Boqun Song

Graphyne- and graphdiyne-based nanoribbons: Density functional theory calculations of electronic structures

We report on the configurations and electronic properties of graphyne and graphdiyne nanoribbons with armchair and zigzag edges investigated with first principles calculations. Our results show that all the nanoribbons are semiconductors with suitable band gaps similar to silicon. And their band gaps decrease as widths of nanoribbons increase. We also find that the band gap is at the Γ point for all graphdiyne ribbons and it is at the X point for all graphyne ribbons. Of particular interest, the band gap of zigzag graphyne nanoribbons show a unique “step effect” as the width increases. This property is good for tuning of the energy band gap, as in a certain range of the ribbon width, the energy gap remains constant and in reality the edge cannot be as neat as that in a theoretic model.

Reversible Single Spin Control of Individual Magnetic Molecule by Hydrogen Atom Adsorption

The reversible control of a single spin of an atom or a molecule is of great interest in Kondo physics and a potential application in spin based electronics. Here we demonstrate that the Kondo resonance of manganese phthalocyanine molecules on a Au(111) substrate have been reversibly switched off and on via a robust route through attachment and detachment of single hydrogen atom to the magnetic core of the molecule. As further revealed by density functional theory calculations, even though the total number of electrons of the Mn ion remains almost the same in the process, gaining one single hydrogen atom leads to redistribution of charges within 3d orbitals with a reduction of the molecular spin state from S = 3/2 to S = 1 that directly contributes to the Kondo resonance disappearance. This process is reversed by a local voltage pulse or thermal annealing to desorb the hydrogen atom.

Green function techniques in the treatment of quantum transport at the molecular scale

The theoretical investigation of charge (and spin) transport at nanometer length scales requires the use of advanced and powerful techniques able to deal with the dynamical properties of the relevant physical systems, to explicitly include out-of-equilibrium situations typical for electrical/heat transport as well as to take into account interaction effects in a systematic way. Equilibrium Green function techniques and their extension to non-equilibrium situations via the Keldysh formalism build one of the pillars of current state-of-the-art approaches to quantum transport which have been implemented in both model Hamiltonian formulations and first-principle methodologies. In this chapter we offer a tutorial overview of the applications of Green functions to deal with some fundamental aspects of charge transport at the nanoscale, mainly focusing on applications to model Hamiltonian formulations.

Magnetically driven negative thermal expansion in antiperovskite Ga1-xMnxN0.8Mn3 (0.1 ≤ x ≤ 0.3)

Negative thermal expansion (NTE) was investigated for Ga1−xMnxN0.8Mn3 (0.1 ≤ x ≤ 0.3). As x increases, the temperature range where lattice contracts upon heating becomes broad and shifts to lower temperatures. The coefficient of linear thermal expansion beyond −40 ppm/K with a temperature interval of ∼50 K was obtained around room temperature in x = 0.2 and 0.25. Local lattice distortion which was thought to be intimately related to NTE is invisible in the X-ray pair distribution function of x = 0.3. Furthermore, a zero-field-cooling exchange bias was observed as a result of competing ferromagnetic (FM) and antiferromagnetic (AFM) orders. The concomitant FM order serves as an impediment to the growth of the AFM order, and thus broadens the temperature range of NTE. Our result suggests that NTE can be achieved in antiperovskite manganese nitrides by manipulating the magnetic orders without distorting the local structure.

The origin of half-metallicity in conjugated electron systems—a study on transition-metal-doped graphyne

We studied the mechanism of half-metallicity (HM) formation in transition-metal-doped conjugated carbon based structures by first-principles electronic structure simulations. It is found that the HM is a rather complex phenomenon, determined by the ligand field splitting of d-orbitals of the transition metal atoms, the exchange splitting and the number of valence electrons. Since most of the conjugated carbon based structures possess ligands with intermediate strength, the ordering of the d-orbital splitting is similar in all structures, and the HM properties evolve according to the number of valence electrons. Based on this insight we predict that Cr-, Fe- and Co-doped graphyne will show HM, while Mn- and Ni-doped graphyne will not. By tuning the number of valence electrons, we are thus able to control the emergence of HM and control the energy gaps evolving in the majority or minority spin channels.

Revealing the Atomic Site-Dependent g Factor within a Single Magnetic Molecule via the Extended Kondo Effect

The site-dependent g factor of a single magnetic molecule, with intramolecular resolution, is demonstrated for the first time by low-temperature, high-magnetic-field scanning tunneling microscopy of dehydrogenated Mn-phthalocyanine molecules on Au(111). This is achieved by exploring the magnetic-field dependence of the extended Kondo effect at different atomic sites of the molecule. Importantly, an inhomogeneous distribution of the g factor inside a single molecule is revealed. Our results open up a new route to access local spin properties within a single molecule.

Selective adsorption of metal-phthalocyanine on Au(111) surface with hydrogen atoms

Metal phthalocyanine (MPc, M = Mn, Fe) molecules grown on reconstructed Au(111) with and without hydrogen atoms at submonolayer coverage are investigated by low temperature scanning tunneling microscopy. It is found out that the attachment of H atoms to the central metal of the MnPc molecules leads to the change of the molecules’ selective adsorption from fcc to hcp regions at low coverage. The two configurations of MnPc molecules on Au(111) are replaced by only one configuration of H-MnPc/Au(111). FePc molecules adsorb on fcc regions of Au(111) with two configurations, which are similar to that of MnPc. However, unlike H-MnPc, H-FePc molecules have two configurations on Au(111). Density function theory calculations show that the different configuration change by attachment of H atoms for MnPc and FePc molecules is due to the electronic structure change at the central metal atoms of the molecules.

Interaction and local magnetic moments of metal phthalocyanine and tetraphenylporphyrin molecules on noble metal surfaces

In order to understand the Kondo effect observed in molecular systems, first-principles calculations have been widely used to predict the ground state properties of molecules on metal substrates. In this work, the interaction and the local magnetic moments of magnetic molecules (3d-metal phthalocyanine and tetraphenylporphyrin molecules) on noble metal surfaces are investigated based on the density functional theory. The calculation results show that the dz2 orbital of the transition metal atom of the molecule plays a dominant role in the molecule—surface interaction and the adsorption energy exhibits a simple declining trend as the adsorption distance increases. In addition, the Au(111) surface generally has a weak interaction with the adsorbed molecule compared with the Cu(111) surface and thus serves as a better candidate substrate for studying the Kondo effect. The relation between the local magnetic moment and the Coulomb interaction U is examined by carrying out the GGA+U calculation according to Dudarevs scheme. We find that the Coulomb interaction is essential for estimating the local magnetic moment in molecule—surface systems, and we suggest that the reference values of parameter U are 2 eV for Fe and 2–3 eV for Co.