodinaminės funkcijos ir dielektriniai pokyčiai paraelektrinėje, feroelektrinėje ir antiferoelektrinėje fazėse.

Pagrindinis disertacijos tikslas – optinio ZnMgRE (RE = Y, Ho, Er) kvazikristalų atsako tyrimais atskleisti jų elektroninės posistemės ypatumus. Disertaciją sudaro eksperimentiniai rentgeno-difrakciniai (XRD) ir optiniai spektroskopiniai tyrimai, kvazikristalų elektroninės posistemės modelio konstravimas ir teorinis jų optinio atsako aprašymas. Atliktais eksperimentiniais XRD tyrimais buvo siekiama atskleisti kvazikristalų atvirkštinės gardelės vektorius, apibrėžiančius potencinį kvazikristalinį lauką, veikiantį į elektroninę posistemę. Optiniai spektroskopiniai tyrimai buvo atlikti kombinuotu spektroskopinės elipsometrijos ir atspindžio spektroskopijos metodu, paremtu darbe pasiūlyta inkaro lango duomenų analizės schema. Naudotas spektroskopinių tyrimų metodas įgalino atskleisti patikimus ZnMgRE optinio laidumo spektrus plačioje, 0.01 – 6 eV, spektrinėje srityje. Darbe išplėstas ZnMgRE elektronų posistemės modelis, kuris anksčiau buvo pasiūlytas kvazikristalų fotoemisinio atsako analizei. Nepriklausomų Fermi paviršiaus sankirtų su Bragg’ų plokštumomis schema formuluota išplėstiniame juostiniame atvaizdavime. Teorinė optinio laidumo skaičiavimų schema, anksčiau pasiūlyta kristalinių junginių optinio laidumo skaičiavimams, šiame darbe išplėsta įskaitant įvairias Fermi lygmens padėtis pseudotarpo atžvilgiu. Teoriniai ZnMgRE optinio laidumo skaičiavimai, atlikti darbe pasiūlyto elektroninės posistemės modelio rėmuose, detaliai atkartoja eksperimentinius optinio laidumo spektrus... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The main goal of the dissertation was to reveal the electronic structure of ZnMgRE (RE = Y, Ho, Er) quasicrystals by investigations of their optical response. The thesis comprises experimental X-ray diffraction (XRD) and optical spectroscopy studies of the quasicrystals, a construction of their electron subsystem model, and a theoretical description of their optical response. The XRD studies were carried out to determine the reciprocal quasicrystalline lattice vectors, which define the atomic potential field acting on an electron subsystem. The optical spectroscopy studies were carried out by the combined spectroscopic ellipsometry and reflectance spectroscopy technique, based on a suggested anchor-window method. High-accuracy ZnMgRE optical conductivity spectra were recorded in the wide, 0.01 – 6 eV, spectral range. The model of ZnMgRE electron energy spectrum, previously suggested for an interpretation of experimental ZnMgRE photoemission spectra, was developed. The nearly-free-electron gas model of independent intersections was formulated in the extended zone presentation. A scheme of the theoretical optical conductivity calculations was extended to account for various positions of the Fermi level with respect to a pseudogap. The experimental ZnMgRE optical conductivity spectra can be reproduced in detail by theoretical calculations performed within the framework of the suggested electron energy spectrum model. The set of the electron energy spectrum parameters determined... [to full text]

The main goal of the dissertation was to reveal the electronic structure of ZnMgRE (RE = Y, Ho, Er) quasicrystals by investigations of their optical response. The thesis comprises experimental X-ray diffraction (XRD) and optical spectroscopy studies of the quasicrystals, a construction of their electron subsystem model, and a theoretical description of their optical response. The XRD studies were carried out to determine the reciprocal quasicrystalline lattice vectors, which define the atomic potential field acting on an electron subsystem. The optical spectroscopy studies were carried out by the combined spectroscopic ellipsometry and reflectance spectroscopy technique, based on a suggested anchor-window method. High-accuracy ZnMgRE optical conductivity spectra were recorded in the wide, 0.01 – 6 eV, spectral range. The model of ZnMgRE electron energy spectrum, previously suggested for an interpretation of experimental ZnMgRE photoemission spectra, was developed. The nearly-free-electron gas model of independent intersections was formulated in the extended zone presentation. A scheme of the theoretical optical conductivity calculations was extended to account for various positions of the Fermi level with respect to a pseudogap. The experimental ZnMgRE optical conductivity spectra can be reproduced in detail by theoretical calculations performed within the framework of the suggested electron energy spectrum model. The set of the electron energy spectrum parameters determined... [to full text] / Pagrindinis disertacijos tikslas – optinio ZnMgRE (RE = Y, Ho, Er) kvazikristalų atsako tyrimais atskleisti jų elektroninės posistemės ypatumus. Disertaciją sudaro eksperimentiniai rentgeno-difrakciniai (XRD) ir optiniai spektroskopiniai tyrimai, kvazikristalų elektroninės posistemės modelio konstravimas ir teorinis jų optinio atsako aprašymas. Atliktais eksperimentiniais XRD tyrimais buvo siekiama atskleisti kvazikristalų atvirkštinės gardelės vektorius, apibrėžiančius potencinį kvazikristalinį lauką, veikiantį į elektroninę posistemę. Optiniai spektroskopiniai tyrimai buvo atlikti kombinuotu spektroskopinės elipsometrijos ir atspindžio spektroskopijos metodu, paremtu darbe pasiūlyta inkaro lango duomenų analizės schema. Naudotas spektroskopinių tyrimų metodas įgalino atskleisti patikimus ZnMgRE optinio laidumo spektrus plačioje, 0.01 – 6 eV, spektrinėje srityje. Darbe išplėstas ZnMgRE elektronų posistemės modelis, kuris anksčiau buvo pasiūlytas kvazikristalų fotoemisinio atsako analizei. Nepriklausomų Fermi paviršiaus sankirtų su Bragg’ų plokštumomis schema formuluota išplėstiniame juostiniame atvaizdavime. Teorinė optinio laidumo skaičiavimų schema, anksčiau pasiūlyta kristalinių junginių optinio laidumo skaičiavimams, šiame darbe išplėsta įskaitant įvairias Fermi lygmens padėtis pseudotarpo atžvilgiu. Teoriniai ZnMgRE optinio laidumo skaičiavimai, atlikti darbe pasiūlyto elektroninės posistemės modelio rėmuose, detaliai atkartoja eksperimentinius optinio laidumo spektrus... [toliau žr. visą tekstą]

This work presents a study of the electronic structure of four transition metal oxides (TMOs) using spectroscopic data and a variety of theoretical models. TMOs are a class of materials made from d-block metals in the periodic table, and one or more oxygen atoms. The nature of d-electrons is examined and theoretical models used to treat d-electron systems are tested against experimental data. Background theory of condensed matter physics is outlined. An overview of density functional theory (DFT) as a theoretical model for calculating the electronic structure of materials is presented. A variety of exchange-correlation (XC) functionals used within the DFT framework are outlined and tested for their applicability to the TMO systems in question. X-ray spectroscopy is briefly outlined and used to test the validity of the different XC functionals. All four compounds, AgO, Ag2O, CuO, and Cu2O require a Hubbard U term in the XC functional to most accurately reproduce experimental results. The effects of varying the value of U is examined in depth. The oxygen K-edge X-ray emission spectra (XES) exhibits a“two peak” structure for all compounds; the effect of varying the U value is to change the intensity ratio of the two peaks. The ratio of the two peaks as a function of U shows a linear trend in all compounds. A simple line is fit to the peak ratio vs. U curve. A common line between all compounds would provide an important metric with which to predict the appropriate U value needed in similar materials based on simple experimental data. However, the parameters of the fitted line were not common between the four compounds and any metric derived from this method would be system-dependent and not widely applicable to other systems. There are, however, interesting trends in the data when the U value is varied that provide subjects for future research. A number of fundamental quantities are determined both from experiment and theoretical calculations. Calculated bandgap values are shown to be lower than the experimental values for most functionals tested. This is not unexpected as DFT methods are known to predict much smaller bandgaps than expected. The Heyd-Scuseria-Ernzerhof (HSE) functional used for Ag2O and Cu2O does predict the bandgaps very accurately. The core-hole effect is estimated and proven to be negligible in these systems. Charge transfer and on-site Coulomb repulsion energies, important quantities in the electronic behaviour of TMOs, are determined and compared to previously reported values.