Search results for "cond-mat.mtrl-sci"
showing 10 items of 838 documents
Unraveling materials Berry curvature and Chern numbers from real-time evolution of Bloch states
2019
Materials can be classified by the topological character of their electronic structure and, in this perspective, global attributes immune to local deformations have been discussed in terms of Berry curvature and Chern numbers. Except for instructional simple models, linear response theories have been ubiquitously employed in calculations of topological properties of real materials. Here we propose a completely different and versatile approach to get the topological characteristics of materials by calculating physical observables from the real-time evolving Bloch states: the cell-averaged current density reveals the anomalous velocities whose integration leads to the conductivity quantum. Re…
Spin qubits with electrically gated polyoxometalate molecules
2007
Spin qubits offer one of the most promising routes to the implementation of quantum computers. Very recent results in semiconductor quantum dots show that electrically-controlled gating schemes are particularly well-suited for the realization of a universal set of quantum logical gates. Scalability to a larger number of qubits, however, remains an issue for such semiconductor quantum dots. In contrast, a chemical bottom-up approach allows one to produce identical units in which localized spins represent the qubits. Molecular magnetism has produced a wide range of systems with tailored properties, but molecules permitting electrical gating have been lacking. Here we propose to use the polyox…
Computer simulation studies of finite-size broadening of solid–liquid interfaces: from hard spheres to nickel
2009
Using Molecular Dynamics (MD) and Monte Carlo (MC) simulations interfacial properties of crystal-fluid interfaces are investigated for the hard sphere system and the one-component metallic system Ni (the latter modeled by a potential of the embedded atom type). Different local order parameters are considered to obtain order parameter profiles for systems where the crystal phase is in coexistence with the fluid phase, separated by interfaces with (100) orientation of the crystal. From these profiles, the mean-squared interfacial width w^2 is extracted as a function of system size. We rationalize the prediction of capillary wave theory that w^2 diverges logarithmically with the lateral size o…
New fitting scheme to obtain effective potential from Car-Parrinello molecular dynamics simulations: Application to silica
2008
A fitting scheme is proposed to obtain effective potentials from Car-Parrinello molecular dynamics (CPMD) simulations. It is used to parameterize a new pair potential for silica. MD simulations with this new potential are done to determine structural and dynamic properties and to compare these properties to those obtained from CPMD and a MD simulation using the so-called BKS potential. The new potential reproduces accurately the liquid structure generated by the CPMD trajectories, the experimental activation energies for the self-diffusion constants and the experimental density of amorphous silica. Also lattice parameters and elastic constants of alpha-quartz are well-reproduced, showing th…
An expeditious synthesis of spinasterol and schottenol, two phytosterols present in argan oil and in cactus pear seed oil, and evaluation of their bi…
2015
International audience; Spinasterol and schottenol, two phytosterols present in argan oil and in cactus pear seed oil, were synthesized from commercially available stigmasterol by a four steps reactions. In addition, the effects of these phytosterols on cell growth and mitochondrial activity were evaluated on 158N murine oligodendrocytes, C6 rat glioma cells, and SK-N-BE human neuronal cells with the crystal violet test and the MTT test, respectively. The effects of spinasterol and schottenol were compared with 7-ketocholesterol (71CC) and ferulic acid, which is also present in argan and cactus pear seed oil. Whatever the cells considered, dose dependent cytotoxic effects of 71CC were obser…
Electronic Structure and Bonding of Icosahedral Core–Shell Gold–Silver Nanoalloy Clusters Au144–xAgx(SR)60
2011
Atomically precise thiolate-stabilized gold nanoclusters are currently of interest for many cross-disciplinary applications in chemistry, physics and molecular biology. Very recently, synthesis and electronic properties of "nanoalloy" clusters Au_(144-x)Ag_x(SR)_60 were reported. Here, density functional theory is used for electronic structure and bonding in Au_(144-x)Ag_x(SR)_60 based on a structural model of the icosahedral Au_144(SR)_60 that features a 114-atom metal core with 60 symmetry-equivalent surface sites, and a protecting layer of 30 RSAuSR units. In the optimal configuration the 60 surface sites of the core are occupied by silver in Au_84Ag_60(SR)_60. Silver enhances the electr…
Dye-sensitized nanostructured TiO2 film based photoconductor
2008
Grooves were etched in a conductive layer of a conductive, transparent glass, and a nanoporous TiO2 film was deposited on both the conductive and nonconductive area. The width of the grooves was 100 $\mu$m and 150 $\mu$m. A transparent TiO2 film was dye-sensitized, covered with an electrolyte, and sandwiched with a cover glass. The conductivity of the dye-sensitized TiO2 film permeated with electrolyte was studied in the dark and under illumination, and was observed to be dependent on light intensity, wavelength and applied voltage. This study shows that dye-sensitized nanoporous films can be used as a wavelength dependent photoconductor.
Inverse simulated annealing for the determination of amorphous structures
2013
We present a new and efficient optimization method to determine the structure of disordered systems in agreement with available experimental data. Our approach permits the application of accurate electronic structure calculations within the structure optimization. The new technique is demonstrated within density functional theory by the calculation of a model of amorphous carbon.
Anomalous High-Pressure Jahn-Teller Behavior inCuWO4
2012
High-pressure optical-absorption measurements performed in CuWO4 up to 20 GPa provide experimental evidence of the persistence of the Jahn-Teller (JT) distortion in the whole pressure range both in the low-pressure triclinic and in the highpressure monoclinic phase. The electron-lattice coupling associated with the eg(Exe) and t2g(Txe) orbitals of Cu2+ in CuWO4 are obtained from correlations between the JT distortion of the CuO6 octahedron and the associated structure of Cu2+ d-electronic levels. This distortion and its associated JT energy (EJT) decrease upon compression in both phases. However, both the distortion and associated EJT increase sharply at the phase transition pressure (PT = …
High-pressure study of substrate material ScAlMgO4
2011
We report on the structural properties of ScAlMgO4 studied under quasi-hydrostatic pressure using synchrotron high-pressure x-ray diffraction up to 40 GPa. We also report on single-crystal studies of ScAlMgO4 performed at 300 K and 100 K. We found that the low-pressure phase remains stable up to 24 GPa. At 28 GPa, we detected a reversible phase transformation. The high-pressure phase is assigned to a monoclinic distortion of the low-pressure phase. No additional phase transition is observed up to 40 GPa. In addition, the equation of state, compressibility tensor, and thermal expansion coefficients of ScAlMgO4 are determined. The bulk modulus of ScAlMgO4 is found to be 143(8) GPa, with a str…