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Shiya Chen

Publications and source records attributed to Shiya Chen.

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First-Principles Study of Magnetism, Electronic Structure, and Bonding in Nb-Mn-Ge Kagome Compounds

In this work, we systematically investigate the magnetic ground states, electronic structures, and bonding characteristics of the computationally predicted stable NbMn6Ge6, NbMn6Ge5, and NbMn6Ge4 using first-principles calculations. Our results show that structurally stable NbMn6Ge6 has a collinear antiferromagnetic configuration, while the metastable rhombohedral NbMn6Ge5 and NbMn6Ge4 favor ferromagnetic ground states. Magnetic moments on Mn atoms are nearly localized, suggesting the applicability of a generalized spin Hamiltonian. Magnetic anisotropy in AFM NbMn6Ge6 and FM NbMn6Ge5 has uniaxial behavior, while FM NbMn6Ge4 has in-plane anisotropy. Charge density difference and electron localization function analyses further show charge redistribution and bonding features within the Mn-Ge Kagome network and between adjacent structural layers. Electronic structures near the Fermi level show no features suitable for topological magnetism studies. Experimental synthesis, structural characterization, and magnetic measurements are required to verify our predictions.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci

High-throughput identification of ferromagnetic Kagome candidates in the AT6X4 and AT6X5 families

We present a systematic high-throughput density-functional theory study of the thermodynamic stability, collinear magnetic ground states, and electronic structures of layered kagome compounds in the AT6X4 and AT6X5 families. Using the experimentally reported structure types as templates, we screened 78 substitutional compositions in each family. Our calculations reproduce the stability and antiferromagnetic character of the known Fe-based Ge compounds and identify six additional stable candidates with robust ferromagnetism. Within collinear spin configurations, we find a clear chemistry-dependent trend: stable Fe-based Ge compounds predominantly adopt AFM2 ground states, whereas stable Mn-based Ge compounds consistently favor ferromagnetic order. Exchange analysis further shows that the magnetic phase space is governed by competing interlayer interactions, consistent with the mechanism established for AT6X6 kagome magnets. Representative ferromagnetic members from the two structural families also retain kagome-derived dispersive band features near K, although the AT6X5 phase exhibits stronger band folding and hybridization. Overall, these results establish AT6X4 and AT6X5 as promising layered kagome families for realizing ferromagnetism and kagome-derived electronic states.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci

Antiferromagnetic Phases in Zr-Fe-Ge Kagome Systems

A wide variety of chemical substitutions in ferromagnetic Kagome systems can lead to diverse magnetic phases with electronic structures suitable for topological or quantum material properties. Here, we study the electronic structure and magnetic orderings using first-principles calculations for the magnetic Kagome compounds ZrFe6Ge6, ZrFe6Ge4, and ZrFe6Ge5. For ZrFe6Ge6, the obtained ground-state magnetic structure is A-type antiferromagnetic (AFM), in agreement with existing experiments. We predicted that the magnetic ground states of ZrFe6Ge4 and ZrFe6Ge5 are collinear A-type bilayer AFM structures with long-period ordering that involves a mix of FM and AFM interlayer orientations. The formation of such long-range magnetic structures appears to be a general feature and is not tied to specific substitutions. The magnetic moments in these systems are largely local and only weakly dependent on the magnetic configuration, with magnitudes in good agreement with available experimental estimates. Neutron scattering experiments, which could provide direct verification of these predictions, are therefore of particular importance.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci

Fragile electron-phonon superconductivity in MnB4 under pressure

The origin of pressure-induced superconductivity in MnB4 remains unclear. Here we show that it can be explained by electron-phonon coupling once the structural space is mapped using both volume and the Mn dimer distance as key structural parameters under compression. Minor changes in the dimer distance significantly affect electronic and phonon properties, bringing the calculated Tc into agreement with experiment. Our results suggest that MnB4 is a highly responsive system, providing a platform for probing the subtle interplay between structural instability, superconductivity and magnetism.

cond-mat.supr-con

Disentangling electronic and phononic contributions to high-temperature superconductivity in X2MH6 hydrides

Understanding the factors that control superconductivity is essential for discovering new superconducting materials using high-throughput elemental substitution. Focusing on the recently predicted ambient-pressure superconducting X2MH6 family, we disentangle the phononic and electronic contributions to Tc to determine how isoelectronic substitution alters superconductivity. While substitution affects both phononic and electronic properties, the electronic contribution plays the dominant role in determining Tc in the X2MH6 family. We show that the electronic contribution is affected by three key factors: the X-H bond distance, the electron localization function networking value of hydrogen, and the hydrogen-projected density of states at the Fermi level. A combined figure of merit derived from these parameters exhibits a robust correlation with Tc across the family. We further show that pressure produces competing effects on superconductivity: it enhances the electronic contribution by shortening X-H bonds, but simultaneously weaken the phononic contribution by increasing phonon frequencies. The net pressure dependence of Tc therefore results from the balance between these opposing tendencies. By disentangling and analyzing the electronic and phononic mechanisms, this work provides comprehensive insight into superconductivity in X2MH6 hydrides and offers practical guidance for designing new high-Tc hydride superconductors.

cond-mat.supr-con

Computational prediction of ferromagnetic AT6X6 kagome compounds

We present a systematic high-throughput density-functional-theory investigation of the structural and magnetic stability of 312 substitutional compounds in the magnetic kagome AT6X6 family. Our screening confirms the stability of many previously reported structures and predicts several additional stable candidates. Within collinear spin configurations, we find that Fe-based systems predominantly adopt antiferromagnetic ground states, whereas Mn-based analogues exhibit a more balanced distribution between ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic order. For compounds exhibiting several nearly degenerate collinear configurations, we analyze the nature of their magnetic ground states, assess the possible emergence of non-collinear order, and discuss the limitations and uncertainties inherent to standard density-functional approaches. Our electronic-structure analysis further reveals that newly predicted ferromagnetic kagome systems display characteristic features of topological metals, with rich magnetic configurations that can be tuned by chemical substitution. Overall, these ferromagnetic kagome compounds constitute a broad and still largely unexplored materials platform for the emergence of exciting magneto-transport phenomena.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci

Prediction of Li3Fe8B8 compound with rapid one-dimensional ion diffusion channels

Using a computational crystal structure search in the Li-Fe-B ternary system, we predict a stable phase of Li3Fe8B8, featuring 1D channels that enable rapid Li-ion transport. Ab initio molecular dynamics simulations show that the Li-ion diffusion coefficient in Li3Fe8B8 surpasses that of common electrode and conductive additive materials by several orders of magnitude. The high diffusion in Li3Fe8B8 can be explained by the Frenkel-Kontorova model, which describes an incommensurate state between the Li diffusion chain and the periodic potential field caused by the FeB backbone structure. The favorable lithium-ion diffusivity and mechanical properties of Li3Fe8B8 make it a promising conductive additive for battery materials. Its itinerant ferromagnetism also offers a platform for exploring correlated-electron magnetism and spin-dependent phenomena.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci

Computational electron-phonon superconductivity: from theoretical physics to material science

The search for room-temperature superconductors is a major challenge in modern physics. The discovery of copper-oxide superconductors in 1986 brought hope but also revealed complex mechanisms that are difficult to analyze and compute. In contrast, the traditional electron-phonon coupling (EPC) mechanism facilitated the practical realization of superconductivity in metallic hydrogen. Since 2015, the discovery of new hydrogen compounds has shown that EPC can enable room-temperature superconductivity under high pressures, driving extensive research. Advances in computational capabilities, especially exascale computing, now allow for the exploration of millions of materials. This paper reviews newly predicted superconducting systems in 2023-2024, focusing on hydrides, boron-carbon systems, and compounds with nitrogen, carbon, and pure metals. Although many computationally predicted high-Tc superconductors were not experimentally confirmed, some low-temperature superconductors were successfully synthesized. This paper provides a review of these developments and future research directions.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci

High-throughput screening for boride superconductors

A high-throughput screening using density functional calculations is performed to search for stable boride superconductors from the existing materials database. The workflow employs the fast frozen phonon method as the descriptor to evaluate the superconducting properties quickly. 23 stable candidates are identified from the screening. For almost all found binary compounds, the superconductivity was obtained earlier experimentally or computationally. For ternary borides, previous studies are very limited. Our extensive search among ternary systems confirmed superconductivity in known systems and found several new compounds. Among these discovered superconducting ternary borides, Ta(MoB)$_2$ shows the highest superconducting temperature of ~12K. Most predicted compounds were synthesized previously; therefore, our predictions can be examined experimentally. Our work also demonstrates that the boride systems can have diverse structural motifs that lead to superconductivity.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci