Ma Yan-Ming

Effects of High Pressure on BC3

High-pressure phases of BC3 are studied within the local density approximation under the density functional theory framework. When the pressure reaches 20 GPa, the layered BC3 that is a semiconductor at ambient pressure, becomes metallic. As the pressure increases, the material changes into a network structure at about 35 GPa. To understand the mechanism of phase transitions, band structure and density of states are discussed. With the increase of pressure, the width of bands broadens and the dispersion of bands enlarges. Additionally, the density of states of the network bears great resemblance to that of diamond. Formation of the sp3 bonding in the network is the main reason for the structural transformation at 35 GPa.

Phase Transition and Optical Properties of Solid Oxygen under High Pressure: A Density Functional Theory Study

Crystal structures and optical properties of the δ−O2 phase and the −O8 phase have been investigated by using the ab initio pseudopotential plane-wave method. It is found that the phase transition is of the first order with a discontinuous volumetric change from the antiferromagnetic δ−O2 phase to the nonmagnetic −O8 phase, consistent with the experimental findings. The energy band calculations show that the direct band gap changes into an indirect band gap after the phase transition. The apparent change in the optical properties can be used for identifying the phase transition from δ−O2 to −O8.

Electronic structure and optical properties of LiXH3 and XLiH3 (X = Be, B or C)

The equilibrium lattice constant, the cohesive energy and the electronic properties of light metal hydrides Li XH3and XLiH3 (X = Be, B or C) with perovskite lattice structures have been investigated by using the pseudopotential plane-wave method. Large energy gap of LiBeH3 indicates that it is insulating, but other investigated hydrides are metallic. The pressure-induced metallization of LiBeH3 is found at about 120 GPa, which is attributed to the increase of Be-p electrons with pressure. The electronegativity of the p electrons of X atom is responsible for the metallicity of the investigated Li XH3 hydrides, but the electronegativity of the s electrons of X atom plays an important role in the metallicity of the investigated XLiH3 hydrides. In order to deeply understand the investigated hydrides, their optical properties have also been investigated. The optical absorption of either LiBeH3 or BeLiH3 has a strong peak at about 5eV, showing that their optical responses are qualitatively similar. It is also found that the optical responses of other investigated hydrides are stronger than those of LiBeH3 and BeLiH3 in lower energy ranges, especially in the case of CLiH3.

Structural Investigation of Solid Methane at High Pressure

High pressure studies of solid methane are performed using both classical simulated annealing and first-principles methods. A series of simulated annealing and geometry optimization reveal a monoclinic P21/b structure with the unit cell containing four methane molecules. The phonon dispersion curves and vibrational density of states indicate that this structure is stable in the pressure range 10–90 GPa. The electronic band structure and density of states show that this structure has not metalized until 90 GPa.

Pressure Induced Metallization in the ε Phase of Solid Oxygen by ab initio Pseudopotential Plane-Wave Calculations

We perform an ab initio study on the electronic structure and charge density of the e-oxygen under high pressure, which is obtained by powder x-ray diffraction experiment recently. Our results show that the hybridization among the σg*, πu and πg* bands in the e-oxygen are not significant even at megabar pressure. Pressure-induced metallization occurs due to the band overlapping near the Fermi level at about 50 GPa. A new network along the b-axis is formed and the O8 characteristic in the e phase disappears above 50 GPa even though the symmetry remains unchanged.

First-Principles Studies on Properties of Boron-Related Impurities in c-BN

We investigate, by first-principles calculations, the pressure dependence of formation enthalpies and defective geometry and bulk modulus of boron-related impurities (VB, CB, NB, and OB) with different charged states in cubic boron nitride (c-BN) using a supercell approach. It is found that the nitrogen atoms surrounding the defect relax inward in the case of CB, while the nitrogen atoms relax outward in the other cases. These boron-related impurities become much more stable and have larger concentration with increasing pressure. The impurity CB+1 is found to have the lowest formation enthalpy, make the material exhibit semiconductor characters and have the bulk modulus higher than ideal c-BN and than those in the cases of other impurities. Our results suggest that the hardness of c-BN may be strengthened when a carbon atom substitutes at a B site.

Spin-polarized electronic properties of NiHe0.25 under pressure

This paper studies the effects of He atom on the spin-polarized electronic properties of nickel under pressures using ab initio pseudopotential plan-wave method. Under high pressures, the compound of NiHe0.25 can exist and heliumbubble can not create in Ni. A pressure-induced ferromagnetic to paramagnetic phase transition has been predicted in NiHe0.25 at about 218 GPa. It is found that under pressures, the magnetic property of Ni atoms is more strongly affected by He atom than by H atom and that the behaviour of He atom in Ni are completely different from that of H atom, like the bonding characteristics and the electron transfer.

First-Principles Prediction of High-Pressure Phase of CaC6

The lattice dynamics of rhombohedral CaC6 is studied as a function of pressure to probe its high pressure phase with low superconducting transition temperature using the density functional liner-response theory. The pressure-induced phase transition in CaC6 is attributable to the softening transverse acoustic (TA) phonon mode at the zone boundary X (0.5, 0.0, 0.5) point. The high pressure phase is then explored by performing fully structural optimization in the supercell which accommodates the atomic displacements corresponding to the eigenvectors of the unstable mode of TA(X). The high-pressure phase is predicted to be a monoclinic unit cell with space group P21/m.