Energy Barrier: Focus on the Essential: Extracting the Decisive Energy Barrier of a Complex Process (Adv. Mater. Interfaces 20/2019)

Theoretical investigation of the self-trapped hole in alkali halides. I. Long-range effects within the model hamiltonian approach

A small-radius polaron model of the self-trapped hole (Vk-center) in alkali halide crystals is presented. Along with the usual contributions, the electronic polarization is also included in accordance with the electronic polaron theory of Toyozawa. It is shown that the exact solution of the problem within the Landau-Pekar approximation leads to multi-hole quantum states accompanied by the relevant electronic and lattice polarizations. As an example the KCl crystal is considered, for which the Vk-center structure as well as the self-trapping energy are computed. While solving our equations, the local symmetry of the defect is taken into account allowing us to consider a comparatively spread …

Increasing the Templating Effect on a Bulk Insulator Surface: From a Kinetically Trapped to a Thermodynamically More Stable Structure

Molecular self-assembly, governed by the subtle balance between intermolecular and molecule- surface interactions, is generally associated with the thermodynamic ground state, while the competition between kinetics and thermodynamics during its formation is often neglected. Here, we present a simple model system of a benzoic acid derivative on a bulk insulator surface. Combining high-resolution non-contact atomic force microscopy experiments and density functional theory, we characterize the structure and the thermodynamic stability of a set of temperature-dependent molecular phases formed by 2,5-dihydroxybenzoic acid molecules, self- assembled on the insulating calcite (10.4) surface. We d…

Guanine Assemblies on the Au(111) Surface: A Theoretical Study

It was found previously [Small2009, 5, 1952 and Angew. Chem., Int. Ed.2005, 44, 2270] that guanine molecules when assembled in a vacuum on the Au(111) surface at room temperature form a hydrogen-bonded network consisting of guanine quartets of the same chirality; this was supported by ground-state density functional theory (DFT) gas-phase calculations. In this Article, we re-examine this system and show that many more (almost equally stable) both homo- and heterochiral structures are possible; however, the homochiral structure observed experimentally becomes definitely the most favorable only if the vibrational contribution to the free energy is accounted for. Interaction with the gold surf…

On-surface synthesis on a bulk insulator surface

On-surface synthesis has rapidly emerged as a most promising approach to prepare functional molecular structures directly on a support surface. Compared to solution synthesis, performing chemical reactions on a surface offers several exciting new options: due to the absence of a solvent, reactions can be envisioned that are otherwise not feasible due to the insolubility of the reaction product. Perhaps even more important, the confinement to a two-dimensional surface might enable reaction pathways that are not accessible otherwise. Consequently, on-surface synthesis has attracted great attention in the last decade, with an impressive number of classical reactions transferred to a surface as…

Quantum chemical simulations of hole self-trapping in semi-ionic crystals

A novel formalism is presented for reliable calculations of the energetics of hole self-trapping in semi-ionic solids with mixed valence bands. Unlike previous model-Hamiltonian-type approaches, it is based on self-consistent quantum chemical INDO simulations of the atomistic and electronic structure of a self-trapped hole, making no a priori assumptions about a particular form of its localization (if any). This formalism is applied to the problem of hole self-trapping in corundum crystals (a -A1203). The hole self-trapping is found to be energetically favorable in the form of a diatomic 02 molecule with strong covalent bonding quite similar to the self-trapped hole (VK-center) in alkali ha…

Diagram technique for nonorthogonal electron group functions. II. Reduced density matrices and total energy

In part I, both the arrow diagram (AD) and expanded AD decompositions of the antisymmetrization operator A for an N‐electron system with wave function represented by the product of mutually nonorthogonal group functions have been considered. Based on them, new diagrams for decompositions of normalization and overlap integrals, reduced density matrices, as well as for total electronic energy of the system are proposed and discussed in detail in the present part. The rules for evaluation of the contribution of each diagram in the form of an analytical expression are obtained. Both the strong and p‐orthogonality approximations are discussed.

Theoretical analysis of hole self-trapping in ionic solids: Application to the KCl crystal.

A method for the calculation of the hole self-trapping (ST) energy in ionic crystals is proposed. It combines model-Hamiltonian and quantum-chemical approaches. An artificial path for the ST process has been suggested containing (a) a free hole not interacting with the lattice vibrations; (b) a free-hole wave packet localized in a small crystal volume in the form of the real ST state, all crystal ions being in their perfect lattice positions; (c) the final ST state of the hole, accompanied with a corresponding lattice relaxation, including strong displacements of ions belonging to the hole region. Some intermediate states might be adopted between (a) and (b) in order to simplify the calcula…

Focus on the Essential: Extracting the Decisive Energy Barrier of a Complex Process

Molecular processes at surfaces can be composed of a rather complex sequence of steps. The kinetics of even seemingly simple steps are demonstrated to depend on a multitude of factors, which prohibits applying a simple Arrhenius law. This complexity can make it challenging to experimentally determine the kinetic parameters of a single step. However, a molecular-level understanding of molecular processes such as structural transitions requires elucidating the atomistic details of the individual steps. Here, a strategy is presented to extract the energy barrier of a decisive step in a very complex structural transition by systematically addressing all factors that impact the transition kineti…

Quantum interference and the time-dependent radiation of nanojunctions

Using the recently developed time-dependent Landauer-B\"uttiker formalism and Jefimenko's retarded solutions to the Maxwell equations, we show how to compute the time-dependent electromagnetic field produced by the charge and current densities in nanojunctions out of equilibrium. We then apply this formalism to a benzene ring junction, and show that geometry-dependent quantum interference effects can be used to control the magnetic field in the vicinity of the molecule. Then, treating the molecular junction as a quantum emitter, we demonstrate clear signatures of the local molecular geometry in the non-local radiated power.