Chen W. Li

Metallization of vanadium dioxide driven by large phonon entropy

Phase competition underlies many remarkable and technologically important phenomena in transition metal oxides. Vanadium dioxide (VO2) exhibits a first-order metal–insulator transition (MIT) near room temperature, where conductivity is suppressed and the lattice changes from tetragonal to monoclinic on cooling. Ongoing attempts to explain this coupled structural and electronic transition begin with two alternative starting points: a Peierls MIT driven by instabilities in electron–lattice dynamics and a Mott MIT where strong electron–electron correlations drive charge localization. A key missing piece of the VO2 puzzle is the role of lattice vibrations. Moreover, a comprehensive thermodynamic treatment must integrate both entropic and energetic aspects of the transition. Here we report that the entropy driving the MIT in VO2 is dominated by strongly anharmonic phonons rather than electronic contributions, and provide a direct determination of phonon dispersions. Our ab initio calculations identify softer bonding in the tetragonal phase, relative to the monoclinic phase, as the origin of the large vibrational entropy stabilizing the metallic rutile phase. They further reveal how a balance between higher entropy in the metal and orbital-driven lower energy in the insulator fully describes the thermodynamic forces controlling the MIT. Our study illustrates the critical role of anharmonic lattice dynamics in metal oxide phase competition, and provides guidance for the predictive design of new materials.

Phonon Self-Energy and Origin of Anomalous Neutron Scattering Spectra in SnTe and PbTe Thermoelectrics

The anharmonic lattice dynamics of rock-salt thermoelectric compounds SnTe and PbTe are investigated with inelastic neutron scattering (INS) and first-principles calculations. The experiments show that, surprisingly, although SnTe is closer to the ferroelectric instability, phonon spectra in PbTe exhibit a more anharmonic character. This behavior is reproduced in first-principles calculations of the temperature-dependent phonon self-energy. Our simulations reveal how the nesting of phonon dispersions induces prominent features in the self-energy, which account for the measured INS spectra and their temperature dependence. We establish that the phase space for three-phonon scattering processes, combined with the proximity to the lattice instability, is the mechanism determining the complex spectrum of the transverse-optic ferroelectric mode.

Phonon anharmonicity and negative thermal expansion in SnSe

In this paper, the anharmonic phonon properties of SnSe in the Pnma phase were investigated with a combination of experiments and first-principles simulations. Using inelastic neutron scattering (INS) and nuclear resonant inelastic X-ray scattering (NRIXS), we have measured the phonon dispersions and density of states (DOS) and their temperature dependence, which revealed a strong, inhomogeneous shift and broadening of the spectrum on warming. First-principles simulations were performed to rationalize these measurements, and to explain the previously reported anisotropic thermal expansion, in particular the negative thermal expansion within the Sn-Se bilayers. Including the anisotropic strain dependence of the phonon free energy, in addition to the electronic ground state energy, is essential to reproduce the negative thermal expansion. From the phonon DOS obtained with INS and additional calorimetry measurements, we quantify the harmonic, dilational, and anharmonic components of the phonon entropy, heat capacity, and free energy. Finally, the origin of the anharmonic phonon thermodynamics is linked to the electronic structure.

Anharmonic lattice dynamics of Ag_2O studied by inelastic neutron scattering and first principles molecular dynamics simulations

Inelastic neutron scattering measurements on silver oxide (Ag_2O) with the cuprite structure were Performed at temperatures from40 to 400 K, and Fourier transform far-infrared spectra were measured From 100 to 300K. The measured phonon densities of states and the infrared spectra showed unusually large energy shifts with temperature, and large linewidth broadenings. First principles molecular dynamics (MD) calculations were performed at various temperatures, successfully accounting for the negative thermal expansion (NTE) and local dynamics. Using the Fourier-transformed velocity autocorrelation method, the MD calculations reproduced the large anharmonic effects of Ag_2O, and were in excellent agreement with the neutron scattering data. The quasiharmonic approximation (QHA) was less successful in accounting for much of the phonon behavior. The QHA could account for some of the NTE below 250 K, although not at higher temperatures. Strong anharmonic effects were found for both phonons and for the NTE. The lifetime broadenings of Ag_2O were explained by anharmonic perturbation theory, which showed rich interactions between the Ag-dominated modes and the O-dominated modes in both up- and down-conversion processes.

Effects of chemical composition and B2 order on phonons in bcc Fe–Co alloys

The phonon density of states (DOS) gives insight into interatomic forces and provides the vibrational entropy, making it a key thermodynamic function for understanding alloy phase transformations. Nuclear resonant inelastic x-ray scattering and inelastic neutron scattering were used to measure the chemical dependence of the DOS of bcc Fe–Co alloys. For the equiatomic alloy, the A2→B2 (chemically disordered→chemically ordered) phase transformation caused measurable changes in the phonon spectrum. The measured change in vibrational entropy upon ordering was −0.02±0.02 k_B/atom, suggesting that vibrational entropy results in a reduction in the order–disorder transition temperature by 60±60 K. The Connolly–Williams cluster inversion method was used to obtain interaction DOS (IDOS) curves that show how point and pair variables altered the phonon DOS of disordered bcc Fe–Co alloys. These IDOS curves accurately captured the change in the phonon DOS and vibrational entropy of the B2 ordering transition.

Electron-phonon coupling and thermal transport in the thermoelectric compound Mo3Sb7-xTex

Phonon properties of Mo3Sb7–xTex (x = 0, 1.5, 1.7), a potential high-temperature thermoelectric material, have been studied with inelastic neutron and x-ray scattering, and with first-principles simulations. The substitution of Te for Sb leads to pronounced changes in the electronic struc- ture, local bonding, phonon density of states (DOS), dispersions, and phonon lifetimes. Alloying with tellurium shifts the Fermi level upward, near the top of the valence band, resulting in a strong suppression of electron-phonon screening, and a large overall stiffening of interatomic force- constants. The suppression in electron-phonon coupling concomitantly increases group velocities and suppresses phonon scattering rates, surpassing the effects of alloy-disorder scattering, and re- sulting in a surprising increased lattice thermal conductivity in the alloy. We also identify that the local bonding environment changes non-uniformly around different atoms, leading to variable perturbation strengths for different optical phonon branches. The respective roles of changes in phonon group velocities and phonon lifetimes on the lattice thermal conductivity are quantified. Lastly, our results highlight the importance of the electron-phonon coupling on phonon mean-free-paths in this compound, and also estimates the contributions from boundary scattering, umklapp scattering, and point-defect scattering.

Molecular structure of vapor-deposited amorphous selenium

The structure of amorphous selenium is clouded with much uncertainty and contradictory results regarding the dominance of polymeric chains versus monomer rings. The analysis of the diffraction radial distribution functions are inconclusive because of the similarities between the crystalline allotropes of selenium in terms of the coordination number, bond length, bond angle, and dihedral angle. Here, we took a much different approach and probed the molecular symmetry of the thermodynamically unstable amorphous state via analysis of structural phase transformations. We verified the structure of the converted metastable and stable crystalline structures using scanning transmission electron microscopy. In addition, given that no experimental technique can tell us the exact three-dimensional atomic arrangements in glassy semiconductors, we performed molecular-dynamic simulations using a well-established empirical three-body interatomic potential. We developed a true vapor-deposited process for the deposition of selenium molecules onto a substrate using empirical molecular vapor compositions and densities. We prepared both vapor-deposited and melt-quenched samples and showed that the simulated radial distribution functions match very well to experiment. The combination of our experimental and molecular-dynamic analyses shows that the structures of vapor- and melt-quenched glassy/amorphous selenium are quite different, based primarily on rings and chains, respectively, reflecting the predominant structure of the parent phase in its thermodynamic equilibrium.The structure of amorphous selenium is clouded with much uncertainty and contradictory results regarding the dominance of polymeric chains versus monomer rings. The analysis of the diffraction radial distribution functions are inconclusive because of the similarities between the crystalline allotropes of selenium in terms of the coordination number, bond length, bond angle, and dihedral angle. Here, we took a much different approach and probed the molecular symmetry of the thermodynamically unstable amorphous state via analysis of structural phase transformations. We verified the structure of the converted metastable and stable crystalline structures using scanning transmission electron microscopy. In addition, given that no experimental technique can tell us the exact three-dimensional atomic arrangements in glassy semiconductors, we performed molecular-dynamic simulations using a well-established empirical three-body interatomic potential. We developed a true vapor-deposited process for the deposition o...

Phonon quarticity induced by changes in phonon-tracked hybridization during lattice expansion and its stabilization of rutile TiO2

Although the rutile structure of TiO_2 is stable at high temperatures, the conventional quasiharmonic approximation predicts that several acoustic phonons decrease anomalously to zero frequency with thermal expansion, incorrectly predicting a structural collapse at temperatures well below 1000 K. Inelastic neutron scattering was used to measure the temperature dependence of the phonon density of states (DOS) of rutile TiO_2 from 300 to 1373 K. Surprisingly, these anomalous acoustic phonons were found to increase in frequency with temperature. First-principles calculations showed that with lattice expansion, the potentials for the anomalous acoustic phonons transform from quadratic to quartic, stabilizing the rutile phase at high temperatures. In these modes, the vibrational displacements of adjacent Ti and O atoms cause variations in hybridization of 3d electrons of Ti and 2p electrons of O atoms. With thermal expansion, the energy variation in this “phonon-tracked hybridization” flattens the bottom of the interatomic potential well between Ti and O atoms, and induces a quarticity in the phonon potential.

AtomSim: web-deployed atomistic dynamics simulator

AtomSim, a collection of interfaces for computational crystallography simulations, has been developed. It uses forcefield-based dynamics through physics engines such as the General Utility Lattice Program, and can be integrated into larger computational frameworks such as the Virtual Neutron Facility for processing its dynamics into scattering functions, dynamical functions etc. It is also available as a Google App Engine-hosted web-deployed interface. Examples of a quartz molecular dynamics run and a hafnium dioxide phonon calculation are presented.