M. Sternik

Vibrational Properties of {alpha}- and {sigma}-phase Fe-Cr alloy.

Experimental and theoretical studies, of the Fe-partial phonon density of states (PDOS) for Fe52.5Cr47.5 alloy having alpha and sigma phases were carried out. The former using the nuclear resonant inelastic x-ray scattering method, and the latter with the direct one. Characteristic features of PDOS, which distinguish one phase from the other, were revealed and successfully reproduced by the theory. Data pertinent to the dynamics such as the Lamb-Mössbauer factor, f, the kinetic energy per atom, E(k), and the mean force constant, D, were directly derived, while vibrational specific heat at constant volume, C(V), and vibrational entropy, S were calculated using the Fe partial PDOS. Based on the values of f and C(V), we determined Debye temperatures, Theta(D). An excellent agreement for some quantities derived from experiment and first-principles theory, like C(V) and quite good ones for others like D and S were obtained.

Structure and elastic properties of Mg(OH)2 from density functional theory

The structure, lattice dynamics and mechanical properties of magnesium hydroxide have been investigated by static density functional theory calculations as well as ab initio molecular dynamics. The hypothesis of a superstructure existing in the lattice formed by the hydrogen atoms has been tested. The elastic constants of the material have been calculated with a static deformations approach and are in fair agreement with the experimental data. The hydrogen subsystem structure exhibits signs of disordered behaviour while maintaining correlations between the angular positions of neighbouring atoms. We establish that the essential angular correlations between hydrogen positions are maintained to a temperature of at least 150 K and that they are well described by a physically motivated probabilistic model. The rotational degree of freedom appears to be decoupled from the lattice directions above 30 K.

Comparative ab initio study of lattice dynamics and thermodynamics of Fe2SiO4- and Mg2SiO4-spinels.

Lattice dynamics and thermodynamic properties of antiferromagnetic Fe(2)SiO(4)-spinel have been studied using density functional theory. Phonon dispersions are obtained for several hydrostatic pressures up to 20 GPa. They are used to calculate thermodynamic properties within the quasiharmonic approximation. Comparison with ab initio results obtained for Mg(2)SiO(4)-spinel is made in order to study the effect of the cation exchange on the dynamic and thermodynamic properties of (Mg, Fe)(2)SiO(4)-spinel. The obtained results have been compared with the available experimental data.

Superconductivity of Mo 3 Sb 7 from first principles

Superconductivity in Mo3Sb7 is analyzed using the combined electronic structure and phonon calculations, and the electron--phonon coupling constant \lambda_{ph}=0.54 is determined from first principles. This value explains the experimental value of the superconducting critical temperature T_c=2.2 K. The possible influence of spin fluctuations and spin gap on the superconductivity in Mo3Sb7 is discussed, and electron--paramagnon interaction is found to be weak.

Dynamics and stability of icosahedral Fe–Pt nanoparticles

The structure, dynamics and stability of Fe-Pt nanoparticles have been investigated using DFT-based techniques: total energy calculations and molecular dynamics. The investigated systems included multi-shell and disordered nanoparticles of iron and platinum. The study concerns icosahedral particles with the magic number of atoms (55): iron-terminated Fe43Pt12, platinum-terminated Fe12Pt43, and disordered Fe27Pt28. Additionally, the Fe6Pt7 cluster has been investigated to probe the behaviour of extremely small Fe-Pt particles. Molecular dynamics simulations have been performed for a few temperatures between T = 150-1000 K. The calculations revealed high structural instability of the Fe-terminated nanoparticles and a strong stabilising effect of the Pt-termination in the shell-type icosahedral particles. The platinum termination prevented disordering of the particle even at T = 1000 K indicating very high melting temperatures of these Fe-Pt icosahedral structures. The analysis of evolution of the radial distribution function has shown a significant tendency of Pt atoms to move to the outside layer of the particles - even in the platinum deficient cases.

Effect of the tetragonal distortion on the electronic structure, phonons and superconductivity in the Mo3Sb7 superconductor

Abstract Effect of tetragonal distortion on the electronic structure, dynamical properties and superconductivity in Mo3Sb7 is analyzed using first principles electronic structure and phonon calculations. Rigid muffin tin approximation (RMTA) and McMillan formulas are used to calculate the electron–phonon coupling constant λ and superconducting critical temperature. Our results show, that tetragonal distortion has small, but beneficial effect on superconductivity, slightly increasing λ, and the conclusion that the electron–phonon mechanism is responsible for the superconductivity in Mo3Sb7 is supported. The spin-polarized calculations for the ordered (ferromagnetic or antiferromagnetic), as well as disordered (disordered local moment) magnetic states yielded non-magnetic ground state. We point out that due to its experimentally observed magnetic properties the tetragonal Mo3Sb7 might be treated as noncentrosymmetric superconductor, which could have influence for the pairing symmetry. In this context the relativistic band structure is calculated and spin–orbit interaction effects are discussed.

Vibrational properties and stability of FePt nanoalloys

The structural and dynamical properties of FePt nanoparticles were studied within the density functional theory. The effect of size and chemical composition on the dynamical stability of nanoparticles was investigated for the cuboctahedral and icosahedral symmetries. In cuboctahedra, a structural distortion is observed, which for systems with odd number of Pt layers leads to lowering of the tetragonal symmetry. Significant differences between the vibrational properties of FePt particles and bulk crystals are observed, but similarly to the FePt crystal, cuboctahedral particles exhibit a strong anisotropy of atomic vibrations. The icosahedral particles with perfect shell geometry are unstable due to enlarged distances between Fe atoms. They can be stabilized by removing a central atom or replacing it by a smaller one. The heat capacity and entropy of nanoparticles show typical enhancement due to low-energy vibrations at the surface layers.

Superconductivity of Mo3Sb7 from first principles

Superconductivity in Mo3Sb7 is analyzed using the combined electronic structure and phonon calculations, and the electron--phonon coupling constant \lambda_{ph}=0.54 is determined from first principles. This value explains the experimental value of the superconducting critical temperature T_c=2.2 K. The possible influence of spin fluctuations and spin gap on the superconductivity in Mo3Sb7 is discussed, and electron--paramagnon interaction is found to be weak.

Superconductivity ofMo3Sb7from first principles

Superconductivity in Mo3Sb7 is analyzed using the combined electronic structure and phonon calculations, and the electron--phonon coupling constant \lambda_{ph}=0.54 is determined from first principles. This value explains the experimental value of the superconducting critical temperature T_c=2.2 K. The possible influence of spin fluctuations and spin gap on the superconductivity in Mo3Sb7 is discussed, and electron--paramagnon interaction is found to be weak.