Antonio Cammarata

Covalent dependence of octahedral rotations in orthorhombic perovskite oxides

The compositional dependence of metal-oxygen BO6 octahedral distortions, including bond elongations and rotations, is frequently discussed in the ABO3 perovskite literature; structural distortions alleviate internal stresses driven by under- or over-coordinated bond environments. Here we identify the dependence of octahedral rotations from changes in metal-oxygen bond covalency in orthorhombic perovskites. Using density functional theory we formulate a covalency metric, which captures both the real and k-space interactions between the magnitude and sense, i.e., in-phase or out-of-phase, octahedral rotations, to explore the link between the ionic-covalent Fe-O bond and the interoctahedral Fe-O-Fe bond angles in Pbnm ferrates. Our survey finds that the covalency of the metal-oxygen bond is correlated with the rotation amplitude: We find the more covalent the Fe-O bond, the less distorted is the structure and the more important the long-range inter-octahedral (Fe-O-Fe bond angle) interactions. Finally, we show how to indirectly tune the B-O bond covalency by A-cation induced BO6 rotations independent of ionic size, facilitating design of targeted bonding interactions in complex perovskites.

Tailoring Nanoscale Friction in MX2 Transition Metal Dichalcogenides.

Lattice dynamics of MX2 transition metal dichalcogenides (M = Mo, W; X = S, Se, Te) have been studied with density functional theory techniques to control the macroscopic tribological behavior. Long-range van der Waals forces have been modeled with Grimme correction to capture the interlayer interactions. A new lattice dynamic metric, named cophonicity, is proposed and used in combination with electronic and geometric descriptors to relate the stability of the lattice distortions with the electro-structural features of the system. The cophonicity analysis shows that the distortion modes relevant to the microscopic friction can be controlled by tuning the relative M/X atomic contributions to the phonon density of states. Guidelines on how to engineer macroscopic friction at nanoscale are formulated, and finally applied to design a new Ti-doped MoS2 phase with enhanced tribologic properties.

Inductive crystal field control in layered metal oxides with correlated electrons

We show that the NiO6 crystal field energies can be tailored indirectly via heterovalent A cation ordering in layered (La,A)NiO4 Ruddlesden–Popper (RP) oxides, where A = Sr, Ca, or Ba, using density functional calculations. We leverage as a driving force the electrostatic interactions between charged [LaO]1 + and neutral [AO]0 planes to inductively tune the Ni–O bond distortions, without intentional doping or epitaxial strain, altering the correlated d-orbital energies. We use this strategy to design cation ordered LaCaNiO4 and LaBaNiO4 with distortions favoring enhanced Ni eg orbital polarization, and find local electronic structure signatures analogous to those in RP La-cuprates, i.e., parent phases of the high-temperature superconducting oxides.

Electro-vibrational coupling effects on “intrinsic friction” in transition metal dichalcogenides

We propose a protocol to disentangle the electro-vibrational structural coupling contributing to the intrinsic tribologic properties of layered MX2 transition metal dichalcogenides (M = Mo, W; X = S, Se, Te) under load. We employ ab initio techniques to model how changing the interlayer distance affects the electronic distribution and the vibrational properties of the system. We analyze the electro-vibrational coupling features by combining orbital polarization and mode Gruneisen parameters analyses with the recently developed bond covalency descriptor and the lattice dynamic metric named cophonicity. We find that intralayer charge distribution depends on the interlayer distance, determining, in turn, a shift of specific vibrational frequencies. We finally suggest a route to control the frequency shift, thus the bulk response to the load, in transition metal dichalcogenides through a proper selection of the atomic type.

Microscopic interactions governing phase matchability in nonlinear optical materials

Ab initio and group theoretical techniques have been used to investigate the microscopic interactions that govern phase matchability in nonlinear optical materials. Li2CdMS4 (M = Ge, Sn) diamond-like semiconductors (DLSs) have been considered as a case study for their peculiarity: despite the similar geometry and stoichiometry, the former is type I phase matchable unlike the latter. We disentangle the electronic and structural features that determine the dielectric tensor into contributions that can be singularly adjusted, in order to tune the refractive index, and thus the phase matching behavior. We suggest possible experimental routes to modulate the refractive index and hence the phase matchability in DLSs. Finally we propose a new DLS material with low phase matching threshold. Such approach can be extended to harness the optical response in other classes of nonlinear optical materials.

Electronic doping of transition metal oxide perovskites

CaFeO3 is a prototypical negative charge transfer oxide that undergoes electronic metal-insulator transition concomitant with a dilation and contraction of nearly rigid octahedra. Altering the charge neutrality of the bulk system destroys the electronic transition, while the structure is significantly modified at high charge content. Using density functional theory simulations, we predict an alternative avenue to modulate the structure and the electronic transition in CaFeO3. Charge distribution can be modulated using strain-rotation coupling and thin film engineering strategies, proposing themselves as a promising avenue for fine tuning electronic features in transition metal-oxide perovskites.