WIEN2k: An APW+lo program for calculating the properties of solids.

The WIEN2k program is based on the augmented plane wave plus local orbitals (APW+lo) method to solve the Kohn-Sham equations of density functional theory. The APW+lo method, which considers all electrons (core and valence) self-consistently in a full-potential treatment, is implemented very efficiently in WIEN2k, since various types of parallelization are available and many optimized numerical libraries can be used. Many properties can be calculated, ranging from the basic ones, such as the electronic band structure or the optimized atomic structure, to more specialized ones such as the nuclear magnetic resonance shielding tensor or the electric polarization.

Quantum Crystallography: Current Developments and Future Perspectives.

Crystallography and quantum mechanics have always been tightly connected because reliable quantum mechanical models are needed to determine crystal structures. Due to this natural synergy, nowadays accurate distributions of electrons in space can be obtained from diffraction and scattering experiments. In the original definition of quantum crystallography (QCr) given by Massa, Karle and Huang, direct extraction of wavefunctions or density matrices from measured intensities of reflections or, conversely, ad hoc quantum mechanical calculations to enhance the accuracy of the crystallographic refinement are implicated.

Reproducibility in density functional theory calculations of solids.

The widespread popularity of density functional theory has given rise to an extensive range of dedicated codes for predicting molecular and crystalline properties. However, each code implements the formalism in a different way, raising questions about the reproducibility of such predictions. We report the results of a community-wide effort that compared 15 solid-state codes, using 40 different potentials or basis set types, to assess the quality of the Perdew-Burke-Ernzerhof equations of state for 71 elemental crystals.

How close are the Slater and Becke-Roussel potentials in solids?

The Becke–Roussel (BR) potential [Phys. Rev. A 1989, 39, 3761] was proposed as an approximation to the Slater potential, which is the Coulomb potential generated by the exact exchange hole.

DFT Study of the Role of Al in the Fast Ion-Conductor Li Al LaZrO Garnet.

We investigate theoretically the site occupancy of Al in the fast-ion-conducting cubic-garnet Li Al LaZrO (-3 using density functional theory. By comparing calculated and measured Al NMR chemical shifts an analysis shows that Al prefers the tetrahedrally coordinated 24 site and a distorted 4-fold coordinated 96 site. The site energies for Al ions, which are slightly displaced from the exact crystallographic sites (i.

Room-temperature spin-spiral multiferroicity in high-pressure cupric oxide.

Multiferroic materials, in which ferroelectric and magnetic ordering coexist, are of fundamental interest for the development of multi-state memory devices that allow for electrical writing and non-destructive magnetic readout operation. The great challenge is to create multiferroic materials that operate at room temperature and have a large ferroelectric polarization P. Cupric oxide, CuO, is promising because it exhibits a significant polarization, that is, P~0.

Theoretical investigation of the magnetic exchange interactions in copper(II) oxides under chemical and physical pressures.

It remains a challenge to understand the unconventional mechanisms that cause high-T(C) superconductivity in cuprate superconductors, high-T(C) multiferroicity in CuO, or low-dimensional magnetism in the spin-Peierls transition compounds such as CuGeO(3). A common feature of all these copper oxide compounds (containing Cu(2+) ions) is the presence of large magnetic superexchange interactions J. It is a general strategy to apply chemical and/or physical pressure in order to tune these exotic properties.

Ligand dynamics on the surface of zirconium oxo clusters.

The dynamics of carboxylate ligands on the surface of zirconium oxo clusters was investigated in two case studies. Zr4O2(methacrylate)12 was investigated by one- and two dimensional NMR spectra both in the solid state and in solution. In solution, the cluster is C2h symmetric; stepwise intramolecular exchange of the four non-equivalent ligands was observed when the temperature was raised from -80 degrees C to -50 degrees C.

Single-layer model of the hexagonal boron nitride nanomesh on the Rh(111) surface.

An alternative model of the hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) on nanomesh on the Rh(111) surface is presented. It explains the observed ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy spectra and reproduces experimental STM images introducing, instead of two, only one strongly corrugated layer of h-BN covering the whole Rh surface. In order to optimize the geometry of the BN layer we calculate the forces by density functional theory and analyze the interactions in the system.

Structural and electronic properties of the interface between the high-k Oxide LaAlO3 and Si(001).

The structural and electronic properties of the LaAlO(3)/Si(001) interface are determined using state-of-the-art electronic structure calculations. The atomic structure differs from previous proposals, but is reminiscent of La adsorption structures on silicon. A phase diagram of the interface stability is calculated as a function of oxygen and Al chemical potentials.

The interface between silicon and a high-k oxide.

The ability of the semiconductor industry to continue scaling microelectronic devices to ever smaller dimensions (a trend known as Moore's Law) is limited by quantum mechanical effects: as the thickness of conventional silicon dioxide (SiO(2)) gate insulators is reduced to just a few atomic layers, electrons can tunnel directly through the films. Continued device scaling will therefore probably require the replacement of the insulator with high-dielectric-constant (high-k) oxides, to increase its thickness, thus preventing tunnelling currents while retaining the electronic properties of an ultrathin SiO(2) film. Ultimately, such insulators will require an atomically defined interface with silicon without an interfacial SiO(2) layer for optimal performance.