arXiv subjects

Alexey A. Sokol

Publications and source records attributed to Alexey A. Sokol.

7 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2024

Modelling Silica using MACE-MP-0 Machine Learnt Interatomic Potentials

Silica polymorphs and zeolites are fundamental to a wide range of industrial applications owing to their diverse structural characteristics, thermodynamic and mechanical stability under varying conditions and due to their geological importance. Computational modelling has played a crucial role in understanding the relationship between the structure and functionality of silicas and silicates including zeolites. In this study, we apply the MACE-MP-0 machine learnt interatomic potentials (ML-IP) to model the framework energies of siliceous zeolites and examine the phase transitions of silica and ZSM-5 polymorphs under high-pressure conditions. The results reproduce the known metastability of siliceous zeolites relative to α-quartz, with energy differences between microporous and dense phases calculated by MACE-MP-0 medium ML-IP and density functional theory (DFT) methods closely aligning with experimental calorimetric data. The high-pressure simulations reveal distinct compression behaviour in the quartz, coesite, and stishovite polymorphs of silica, with coesite and stishovite showing increased stability at elevated pressures in line with experimental data. The calculated phase transition pressures from quartz to coesite (~3.5 GPa) and coesite to stishovite (~9 GPa) are close to experimental findings, demonstrating the reliability of MACE ML-IP in modelling the structural and energetic properties of silica polymorphs.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2019

Donor and Acceptor Characteristics of Native Point Defects in GaN

The semiconducting behaviour and optoelectronic response of gallium nitride is governed by point defect processes, which, despite many years of research, remain poorly understood. The key difficulty in the description of the dominant charged defects is determining a consistent position of the corresponding defect levels, which is difficult to derive using standard supercell calculations. In a complementary approach, we take advantage of the embedded cluster methodology that provides direct access to a common zero of the electrostatic potential for all point defects in all charge states. Charged defects polarise a host dielectric material with long-range forces that strongly affect the outcome of defect simulations; to account for the polarisation we couple embedding with the hybrid quantum mechanical/molecular mechanical (QM/MM) approach and investigate the structure, formation and ionisation energies, and equilibrium concentrations of native point defects in wurtzite GaN at a chemically accurate hybrid-density-functional-theory level. N vacancies are the most thermodynamically favourable native defects in GaN, which contribute to the n-type character of as-grown GaN but are not the main source, a result that is consistent with experiment. Our calculations show no native point defects can form thermodynamically stable acceptor states. GaN can be easily doped n-type, but, in equilibrium conditions at moderate temperatures acceptor dopants will be compensated by N vacancies and no significant hole concentrations will be observed, indicating non-equilibrium processes must dominate in p-type GaN. We identify spectroscopic signatures of native defects in the infrared, visible and ultraviolet luminescence ranges and complementary spectroscopies. Crucially, we calculate the effective-mass-like-state levels associated with electrons and holes bound in diffuse orbitals...

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2018

Assignment of multiband luminescence due to the gallium vacancy-oxygen defect complex in GaN

Oxygen is the most common unintentional impurity found in GaN. We study the interaction between substitutional oxygen (ON) and the gallium vacancy (VGa) to form a point defect complex in GaN. The formation energy of the gallium vacancy is largely reduced in n-type GaN by complexing with oxygen, while thermodynamic and optical transition levels remain within the band gap. We study the spectroscopy of this complex using a hybrid quantum-mechanical molecular-mechanical (QM/MM) embedded-crystal approach. We reveal how a single defect center can be responsible for multiband luminescence, including the ubiquitous yellow luminescence signature observed in n-type GaN, owing to the coexistence of diffuse (extended) and compact (localized) holes.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2017

Electron counting in solids: oxidation states, partial charges and ionicity

In this short viewpoint, we discuss the assignment of ionic charges in solids. We argue that formal oxidation states serve a useful function, and that absolute values of partial charges should be interpreted and applied with caution; the charge assigned can never be definitive and depends on the type of property studied and the type of analysis performed. Careful analysis can be used to avoid unphysical conclusions such as a recent report on the Ti(III) nature of Ti in stoichiometric TiO$_2$.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2016

Anharmonicity in the high-temperature Cmcm phase of SnSe: soft modes and three-phonon interactions

The layered semiconductor SnSe is one of the highest-performing thermoelectric materials known. We demonstrate, through a first-principles lattice-dynamics study, that the high-temperature Cmcm phase is a dynamic average over lower-symmetry minima separated by very small energetic barriers. Compared to the low-temperature Pnma phase, the Cmcm phase displays a phonon softening and enhanced three-phonon scattering, leading to an anharmonic damping of the low-frequency modes and hence the thermal transport. We develop a renormalisation scheme to quantify the effect of the soft modes on the calculated properties, and confirm that the anharmonicity is an inherent feature of the Cmcm phase. These results suggest a design concept for thermal insulators and thermoelectric materials, based on displacive instabilities, and highlight the power of lattice-dynamics calculations for materials characterization.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2014

Embedded-Cluster Calculations in a Numeric Atomic Orbital Density-Functional Theory Framework

We integrate the all-electron electronic structure code FHI-aims into the general ChemShell package for solid-state embedding (QM/MM) calculations. A major undertaking in this integration is the implementation of pseudopotential functionality into FHI-aims to describe cations at the QM/MM boundary through effective core potentials and therewith prevent spurious overpolarization of the electronic density. Based on numeric atomic orbital basis sets, FHI-aims offers particularly efficient access to exact exchange and second order perturbation theory, rendering the established QM/MM setup an ideal tool for hybrid and double-hybrid level DFT calculations of solid systems. We illustrate this capability by calculating the reduction potential of Fe in the Fe-substituted ZSM-5 zeolitic framework and the reaction energy profile for (photo-)catalytic water oxidation at TiO2(110).

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2011

Microscopic Origins of Electron and Hole Stability in ZnO

A novel and direct method is proposed to assess the doping limits of semiconducting materials. Applied to the case of ZnO, our first-principles calculations demonstrate that p-type ZnO is thermodynamically unstable.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗