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1 Monday, Feb. 09, 2009 at 9:00 AM Structure and Dimensionality Affecting Physical and Chemical Properties of Supported, Suspended and Interfacial Clusters Uzi Landman School of Physics, Georgia Institute of Technology Atlanta, GA 30332-0430, USA Gaining insights into the nature of physical and chemical systems of highly reduced sizes, and developing experimental and theoretical methodologies aimed at probing, manipulating and controlling them on the atomic and molecular level, are among the major challenges of current basic interdisciplinary research. Emergent physical and chemical phenomena at the nanoscale regime and the use of atomistic simulations as tools of discovery in this area [1] will be discussed and demonstrated through studies focusing on systems involving: (i) surface-supported nanoclusters, (ii) suspended clusters (in the form of interfacial nanowires), and (iii) quantum electron and boson clusters in 2D dots and cold-atom traps. (i) Nanocatalysis by small gold clusters [2(a-c)]; Structure, dimensionality and chemical reactivity of surface-supported gold clusters; Control of the physical and chemical properties of supported clusters through the selection of support thickness [2(d-f)] and via the use of external electric fields [2(g)]. (ii) Nanowire formation mechanisms; Structural (atomic and electronic) properties, Mechanical response; Shuttling wire-suspended nanoclusters; Quantized electric conductance; Metal-insulator transition and local magnetic moments in oxygenated gold nanowires [1, 3 ]. (iii) Symmetry breaking phenomena resulting in formation of electron Wigner crystallites and rotating electron molecules in 2D quantum dots, and in the appearance of crystalline arrangements and rotating vortex clusters in atomic traps [4]. [1] U. Landman, Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. (USA) 102, 6671 (2005).

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Page 1: Structure and Dimensionality Affecting Physical and ...cluster09/abstract_all_final.pdf · Structure and Dimensionality Affecting Physical and Chemical Properties of Supported, Suspended

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Monday, Feb. 09, 2009 at 9:00 AM

Structure and Dimensionality Affecting Physical and Chemical Properties of Supported, Suspended and Interfacial Clusters

Uzi Landman

School of Physics, Georgia Institute of Technology Atlanta, GA 30332-0430, USA

Gaining insights into the nature of physical and chemical systems of highly reduced

sizes, and developing experimental and theoretical methodologies aimed at

probing, manipulating and controlling them on the atomic and molecular level, are

among the major challenges of current basic interdisciplinary research. Emergent

physical and chemical phenomena at the nanoscale regime and the use of

atomistic simulations as tools of discovery in this area [1] will be discussed and

demonstrated through studies focusing on systems involving: (i) surface-supported

nanoclusters, (ii) suspended clusters (in the form of interfacial nanowires), and (iii)

quantum electron and boson clusters in 2D dots and cold-atom traps.

(i) Nanocatalysis by small gold clusters [2(a-c)]; Structure, dimensionality and

chemical reactivity of surface-supported gold clusters; Control of the physical and

chemical properties of supported clusters through the selection of support

thickness [2(d-f)] and via the use of external electric fields [2(g)].

(ii) Nanowire formation mechanisms; Structural (atomic and electronic) properties,

Mechanical response; Shuttling wire-suspended nanoclusters; Quantized electric

conductance; Metal-insulator transition and local magnetic moments in oxygenated

gold nanowires [1, 3 ].

(iii) Symmetry breaking phenomena resulting in formation of electron Wigner

crystallites and rotating electron molecules in 2D quantum dots, and in the

appearance of crystalline arrangements and rotating vortex clusters in atomic traps

[4].

[1] U. Landman, Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. (USA) 102, 6671 (2005).

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[2] (a) U. Heiz and U. Landman, “Nanocatalysis” (Springer, New York, 2006); (b)

U. Landman et. al.,“Factors in gold nanocatalysis: oxidation of CO in the non-

scalable size regime”, Topics in Catalysis 44, 145 (2007) ; (c) A. Sanchez et al.,

J. Phys. Chem. A 103, 9573 (1999); (d) D. Ricci et. al. Phys. Rev. Lett. 97,

36106 (2006); (e) C. Zhang, B. Yoon, and U. Landman, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 129,

2229 (2007);(f) C. Harding et. al., “Control and manipulation of Au nanocatalysis”,

JACS (in press

Chris Harding (g) B. Yoon and U. Landman, Phys. Rev. Lett., 100, 056102

(2008).

[3] U. Landman et al Science 248, 454 (1990); A. Marchenkov et. al., Phys. Rev.

Lett. 98, 046802 (2007); Nature Nanotech. 2, 481 (2007); C. Zhang et.al. Phys.

Rev. Lett., 100, 046801 (2008).

[4] C. Yannouleas and U. Landman, Rep. Prog. Phys. 70, 2067 (2007); L. Baksamty, C. Yannouleas, U. Landman, Phys. Rev. Lett. 101, 131803 (2008).

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Monday, Feb. 09, 2009 at 9:40 AM

Clustering and self-organization in Bio-Nano systems

Andrey Solov'yov

Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies

Ruth-Moufang-Str. 1, D-60438 Frankfurt am Main, Germany

There is an increasing interest towards understanding of the principles of

structure formation, clustering and self-organization dynamics in Bio-Nano

systems, as well as towards numerous applications of this knowledge in bio-,

nanotechnology and medicine [1].

In this context there will be discussed self-organization processes in a

number of Bio-Nanosystems, which have the characteristic features of nanoscale

phase transitions [2]. The nanoscale phase transitions is a common physical

phenomenon manifesting itself in many nanoscale systems of both biological and

nonbiological nature. Particular attention in the discussion will be paid to the

protein folding process [3] and the fullerene fragmentation-reassembly dynamics

[4].

Another important aspect of clustering and self-organization concerns the

agregation dynamics in various complex manybody systems. Here the diffusion

process of single atoms or nanoparticles plays the central role leading to the

formation of various structures like nanofractals [5], bio-nano supperlattices [6],

nanowires [7], nanotubes [8] etc. This aspect of clustering and self-organization

in Bio-Nano systems will be thoroughly addressed in the talk and a number of

characteristic examples will be given.

Finally, the problem of monitoring, controlling and governing the Bio-Nano

systems dynamics, their selforganization and growth with the use of various

accessible parameters will be discussed. Here we address the idea of atomic

confinement [9], use of atomic impurities [10], plasmons excitations [11], nuclear

magnetic resonance observables [12], quantum and geometrical shell effects

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[13], single molecule manipulations by means of atomic force field

microscopy and optical tweezers [14].

1. J.P.Connerade, A.V.Solov'yov (eds.), Latest Advances in Atomic Clusters

Collision: Structure and Dynamics from the NUclear to the Biological

Scale, IC Press, London (2008)

2. A.V.Yakubovich, I.A.Solov'yov, A.V.Solov'yov, W.Greiner,

Europhysicsnews 38 (2007) 10

3. A.V.Yakubovich, I.A.Solov'yov, A.V.Solov'yov, W.Greiner, Eur.Phys.J.D46

(2008) 215; 227

4. A. Hussien, A.V. Yakubovich, A.V. Solov'yov, W. Greiner,

http://xxx.lanl.gov/ arXiv: 0807.4435v1 [physics.atm-clus] 28 Jul (2008);

Phys. Rev. E, submitted (2008)

5. F. Carlier, S. Benrezzak, Ph. Cahuzac, N. Kebaili, A. Masson, A. K.

Srivastava, C. Colliex, and C. Brechignac, Nano Lett. 6(9) (2006) 1875

6. J Crocer, Nature 451 (2008) 528

7. J. Geng, W. Zhou, P. Skelton, W. Yue, I. Kinloch, A. Windle, B. F. G.

Johnson, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 130 (2008) 2527

8. I.A. Solov'yov, M. Mathew, A.V. Solov'yov, W.Greiner, Phys. Rev.E. in

print (2008)

9. J.P.Connerade, V.K.Dolmatov, P.A.Lakshmi, S.T.Manson, J.Phys.B 32

(1999) L239

10. A. Lyalin, A. Hussien, A.V. Solov'yov, W.Greiner, Phys.Rev. B, submitted

(2008); http://xxx.lanl.gov/ arXiv: 0808.1263v1 [physics.atm-clus] 8 Aug

(2008)

11. S. Lo, A. Korol, A.V. Solov'yov, J.Phys.B:At.Mol.Opt.Phys. 40 (2007)

3973; A. Korol, A. Solov'yov, Physical Review Letters 98 (2007) 179601

12. M. Cubrovic, O. I. Obolensky, A. V. Solov'yov, European Physical Journal

D, in print(2008); Journal of biomolecular NMR 39 (2007) 1

13. I.A. Solov'yov, A.V. Solov'yov, W. Greiner, A. Koshelev, A. Shutovich,

Phys.Rev.Lett. 90 (2003) 053401; A. Lyalin, O.I. Obolensky, A.V.

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14. Solov'yov, W. Greiner, International Journal of Modern Physics E15 (2006)

153

15. S.N. Volkov, A.V. Solov'yov, Biophysical Bulletin, 2(19) (2007) 5; E.

Henriques, A.V.Solov'yov, European Physical Journal D 146 (2008) 471

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Monday, Feb. 09, 2009 at 10:50 AM

Dynamics of Simple Metal Clusters: A First-Principle Viewpoint

Andreas M. Köster

Departamento de Quimica, CINVESTAV

Av. Instituto Politecnico Nacional 2508

A.P. 14-740 Mexico D.F. 07360, Mexico

email: [email protected]

Abstract In the first part of the presentation an overview about the recently developed

auxiliary density functional theory (ADFT) [1,2] is given. The use of ADFT

in Born-Oppenheimer molecular dynamics (BOMD) simulations and related

property calculations is discussed. BOMD trajectories of simple metal clusters

are analyzed [3] and compared with experimental results. It is shown

that certain mismatches between experiment and theory can be resolved by

these studies.

[1] A.M. Köster, J.U. Reveles, J.M. del Campo, J. Chem. Phys. 121, 3417 (2004)

[2] R. Flores-Moreno, A.M. Köster, J. Chem. Phys. 128, 134105 (2008)

[3] G.U. Gamboa, P. Calaminici, G. Geudtner, A.M. Köster J. Phys. Chem. A 112, 11969 (2008)

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Monday, Feb. 09, 2009 at 11:30 AM

Density Functional Theory of Modeling Molecules, Clusters and Materials at different length scales

Swapan K. Ghosh

Theoretical Chemistry Section Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai 400 085, India

Email: skghosh@ barc.gov.in

Modelling and simulation of materials have been one of the

important areas of research which face the major challenge of a proper handling

of the hierarchical nature of the length scales inherent in all materials. Depending

on the concerned interest and application, an appropriate length scale needs to

be chosen for a theoretical description of the structure and properties of

materials. One of the concepts that has played a major role in the conceptual as

well as computational developments covering all the length scales of interest in a

number of areas of chemistry, physics and materials science is the concept of

single-particle density.

In the microscopic length scale, it is the electron density that has

played a major role in providing a deeper understanding of chemical binding in

atoms, molecules, clusters and solids. In the intermediate mesoscopic length

scale, an appropriate picture of the equilibrium and dynamical processes has

been obtained through the single particle number density of the constituent

atoms or molecules. A wide class of problems involving nano-scale materials,

molecular assemblies and soft condensed matter has been addressed using the

density based theoretical formalism as well as atomistic simulation in this regime.

In the macroscopic length scale, however, a continuum description using various

property density functions has often been found to be appropriate.

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In spite of the differences in the nature of the density variables

used in all these descriptions, the corresponding theoretical frameworks

have been found to possess an underlying unified structure.

Besides attempting to project the many-particle picture to a single particle

one, this density functional theory based description provides a unified

theoretical framework for quantum as well as classical systems

encompassing the diverse length scales involved in materials modelling.

The basic features and some recent developments of this description with

emphasis to modeling of molecules, clusters and materials at the nano-

scale, and applications to molecular hydrogen adsorption in doped carbon

based nanomaterials, form the subject matter of the lecture.

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Monday, Feb. 09, 2009 at 12:10 PM

Confinement and Correlation Effects and Momentum Density in Li and CdSe Nanoclusters

A. Bansil

Physics Department

Northeastern University Boston MA 02115 USA

For Li nanoclusters, I will discuss our recent variational and diffusion Quantum Monte

Carlo (QMC) simulations of the ground state using resonating valence bond (RVB)

guiding wave functions, comparing the results to those of standard Jastrow-Slater (JS)

wave functions.[1] Our results show a systematic improvement in the cohesive energy

with the RVB ansatz. The RVB nature of the ground state is revealed by a significant

transfer of electrons from s- to p-like character, constituting a possible explanation of

the breakdown of the Fermi liquid picture observed in high resolution Compton

scattering measurements of electron momentum density in bulk Li as well as Li

impurities in Al.[2,3] Turning to CdSe, I will discuss the interpretation of positron

annihilation spectra from CdSe nanodots ranging in diameters from 2.5 nm to 6 nm in

terms of the related computations of the relevant electron-positron momentum

density[4]. Here we show that positrons are trapped at the surface of CdSe

nanocrystals. They annihilate mostly with Se electrons and thus provide a powerful tool

for monitoring changes in the composition and structure of the surface of the nanodot

with little influence of the ligand molecules. I will also comment on our results for an

exactly solvable model Hamiltonian for describing the interacting electron gas in a

quantum dot and the interplay between confinement and correlation effects so revealed

on momentum density in nanosystems.[5] Work supported by the US Department of

Energy.

[1] D. Nissenbaum, L. Spanu, C. Attaccalite, B. Barbiellini, A. Bansil, Phys. Rev. B (2009). [2] Y. Sakurai, Y. Tanaka, A. Bansil, S. Kaprzyk, A. T. Stewart, Y. Nagashima, T. Hyodo, S. Nanao, H. Kawata, and N. Shiotani, Phys. Rev. Letters 74, 2252(1995). [3] J. Kwiatkowaska, B. Barbiellini, S. Kaprzyk, A. Bansil, H. Kawata and N. Shiotani,

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Phys. Rev. Letters 96, 186403 (2006). [4] S. W. H. Eijt, A. van Veen, H. Schut, P. E. Mijnarends, A. B. Denison, B. Berbiellini and A. Bansil, Nature Materials 5, 23(2006); S.W.H. Eijt, P.E. Mijnarends, L.C. van Schaarenburg, A.J. Houtepen, D. Vanmaekelbergh, B. Barbiellini, and A. Bansil (submitted). [5] R. Saniz, B. Barbiellini, A. B. Denison, and A. Bansil, Physical Review B 68, 165326(2003).

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Monday, Feb. 09, 2009 at 2:00 PM

Controlling Magnetic and Superconducting Properties at

Extreme Scales

Satayajit S. Banerjee*

Deparment of Physics, Indian Institute of Science, Kanpur – 208016, UP, India

In the first part of my talk I will discuss our recent results on a magnetic nanostructure.

We have used electrochemical process to grow templates with 60 nanometer sized

pores. The template with pores is used to grow nanostructures of Cobalt. Deatailed

structural characterization studies have revealed crystalline nanowire morphology of Co

within the nanopores. Our aim was to play with the ever present competition between

shape- anisotropy and magneto-crystalline anisotropy effects in the magnetic

nanostructures. From detailed magnetization measurement we show the predominance

of magneto-crystalline effects, and discuss the origin of this in our nanostructure1. The

results I will discuss have interesting application potential for the magnetic data storage

industry.

In the second part of my talk, I will focus on some interesting properties in superconducting

nanostructures we have patterned in our lab. We have generated a hexagonal periodic array

of nanometer sized holes with diameter 170 nm and spacing of 350 nm. The interst in these

structures is due to the fact that the spacing between the adjacent holes is close the

superconducting magnetic penetration length (λ) of the patterned material (NbSe2). We find

significant magnetic field sweep rate dependent metastable magnetization response

develops in our patterned sample. Our results are explained on the basis of a unique

collective action of the patterned structures which creates a barrier against vortex

redistribution inside the superconductor. We propose that this barrier leads to a phase

separation creating distinct population of vortices in the patterned superconductor2.

*[email protected]

References:

1. Jayvradhan Sinha, Gorky Shaw, S. S. Banejee (Submitted, 2009)

2. Gorky shaw, Shyam Mohan, Jayvradhan Sinha, S.S. Banerjee (Submitted,

2008; http://arxiv.org./abs/0811.1256)

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Monday, Feb. 09, 2009 at 2:40 PM

Designing Nanostructures for Hydrogen Storage

G. P. Das*

Department of Materials Science

Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science

Jadavpur, Kolkata 700032, INDIA

Email: [email protected]

Designing a suitable material for Hydrogen storage is a challenging task, as it

has to satisfy several criteria viz. high storage capacity, satisfactory kinetics, optimal

thermodynamics. Complex light metal hydrides such as alanates and imides involving

light elements have been intensely studied [1]. However, the recent trend is to explore

various kinds of nanostructured complexes involving light elements such as Carbon,

Boron and Silicon, that satisfy many of the above mentioned criteria. We have

investigated metal decorated Si60H60 fullerenes [2], as well as nanotubes [3] and

graphene-like sheets of BC4N composite [4], as possible hydrogen storage materials.

There are several outstanding issues, e.g. metal clustering on the surface, problem of

barrier crossing in exohedral versus endohedral storage, controlling the Hydrogen

desorption temperature etc. First-principles calculations have been carried out on these

confined systems, to investigate their structural, electronic and thermodynamic

properties, and to ensure that H2 molecules can be attached with binding energy

intermediate between physisorption and chemisorption. In this talk, we shall discuss the

various issues and challenges involved in designing such novel nanomaterials for

effective storage of hydrogen in molecular form.

* Work done in collaboration with S. Barman, S. Bhattacharya, P. Sen and C. Majumder,

S. Bhattacharya, W. Guotao, P. Chen, Y.P. Feng and G.P. Das, J. Phys. Chem. B 112,

11381 (2008); and references therein.

S. Barman, P. Sen and G.P. Das, J. Phys. Chem. C 112, 19963 (2008).

S. Bhattacharya, C. Majumder and G.P. Das, J. Phys. Chem. C 112, 17486 (2008).

S. Bhattacharya, C. Majumder and G.P. Das, to be published

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Monday, Feb. 09, 2009 at 3:20 PM

Gas-phase Catalysis by Atomic and Cluster Metal Ions:

The Ultimate Single-Site Catalysts

Prof. Dr. H. Schwarz

Institut für Chemie

Technische Universität Berlin

Straße des 17.Juni 13S

D-I0623 Berlin (Germany)

FAX: +49 30 314 21102

E-mail: [email protected]

Gas-phase experiments, employing state-of-the-art techniques of mass spectrometry,

provide detailed insights into numerous elementary processes. The focus of this review

will be on elementary reactions of ions that achieve complete catalytic cycles at thermal

energies. The examples chosen cover aspects of catalysis pertinent to areas as diverse

as atmospheric chemistry and surface chemistry. We will describe how oxygen-atom

transfer, bond-activation and fragment-coupIing processes can be mediated by atomic or

cluster metal ions. In some instances truly unexpected analogies of the ideaIized gas-

phase ion catalysis can be drawn with related chemical transformations in solution or the

solid state and so improve our understanding of the intrinsic operation of a practical

catalyst at a strictly molecular level.

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Monday, Feb. 09, 2008 at 4:30 P. M.

Advanced catalysts and nanostructured materials: Implications towards clean environment

Chiranjib Majumder

Chemistry Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Trombay,

Mumbai 400 094

Catalysts accelerate and boost thousands of different chemical reactions, and thereby form the basis for the

multibillion dollar chemical industry worldwide and indispensable environmental protective technologies. Research in

nanotechnology and nanoscience is expected to have a great impact on the development of new catalysts. Thus, a

detailed understanding of chemistry of nanostructures and the ability to control materials on the nanometer scale will

ensure a rational and cost-efficient development of new and more capable catalysts for chemical production.

This presentation will cover two catalytic applications of nanoclusters: (i)

the CO oxidation of Fe encapsulated boron nitride nanoclusters and (ii) and the

hydrogen energy storage efficiency of Mg based nano clusters. These studies

have been carried out using the density functional theory formalisms under the

plane wave – pseudo potential approach. The primary focus of these studies is to

predict advanced nano-catalyst materials which show faster kinetics as well as

cost effectiveness for industrial applications.

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Monday, Feb. 09, 2009 at 5:10 PM

Structure, Reactivity and Catalytic Behaviour of

Metal Oxide Cluster Ions

Torsten Siebert, Oliver Gause, Franz Hagemann, Juri Demuth,

Shaohui Li, Gabriele Santambrogio, Knut Asmis, Ludger Woeste

and

Cristina Stanca-Kaposta

Fachbereich Physik, Freie Universität Berlin

Arnimallee 14, 14195 Berlin, Germany

a. The potential of certain metal clusters to weaken or even break the oxygen

bond plays an important role in catalysis. The process strongly depends on

composition, size, structure, charge and environment. Thus, we investigated the

inherent structures, stabilities and reactivity of metal oxide cluster ions in the gas

phase.

The positively and negatively charged metal oxide cluster ions were produced by

a laser vaporisation source or a sputter arrangement. For selecting and

characterizing their sizes, the cluster ions were injected into a tandem

quadrupole mass spectrometer, with a temperature-controlled radio frequency

ion trap (T>10K) inserted in-between, in which the experiments were performed.

Also neutral buffer and reactant gases could be introduced at variable pressure

(<10-2 mbar) into the ion trap. Various view ports allowed for the spectroscopic

characterizations and photo-reactivity studies of the trapped ions.

The cold environment of the trap allowed the attachment of He or Ar messenger

atoms to the trapped cluster ions. When irradiating them with the resonant IR-

light from a tuneable IR laser (e.g. the free electron laser FELIX) the weakly

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bound messenger atoms were re-detached. The technique allowed to record the

vibrational spectra of various cluster ions and their reaction products, allowing to

affirm their structures by comparison with DFT calculations. Namely, on the

system VnOm+/- we systematically studied cluster structures for different sizes [1],

and we were even able to distinguish the spectral features of different isomers.

At a cluster size of V8O20- spectral fingerprints of charge localisation appeared

indicating an onset of bulk behaviour [2]. Vanadium oxide clusters are often used

as model systems for the active site of a catalyst. Different types and structures

of the metal oxide substrate can - on the other hand - be modelled by TinOm and

AlnOm clusters [3]. So a smart assembly of active site and substrate allows to

compose complete model catalyst systems that can be studied in the gas phase.

Furthermore, we investigated the reactivity behaviour of vanadium oxide cluster

ions as active site model systems [4].

References:

[1] G. Santambrogio, M. Brümmer, L. Wöste, J. Döbler, M. Sierka, J. Sauer, G.

Meijer, K. R. Asmis;

Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 10, p. 3992-4005 (2008)

[2] M. Sierka, J.Döbler, J.Sauer, G. Santambrogio, M. Brümmer, L. Wöste, E.

Janssens, G. Meijer, K. R. Asmis; Angewandte Chemie Int. Ed. 46, p.

3372-3375 (2007)

[3]. E. Janssens, G. Santambrogio, M. Brümmer, L. Wöste, P. Lievens, J.

Sauer, G. .Meijer, and K. R. Asmis;

PRL 96, p. 233401-1-4 (2006)

[4]. Shaohui Li, Aldo Mirabal, Juri Demuth, Ludger Woeste and Torsten

Siebert, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 130, p. 16832-16833 (2008)

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Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2009 at 9:00 A. M.

Clusters: Order- disorder -order cycle in evolutionary trends, local order in disordered clusters and finite temperature

properties.

D G Kanhere,

Department of Physics University of Pune 411007.

We have examined ground state and about 100 isomers of all the clusters of

Nan ( 10 < n < 148) using ab initio methods. We bring out a cyclic pattern of

order - disorder - order in the evolution. It turns out that the growth is

characterized by emergence of muticenters having local icosahedral order. The

global icosahedral order gets establishes rather suddenly by addition of one or

two atoms. The relationship between these features and finite temperature

properties is discussed.

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Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2009 at 9:40 A. M.

Size-Dependent "Stiffness" of Clusters and Its Consequences

Shobhana Narasimhan

Theoretical Sciences Unit Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research

Jakkur, bangalore, INDIA.

We have performed density functional theory (DFT) and density functional

perturbation theory (DFPT) calculations to obtain the structure and interatomic

force constant tensors for small clusters of Si, Sn and Pb. We find that bond

lengths, bond stiffness and average vibrational frequency vary quite smoothly as

a function of size, though mean squared amplitudes of vibration and the

Lindemann melting temperature show large and non-monotonic variations. As a

result, clusters can melt either above or below the bulk melting temperature. We

suggest that coordination number is the key to understanding many of these

phenomena. We also find evidence of some rather surprising scaling relations.

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Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2009 at 10:50 AM

First-Principles Study of Boron Nanostructures: Sheets and Nanotubes

Ravi Pandey

Department of Physics

Michigan Technological University

Houghton, MI 49931

([email protected])

Understanding of the structural stability, electronic properties and chemical bonding of

boron nanostructures can be set as a baseline for the evolutionary changes from carbon to hybrid

CxByNz to BN nanostrctures. In this talk, we will explore structural stability, electronic properties

and chemical bonding of boron nanostructures including clusters, sheets and nanotubes using

first principles periodic approach. The results on the thermodynamic stability together with the

vibrational spectrum of several structural motifs of the pristine 2D boron sheet will be reported. A

hybrid of triangular and hexagonal configuration is found to be the most stable configuration. A

boron sheet composed of either perfect triangular or perfect hexagonal motifs is unlikely to be

synthesized. It appears that the nature of the chemical bonding, rather than thermal effects

appear to be the prime factor in determining the stability of atomic monolayers of boron.

For the single-walled (SW) boron nanotube, the calculated results predict a ballistic

transport, with a relatively lower resistance of 7 k as compared to that of single-walled carbon

nanotubes which is calculated to be about 20 k. It may be attributed to the electron-deficient

nature of boron. It is expected that the present study will initiate further theoretical and

experimental studies on boron nanostructures, which will be helpful in understanding, designing

and realizing boron-based nanoscale devices.

(in collaboration with Kah Chun lau and Roberto Orlando)

References: Lau, Orlando and Pandey, J. Phys.: Condens. Matter, in press. Lau, Orlando and Pandey, J. Phys.: Condens. Matter, 20, 125202 (2008) Lau and Pandey, J. Phys. Chem. C, 111, 2906 (2007) Lau and Pandey, Appl. Phys. Lett., 88, 212111 (2006)

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Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2009 at 11:30 A. M.

First-principles Simulations of Carbon, Boron and Nitrogen

based Nano-structures

Umesh V. Waghmare*

Theoretical Sciences Unit

J Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research

Jakkur, Bangalore 560 064 INDIA

Abstract:

We present first-principles theoretical analysis of structure, electronic and

thermal properties of carbon, boron and nitrogen based nano-structures such as

nano-tubes and graphene. In complement to experimental synthesis of BC4N

nano-tubes [1], we determine chemical ordering of B and N substituted for

carbon in these nano-tubes that is responsible for their stability and semi-

conducting electronic structure. Our work leads to a prediction of stable junction

between boron nitride and carbon nano-tubes, which can be used in applications

such as high-frequency resonant tunneling diodes. We predict a a new class of

carbon nano-tubes that are made from graphene with a line defect and can be

described with fractional indices of helicity [2], and determine their electronic and

vibrational properties. Finally, we determine effects of electrostatic and chemical

doping on the vibrational properties of graphene [3, 4], and uncover various

contributions through comparison with experimental results.

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Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2009 at 12:10 PM

Growth of semiconductor nanocrystals

Priya Mahadevan1

1 S.N. Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences, Kolkata-700098.

As the size of materials is decreased and one enters into the regime of

dimensions in nanometers, one finds significantly different properties than in the

bulk. The strong dependence of physical properties on size, found especially in

semiconductors, has significant technological implications and this, coupled with

the ease of fabrication and processing makes this class of materials promising

building blocks for materials with designed functions. An access to a control of

the properties requires an ability to control the uniformity of size, shape,

composition, crystal structure and surface properties. In this talk I will present

results in which we theoretically examine two limiting scenarios of nanoparticle

growth and determine the extent of control that can be achieved on the surface

structure and the consequences.

The work is done in collaboration with Roby Cherian.

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Tuesday, Feb. 10. 2009 at 2:00 P. M.

Size-selected rare earth and palladium nanoparticles for

hydrogenation applications

B.R. Mehta,

Department of Physics

Indian Institute of Technology Delhi

New Delhi –110016, India.

A continuous and reversible ‘structural, optical and electronic’ transition between

reflecting metallic dihydride and transparent semiconducting trihydride states in rare

earth (RE) metals on hydrogenation make these materials suitable for switchable mirror,

sensing and other technologically important applications. In our laboratory, ‘nanoparticle

route’ has been used for achieving an ‘all-round’ improvement in the switching

characteristics of a ‘new generation’ of Gd and Pr nanoparticle based switchable mirrors

in comparison to previously reported thin film, RE-Mg alloys and mutilayers. It has been

shown that the observed improvements in color neutrality, response time, optical and

electrical contrasts are a direct consequence of quantum confinement and coordination

reduction effects at nanodimensions. The changes in electrical and optical properties

have been observed to be directly linked to the H/RE ratio and H concentration profiles.

RE nanoparticle structures have been used for measuring the catalytic properties of Pd

nanoparticles and monitoring two-way transport of hydrogen through ion induced

nanotracks. A dual-deposition set up comprising of size selected nanoparticle synthesis,

thin film deposition and on line measurements of particle size distribution. The dual-

deposition set up can be used for growing nanoparticles dispersed in thin films, thin films

capped by nanoparticle layers, and nanoparticle layer-thin film multiplayer structures.

Hydrogenation properties of Pd thin films, nanocrystalline layers, size-selected

nanoparticle and nanorod structures have been studied. By controlling the nanoparticle

size and separation, geometrical effects due to lattice expansion during hydride

formation and electronic effects due to H incorporation can be controlled and separated.

These results sets the foundation for a new type of H sensor having a pulse like

response.

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Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2009 at 2:40 P. M.

STRUCTURE AND PROPERTIES OF NANO-AMORPHOUS METALLIC CLUSTERS FORMED IN A BI-PHASIC

NANOCOMPOSITE

Pushan Ayyub

Department of Condensed Matter Physics and Materials Science

Tata Institiute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai 400005

E-mail: [email protected]

Metals such as Cu and Nb have a positive enthalpy of mixing, due to which solid

state alloying between them is not permitted under equilibrium conditions.

However, far from equilibrium processing techniques, such as vapor deposition

may, in some cases, produce amorphous “alloys” of such immiscible elements.

Using the powerful technique of 3D Atom Probe Tomography, we have shown

that the apparently amorphous Cu-Nb “alloy” is actually a phase separated

system consisting of 2-3 nm size, interpenetrating amorphous clusters of Cu and

Nb. A more detailed study of the local structure, performed using the EXAFS

technique, shows that there are subtle but important differences in the local

atomic coordinates of Cu and Nb. We have also studied the effect of annealing

on the structural evolution as well as transport properties of the as-deposited

nano-amorphous Cu-Nb system.

In the second part of my talk, I would summarize some of our work on the

geometry, stability and electronic structure of negatively charged Cn (n<11)

clusters produced by Cs-sputtering followed by magnetic separation. We also

investigate the interaction of such negatively charged Cn clusters with single

atoms of H, N etc.

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Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2009 at 3:20 PM

Production of Atomic Clusters with a Heated Wire and Size Classification at Normal Pressure

A. Schmidt-Ott1, C. Peineke1, M. Attoui2, R. Robles3, A.C. Reber3, S.N. Khanna3

1 Nanostructured Materials, DelftChemTech, Delft University of Technology, Julianalaan

136, NL-2628BL Delft, The Netherlands

2 Département de Physique, Faculté des Sciences et Technologie, Université Paris XII, France

3 Department of Physics, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia 23284.

If atomic clusters were produced and suspended in an inert gas at normal pressure, they

would basically be available for experimental studies on chemical reactivity, coalescence

and thermal stability for a long time. If size classification took place at the same

pressure, this would avoid losses associated with pressure drops, and much more size

selected material could be collected in view of cluster assembled materials compared to

state-of-the-art methods. Moreover, normal pressure set-ups are feasible at much lower

cost than the vacuum devices conventionally used for atomic cluster research.

As an important step in this direction, it is shown that an electrically heated metal wire

can produce a variety of atomic clusters and nanoparticles under normal pressure

conditions. They obtain an electric charge from the same wire, and electrical mobility

classification allows efficient selection and separation of variable sizes. For high

temperatures, the charge is determined by thermoemission of electrons, and impurities

with low ionization threshold dominate particle charging at low temperatures. On the

example of silver it is shown that traces of K in the wire lead to K+ ions, which attach to

the clusters and provide the charge necessary for electrostatic separation. AgnK+

clusters are obtained. First principles calculations reveal that AgnK+ cluster properties

show little change in terms of energetic and electronic stability and cluster structure with

respect to the neutral Agn clusters. The relative abundance of the clusters obtained from

the wire was explainable by the stability of the neutral clusters and K+ attachment

energy, supporting both the model and the interpretation of the mobility distribution.

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Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2009 at 4:30PM

Aromaticity in Metal Clusters

P. K. Chattaraj

Department of Chemistry and Centre for Theoretical Studies, Indian Institute of

Technology, Kharagpur 721302, India, E-mail: [email protected]

All- metal aromatic compounds like 2

4Al −

and all-metal antiaromatic

compounds like 4

4Al −

and their complexes have been studied using various

conceptual density functional theory based descriptors as well as the nucleus

independent chemical shift values. Aromaticity and antiaromaticity in cyclic alkali

clusters like 6Na and 6

K , polyacene analogues of inorganic ring compounds,

multivalent superatoms, triangular cyclic π - bonded dianions like 2

3Be −

and 2

3Mg −

as well as their different sandwich and multi- decker complexes have been

analyzed through various reactivity descriptors and the associated electronic

structure principles.

Selected references

P. K. Chattaraj, D. R. Roy, M. Elango and V. Subramanian, J. Phys. Chem. A

109, 9590 (2005).

P. K. Chattaraj and D. R. Roy, J. Phys. Chem. A 111, 4684 (2007)

P .K.Chattaraj and S.Giri, J. Phys. Chem. A 111, 11116 (2007)

D. R. Roy and P. K. Chattaraj, J. Phys. Chem. A 112, 1612 (2008)

S. Khatua, D.R. Roy, P. K. Chattaraj and M. Bhattacharjee, Chem.Comm. 2,

135 (2007)

S. Khatua, D. R. Roy, P. Bultinck, M. Bhattacharjee and P. K. Chattaraj, Phys.

Chem. Chem. Phys. 10, 2461 (2008)

P. K. Chattaraj, D. R. Roy, and S. Duley, Chem. Phys. Lett. 460, 382 (2008)

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Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2009 at 5:10 PM

Nanostructures of Mo-S: Clusters, Platelets, Nanowires, and

Their Assemblies

P. Murugan1,2, Vijay Kumar3, Yoshiyuki Kawazoe2, and Norio Ota4

1Functional Materials Division, Central Electrochemical Research Institute,

Karaikudi – 630006, India

2Institute for Materials Research, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan

3Dr. Vijay Kumar Foundation, 1969 Sector 4, Gurgaon 122001, Haryana, India 4Hitachi Maxell Ltd., Tokyo 102-8521, Japan

Currently, there is a growing interest on understanding nanostructures of metal

chalcogenide compounds as they are currently used for sulfur removal in petroleum

industries, solid state lubricants in space technology, and Pt-free fuel cell research

activities. Nanostructures of MoS1+x such as triangular platelets, nanowires and their

assemblies have been synthesized and studied by experiment as well as theoretical

calculations. However, structural stability of MoS1+x nanostructures and their physical-

chemical properties have not been understood clearly. In the present work, we study the

Mo-S nanoclusters, nanowires and their assemblies, and the triangular nanoplatetlet by

first principles density functional calculations. Mo-S compound clusters stabilize the Mo

polyhedral structures and sulfurs atoms capped on such metal polyhedron. This

structure has strong structural stability as it maintains the strong Mo-Mo and Mo-S

bonding. Some of polyhedral clusters are having the non-zero magnetic moment due to

presence of partially occupied electron in Mo atoms. Among polyhedral Mo-S clusters,

Mo6S8 octahedral cluster has ultra-high stability in the sub-nanometer sized clusters.

Mo6S8 clusters could be further condensed and resulted to formation of Mo-S nanowire

or nanorod. The nanowires of Mo-S are interesting electronic conductors and could play

an important role in miniature devices. Assembly of nanowires stabilizes the hexagonal

structure and there is existence of trigonal void space due to weak vdW interaction

between the sulfur atoms. Li ions can be inserted into this void space and Li-Mo-S

compound can be potential used for Li-ion battery applications. Further, the structural

stability and electronic structure of Mo-S triangular platelets are discussed in this present

work.

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Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2009 at 9:00 A. M.

Superatom Assemblies: Towards Novel Nano-Materials with Precise Control over Properties

S. N. Khanna

Department of Physics, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA

23284, USA.

A. W. Castleman, Jr., A. Sen, and P. S. Weiss

Departments of Physics and Chemistry, The Pennsylvania State Univ., University

Park, PA16802, USA

A promising development in the field of clusters and nanoscience is the

possibility of synthesizing nanoscale materials where size specific clusters serve

as the elementary molecular building blocks. As the physical, chemical,

electronic, and magnetic properties of clusters can be tuned by size and

composition, this may provide an unprecedented ability to design customized

materials. The cluster materials, in addition, possess intra-cluster and inter-

cluster length scales leading to novel functionalities not available in conventional

materials. While this thought has existed for more than two decades, its

realization has been delayed by the reality that clusters are usually metastable

and coalesce when assembled. Indeed, the only working example is the alkali-

doped-fullerides where fullerenes marked by directional C-C bonds serve as the

primary unit. Extending the fullerene experience to other metal and semi-

conducting systems is likely to emerge as an important frontier in the

nanoscience. The talk will focus on our recent efforts in this direction. I will first

talk about the possibility of forming cluster motifs, based on metals, that are fairly

stable and maintain their identity upon further growth. A class of these can be

classified as superatoms forming a new dimension to the periodic table [1-4]. I

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will then present a new three step protocol that combines (1) gas phase

investigations to examine feasible units, (2) theoretical investigations of energy

landscapes and

geometrical shapes of feasible units to identify potential motifs, and (3) synthetic

chemical approaches to synthesize and structurally characterize such cluster

assemblies in the solid state. Through this approach we have established

selected arsenic-alkali cluster as a potential building block via gas phase

molecular beam experiments. Employing the idea that the particular species

identified in the gas phase is a uniquely stable Zintl entity that could effect self-

assembly, we report success in synthesizing several assemblies of As73- clusters

with alkali metal counter-cations and those linked with covalent linkers. I will

present our recent striking finding combining optical measurements and first

principles theory that indicate that the band gaps in assemblies based on the

same polyvalent anion can vary over a wide range. Theoretical studies reveal

that the variations in the band gap are linked to the energy levels of the counter-

cation, the degree of charge transfer, with additional tuning through covalent

linkers. The findings offer a novel protocol for synthesis of nanoassemblies with

tunable electronics.

REFERENCES

[1] D.E. Bergeron, A.W. Castleman, Jr., T. Morisato, and S.N. Khanna, Science 304, 84

(2004).

[2] D. E. Bergeron, P. J. Roach, A. W. Castleman, Jr., N. O. Jones, and S. N. Khanna, Science

307, 231 (2005).

[3] J. U. Reveles, S. N. Khanna, P. J. Roach, and A. W. Castleman, Jr., Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. 103,

18405 (2006).

[4] P.J. Roach, A.C. Reber, W.H. Woodward, S.N. Khanna, and A.W. Castleman Jr. Proc. Nat.

Acad. Sci.

104 14565 (2007).

[5] S. Claridge, A. W. Castleman, Jr., S. N. Khanna, C. Murray, A. Sen, and P. Weiss, ACS Nano

(submitted)

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Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2009 at 9:40 AM

Designer magnetic superatoms

Prasenjit Sen, Kalpataru Pradhan

Harish-Chandra Research Institute, Chhatnag Road Jhunsi, Allahabad INDIA

J. U. Reveles, Arthur C. Reber, Penné A. Clayborne, Shiv N. Khanna

Department of Physics, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond VA USA

Mark Pederson

Naval research Laboratory, Washington DC, USA

One of the key discoveries in cluster science is that some clusters mimic

chemical behavior of elements in the periodic table, opening avenues for building

materials with designer properties. These clusters have been termed superatoms.

Superatom behavior is closely related to the stability of the clusters. So far as metal

clusters are concerned, their stability can be understood in terms of various shell models

for the valence electrons [1]. Electronic energy levels occur in close lying bunches,

known as shells. A filled electronic shell leads to enhanced stability. Therefore, clusters

having one more or one less electron than a filled shell configuration may behave like

alkali or halogen superatoms. Indeed, Al13, being one electron short of a filled shell

configuration, is found to behave like a `superhalogen’ [2]. Enhanced stability as a

consequence of filled shell electronic configuration precludes the possibility of having

superatoms that are magnetic. However, if atomic orbitals of the valence pool in a

cluster have localized as well as diffuse sub-spaces, new possibilities open up. Clusters

having a filled shell configuration in the diffuse sub-space may acquire enhanced

stability, while the localized electrons produce magnetic moment.

Through first-principles density functional calculations we demonstrate for the

first time that a concrete realization of this possibility can be 3d transition metal (TM)

doped alkali clusters. Due their peculiar chemistry, many of the TMAn (TM=Sc, Ti, V;

A=Na, K, Cs) clusters posses magnetic moments that are larger than those on the

isolated TM atoms [3]. TMAn (TM=Cr-Ni) clusters, on the other hand, retain atomic

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moments on the TM atoms [4]. More intriguingly, as a consequence of this peculiar

chemistry, a VCs8 cluster mimics select magnetic behavior of a Mn atom.

Possibilities of building new class of cluster-assembled materials using such magnetic

superatoms will be discussed.

References

1. W. D. Knight et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 52, 2141 (1984); K. Clemenger, Phys. Rev. B

32, 1359 (1985)

2. D. E. Bergeron, A. W. castleman Jr., T. Morisato and S. N. Khanna, Science 304, 84

(2004).

3. K. Pradhan et al., Phys. Rev. B 77, 045408 (2008).

4. K. Pradhan et al., J Phys. Cond. Mat. 20, 255243 (2008).

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Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2009 at 10:50 AM.

Ab initio Study of Binary AunPdm Clusters (n,m 1-5 )

Gregorio López Arvizu and M.R. Beltrán

Instituto de Investigaciones en Materiales

Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México

A.P. 70-360, C.P. 04510 México D.F., MÉXICO

Ab initio method based on density-functional theory has been used to investigate

the AunPdm (n,m 1–5) clusters in their neutral, anionic and cationic forms. The

lowest stable geometrical configurations with their electronic states are

determined, and verified through a vibrational analysis. The energy gaps

between the HOMO and LUMO of the ground states, the EAs, VDEs and ADEs

as well as their IPs are investigated. Our results show that the one excess

electron is strong enough to modify the known growth pattern of the neutral

AunPdm clusters in some cases, and in those cases it is found that (1) an electron

promotion occurs from 4d to 5s orbital in the Pd atom, and that (2) the bond of

Au–Pd is formed through an overlap between 6s of Au and 5s of Pd. (3) The

calculated electron affinities (EAs) and vertical detachment energies (VDEs) are

in good agreement with experimental evidence where they exist. (4) IPs have

also been calculated and compared when available. (5) An odd-even oscillation

in HOMO-LUMO gaps and in the electron affinities, is observed. The latter is in

agreement with photoemission experiments of Koyasu et. al. The atomic

structure and stability of these clusters are discussed. It is believed that the

present calculations will be useful to understand the enhanced catalytic activity

and selectivity gained by using palladium-doped gold catalyst.

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Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2009 at 11:30 AM

Large Cluster Applications with Density Functional Theory

Patrizia Calaminici

Departamento de Quımica, CINVESTAV Av. Instituto Polit´ecnico Nacional 2508, A.P. 14-740, Mexico D.F. 07000, Mexico

Calculations on large clusters like giant fullerenes and cluster models of zeolites

have been performed using the density functional theory (DFT) deMon2k code

[1]. Fullerenes containing up to 540 atoms as well as cluster models of

mordenite-type zeolites containing up to more than 400 atoms have been

considered [2]. The calculations were of all-electron type and local and gradient

corrected functionals have been employed. The fullerene structures were fully

optimized without symmetry constrains. The analysis of the obtained structures

as well as a study on the evolution of the bond lengths and binding energies will

be discussed. For the zeolite systems [3] the only restriction that the position of

the hydrogens atoms terminating the zeolites models are kept fixed was

introduced. Optimized geometries, energetic parameters and molecular

electrostatic potential maps will be presented.

[1] A.M. K¨oster, P. Calaminici, M.E. Casida, R. Flores-Moreno, G. Geudtner, A.

Goursot, T. Heine,

A. Ipatov, F. Janetzko, J. Martin del Campo, S. Patchkovskii, J.U. Reveles, A. Vela and

D.R. Salahub,

deMon2k, The deMon Developers, Cinvestav, 2006; [2] P. Calaminici, G. Geudtner, A.M.

K¨oster,

Journal of Chemical Theory and Computation, 2008, in press.; [3] V.D.

Dom´ınguez-Soria, P. Calaminici, A. Goursot, J. Chem. Phys., 127, 154710

(2007).

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Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2009 at 12:10 PM

Cage, endohedral and exohedral clusters of metals

Vijay Kumar

Dr. Vijay Kumar Foundation, 1969 Sector 4, Gurgaon 122001, Haryana

Most metals in bulk have close-packed atomic structures and the absence of

periodicity in clusters often makes the densest icosahedral packing to be

energetically most favorable. However, some clusters of metals such as Au32,

Pt22 [1] and Pb12 surprisingly show cage structures to be most favorable. From

studies on clusters of different metals using ab initio calculations, we find cage

structures to be of lowest energy for clusters of some other metals such as Rh [2]

and Ta [3]. The tendency to form a cage or open structure is found to be

enhanced as one goes down in a column in the periodic table. In this talk I shall

present results of these studies as well as the effects of endohedral doping of the

cage, the superatom behavior, and the magnetic properties. Endohedral doping

is also used to produce superatoms of metal clusters though a cage structure

may not be favorable for the undoped cluster. Further, exohedral interaction with

atoms such as oxygen has been studied [3] to explore the stability and the

superatom behavior while a nanocoating has been used to produce a novel

compound fullerene of metals [4].

[1] V. Kumar and Y. Kawazoe, Phys. Rev. B77, 205418 (2008).

[2] Y.-C. Bae, V. Kumar, H. Osanai, and Y. Kawazoe, Phys. Rev. B72, 125427

(2005).

[3] V. Kumar, to be published.

[4] V. Kumar, Phys. Rev. B, in press.

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Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2009 at 2:00 PM

Ground state structures and optical properties of small hydrogenated silicon clusters

R. Prasad

Department of Physics Indian Institute of Technology

Kanpur 208 016 In order to understand the effects of hydrogenation of silicon clusters we

present calculation of ground state structures and optical properties of small

hydrogenated clusters using the first-principles pseudopotential method. The

ground state structures have been obtained using the Car-Parrinello method and

simulated annealing. These structures have been used to calculate photo-

absorption cross section using the time-dependent density functional theory (TD-

DFT). We find that although the addition of a single hydrogen atom does not

change the structure of a silicon cluster, further hydrogenation can significantly

change it. This is also seen in the photo-absorption cross section which changes

if the underlying silicon cluster changes. In general, we find that the

hydrogenation shifts the photo-absorption spectrum to higher energies.

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Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2009 at 2:40 P M

Novel Electronic Properties of II-VI Semiconductor Clusters

Anjali Kshirsagar

Department of Physics University of Pune Pune 411 007

II-VI semiconductor clusters display unusual structural and electronic properties.

The HOMO-LUMO gap for these clusters can be tuned by changing the shape

and size of the cluster and by varying the type of doping impurities and their

percentage. Larger clusters or quantum dots also constitute important materials

from device application point of view viz. LEDs, sensors etc. To render the

surface of a quantum dot inert, passivation is essential. Passivation of the

clusters using fictitious "hydrogen"-like pseudo atoms removes the states in the

HOMO-LUMO gap region and results in widening of the gap. Passivation also

locks the symmetry for three-dimensional structures but the smaller clusters like

CdnTen (1 ≤ n ≤ 6), which are planar, attain higher symmetry structures on

passivation. We also observe ‘self-healing’ mechanism viz. opening of optical

gap on relaxation without the aid of passivating ligand. However, we note that

‘self-healing’ is a stoichiometry dependent phenomenon. Passivation also

prevents diffusion of vacancy in the cluster while in unpassivated clusters, the

vacancy is annealed out. Attempts to have semiconductor clusters with extrinsic

carriers will be discussed.

The smallest stable stoichiometric cage-like structure Cd9S9 of CdnSn is found to

have enough space to dope atoms endohedrally. Single Mn doped cage is

formed with a magnetic moment of 5 µB but bidoped endohedral cage is

unstable. These doped clusters constitute useful building blocks for designing

new diluted magnetic semiconductor materials. Semiconductor nanostructures

used in devices need metal electrodes, as nanoleads, for conduction of

electrons. Towards the end of my talk I will discuss some interesting results on

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cadmium selenide nanorods connected to gold electrodes as a prototype

nanodumbbell. A short rod is fully metalized by metal-induced gap states

whereas a gap similar to that in bare cadmium selenide nanorods is observed

near the nanodumbbell center with sub-gap structure emerging near the metal-

semiconductor nanocontact for comparatively larger nanorods.