On the problem of cluster structure diversity and the value of data mining.

Data mining, involving cross examination of cluster structure pools collected for ZnO, GaN, LiF and AgI, has been applied to predict plausible cluster structures of related binary materials. We consider the energy landscapes of (MX)(12) clusters for materials that possess tetrahedral bulk phases, wurtzite or sphalerite, including LiF, BeO, BN, AlN, SiC, CuF, ZnO, GaN, GeC and AgI. The energy is evaluated using the hybrid PBEsol0 density functional for structures optimised at the PBEsol level.

Zinc oxide: A case study in contemporary computational solid state chemistry.

Computational techniques have been applied to study a broad range of chemical and physical properties of zinc oxide. Both interatomic-potential and density functional theory methods are used to investigate structural, thermodynamic, surface, and defect properties. We survey the structures and energies of nano-particulate zinc oxide.