Lattice density-functional theory on graphene (original) (raw)

Density functional study of graphene antidot lattices: Roles of geometrical relaxation and spin

Physical Review B, 2009

Graphene sheets with regular perforations, dubbed as antidot lattices, have theoretically been predicted to have a number of interesting properties. Their recent experimental realization with lattice constants below 100 nanometers stresses the urgency of a thorough understanding of their electronic properties. In this work we perform calculations of the band structure for various hydrogenpassivated hole geometries using both spin-polarized density functional theory (DFT) and DFT based tight-binding (DFTB) and address the importance of relaxation of the structures using either method or a combination thereof. We find from DFT that all structures investigated have band gaps ranging from 0.2 eV to 1.5 eV. Band gap sizes and general trends are well captured by DFTB with band gaps agreeing within about 0.2 eV even for very small structures. A combination of the two methods is found to offer a good trade-off between computational cost and accuracy. Both methods predict non-degenerate midgap states for certain antidot hole symmetries. The inclusion of spin results in a spin-splitting of these states as well as magnetic moments obeying the Lieb theorem. The local spin texture of both magnetic and non-magnetic symmetries is addressed.

Competing order in the fermionic Hubbard model on the hexagonal graphene lattice

Proceedings of 34th annual International Symposium on Lattice Field Theory — PoS(LATTICE2016)

We study the phase diagram of the fermionic Hubbard model on the hexagonal lattice in the space of on-site and nearest neighbor couplings with Hybrid-Monte-Carlo simulations. With pure on-site repulsion this allows to determine the critical coupling strength for spin-density wave formation with the standard approach of introducing a small mass term, explicitly breaking the sublattice symmetry. The analogous mass term for charge-density wave formation above a critical nearest-neighbor repulsion, on the other hand, would introduce a fermion sign problem. The competition between the two and the phase diagram in the space of the two coouplings can however be studied in simulations without explicit sublattice symmetry breaking. Our results compare qualitatively well with the Hartree-Fock phase diagram. We furthermore demonstrate how spin-symmetry breaking by the Euclidean time discretization can be avoided also, when using an improved fermion action based on an exponetial transfer matrix with exact sublattice symmetry.

Electronic structure of triangular, hexagonal and round graphene flakes near the Fermi level

New Journal of Physics, 2008

The electronic shell structure of triangular, hexagonal and round graphene quantum dots (flakes) near the Fermi level has been studied using a tight-binding method. The results show that close to the Fermi level the shell structure of a triangular flake is that of free massless particles, and that triangles with an armchair edge show an additional sequence of levels ("ghost states"). These levels result from the graphene band structure and the plane wave solution of the wave equation, and they are absent for triangles with an zigzag edge. All zigzag triangles exhibit a prominent edge state at F , and few low-energy conduction electron states occur both in triangular and hexagonal flakes due to symmetry reasons. Armchair triangles can be used as building blocks for other types of flakes that support the ghost states. Edge roughness has only a small effect on the level structure of the triangular flakes, but the effect is considerably enhanced in the other types of flakes. In round flakes, the states near the Fermi level depend strongly on the flake radius, and they are always localized on the zigzag parts of the edge.

The ground state of quasi-circular graphene and graphene with vacancies

2010

Graphene clusters consisting of 24 to 150 carbon atoms and hydrogen termination at the zigzag boundary edges have been studied, as well as clusters disordered by vacancy(s). Density Function Theory and Gaussian03 software were used to calculate graphene relative stability, desorption energy, band gap, density of states, surface shape, dipole momentum and electrical polarization of all clusters by applying the hybrid exchange-correlation functional Beke-Lee-Yang-Parr. Furthermore, infrared frequencies were calculated for two of them. Different basis sets, 6-31g**, 6-31g* and 6-31g, depending on the sizes of clusters are considered to compromise the effect of this selection on the calculated results. We found that relative stability and the gap decreases according to the size increase of the graphene cluster. Mulliken charge variation increase with the size. For about 500 carbon atoms, a zero HOMO-LUMO gap amount is predicted. Vacancy generally reduces the stability and having vacancy affects the stability differently according to the location of vacancies. Surface geometry of each cluster depends on the number of vacancies and their locations. The energy gap changes as with the location of vacancies in each cluster. The dipole momentum is dependent on the location of vacancies with respect to one another. The carbon-carbon length changes according to each covalence band distance from the boundary and vacancies. Two basis sets,

Molecular theory of graphene

2013

Odd electrons of benzenoid units and correlation of these electrons having different spins are the main concepts of the molecular theory of graphene. In contrast to the theory of aromaticity, the molecular theory is based on the fact that odd electrons with different spins occupy different places in the space so that the configuration interaction becomes the central point of the theory. Consequently, a multi-determinant presentation of the wave function of the system of weakly interacting odd electrons is absolutely mandatory on the way of the theory realization at the computational level. However, the efficacy of the available CI computational techniques is quite restricted in regards large polyatomic systems, which does not allow performing extensive computational experiments. Facing the problem, computationists have addressed to standard single-determinant ones albeit not often being aware of how correct are the obtained results. The current chapter presents the molecular theory ...

Computational strategy for graphene: Insight from odd electrons correlation

International Journal of Quantum Chemistry, 2012

The correlation of odd electrons in graphene turns out to be significant so that the species should be attributed to correlated ones. This finding profoundly influences the computational strategy addressing it to multireference computational schemes. Owing to serious problems related to the schemes realization, a compromise can be suggested by using single-determinant approaches based on either Hartree-Fock or Density-Functional theory in the form of unrestricted open-shell presentation. Both computational schemes enable to fix the electron correlation, while only the Hartree-Fock theory suggests a set of quantities to be calculated that can quantitatively characterize the electron correlation and be used for a quantitative description of such graphene properties as magnetism, chemical reactivity, and mechanical response. The paper presents concepts and algorithms of the unrestricted Hartree-Fock theory applied for the consideration of magnetic properties of nanographenes, their chemical modification by the example of stepwise hydrogenation, as well as a possible governing the electron correlation by the carbon skeleton deformation.

The Ground State of Graphene and Graphene Disordered by Vacancies

2012

Graphene clusters consisting of 24 to 150 carbon atoms and hydrogen termination at the zigzag boundary edges have been studied, as well as clusters disordered by vacancy(s). Density Function Theory and Gaussian03 software were used to calculate graphene relative stability, desorption energy, band gap, density of states, surface shape, dipole momentum and electrical polarization of all clusters by applying the hybrid exchange-correlation functional Beke-Lee-Yang-Parr. Furthermore, infrared frequencies were calculated for two of them. Different basis sets, 6-31g**, 6-31g* and 6-31g, depending on the sizes of clusters are considered to compromise the effect of this selection on the calculated results. We found that relative stability and the gap decreases according to the size increase of the graphene cluster. Mulliken charge variation increase with the size. For about 500 carbon atoms, a zero HOMO-LUMO gap amount is predicted. Vacancy generally reduces the stability and having vacancy affects the stability differently according to the location of vacancies. Surface geometry of each cluster depends on the number of vacancies and their locations. The energy gap changes as with the location of vacancies in each cluster. The dipole momentum is dependent on the location of vacancies with respect to one another. The carbon-carbon length changes according to each covalence band distance from the boundary and vacancies. Two basis sets,

DFT study of graphene antidot lattices: The roles of geometry relaxation and spin

2009

Graphene sheets with regular perforations, dubbed as antidot lattices, have theoretically been predicted to have a number of interesting properties. Their recent experimental realization with lattice constants below 100 nanometers stresses the urgency of a thorough understanding of their electronic properties. In this work we perform calculations of the band structure for various hydrogenpassivated hole geometries using both spin-polarized density functional theory (DFT) and DFT based tight-binding (DFTB) and address the importance of relaxation of the structures using either method or a combination thereof. We find from DFT that all structures investigated have band gaps ranging from 0.2 eV to 1.5 eV. Band gap sizes and general trends are well captured by DFTB with band gaps agreeing within about 0.2 eV even for very small structures. A combination of the two methods is found to offer a good trade-off between computational cost and accuracy. Both methods predict non-degenerate midgap states for certain antidot hole symmetries. The inclusion of spin results in a spin-splitting of these states as well as magnetic moments obeying the Lieb theorem. The local spin texture of both magnetic and non-magnetic symmetries is addressed.

Graphene and some of its structural analogues: full-potential density functional theory calculations

World Journal of Engineering, 2015

Using full-potential density functional calculations we have investigated the structural and electronic properties of graphene and some of its structural analogues, viz., monolayer (ML) of SiC, GeC, BN, AlN, GaN, ZnO, ZnS and ZnSe. While our calculations corroborate some of the reported results based on different methods, our results on ZnSe, the two dimensional bulk modulus of ML-GeC, ML-AlN, ML-GaN, ML-ZnO and ML-ZnS and the effective masses of the charge carriers in these binary mono-layers are something new. With the current progress in synthesis techniques, some of these new materials may be synthesized in near future for applications in nano-devices.

Electronic States and Local Density of States in Graphene with a Corner Edge Structure

Journal of The Physical Society of Japan, 2011

We study electronic states of semi-infinite graphene with a corner edge, focusing on the stability of edge localized states at zero energy. The 60{\deg}, 90{\deg}, 120{\deg} and 150{\deg} corner edges are examined. The 60{\deg} and 120{\deg} corner edges consist of two zigzag edges, while 90{\deg} and 150{\deg} corner edges consist of one zigzag edge and one armchair edge. We numerically obtain the local density of states (LDOS) on the basis of a nearest-neighbor tight-binding model by using Haydock's recursion method. We show that edge localized states appear along a zigzag edge of each corner edge structure except for the 120{\deg} case. To provide insight into this behavior, we analyze electronic states at zero energy within the framework of an effective mass equation. The result of this analysis is consistent with the behavior of the LDOS.