Matteo Bonfanti

Methane Dissociation on Pt(111) : Searching for a Specific Reaction Parameter Density Functional

The theoretical description of methane dissociating on metal surfaces is a current frontier in the field of gas-surface dynamics. Dynamical models that aim at achieving a highly accurate description of this reaction rely on potential energy surfaces based on density functional theory calculations at the generalized gradient approximation. We focus here on the effect that the exchange-correlation functional has on the reactivity of methane on a metal surface, using CHD3 + Pt(111) as a test case. We present new ab initio molecular dynamics calculations performed with various density functionals, looking also at functionals that account for the van der Waals (vdW) interaction. While searching for a semi-empirical specific reaction parameter density functional for this system, we find that the use of a weighted average of the PBE and the RPBE exchange functionals together with a vdW-corrected correlation functional leads to an improved agreement with quantum state-resolved experimental data for the sticking probability, compared to previous PBE calculations. With this semi-empirical density functional, we have also investigated the surface temperature dependence of the methane dissociation reaction and the influence of the rotational alignment on the reactivity, and compared our results with experiments.

Quantum Dynamics of the Eley−Rideal Hydrogen Formation Reaction on Graphite at Typical Interstellar Cloud Conditions†

Eley-Rideal formation of hydrogen molecules on graphite, as well as competing collision induced processes, are investigated quantum dynamically at typical interstellar cloud conditions, focusing in particular on gas-phase temperatures below 100 K, where much of the chemistry of the so-called diffuse clouds takes place on the surface of bare carbonaceous dust grains. Collisions of gas-phase hydrogen atoms with both chemisorbed and physisorbed species are considered using available potential energy surfaces (Sha et al., J. Chem. Phys.2002 116, 7158), and state-to-state, energy-resolved cross sections are computed for a number of initial vibrational states of the hydrogen atoms bound to the surface. Results show that (i) product molecules are internally hot in both cases, with vibrational distributions sharply peaked around few (one or two) vibrational levels, and (ii) cross sections for chemisorbed species are 2-3x smaller than those for physisorbed ones. In particular, we find that H(2) formation cross sections out of chemically bound species decrease steadily when the temperature drops below approximately 1000 K, and this is likely due to a quantum reflection phenomenon. This suggests that such Eley-Rideal reaction is all but efficient in the relevant gas-phase temperature range, even when gas-phase H atoms happen to chemisorb barrierless to the surface as observed, e.g., for forming so-called para dimers. Comparison with results from classical trajectory calculations highlights the need of a quantum description of the dynamics in the astrophysically relevant energy range, whereas preliminary results of an extensive first-principles investigation of the reaction energetics reveal the importance of the adopted substrate model.

Thermal lattice expansion effect on reactive scattering of H2 from Cu(111) at T(s) = 925 K.

Surface phonons and surface temperature may have important effects on reactions of molecules at surfaces, and at present much remains unknown about these effects. A question addressed here, which has received little attention so far, is how reaction at elevated temperature is affected by thermal lattice expansion. To answer this question for the benchmark reaction of H2 and D2 with Cu(111), we have performed quantum and quasi-classical dynamics calculations. The specific reaction parameter (SRP) approach to density functional theory (DFT) has been used to compute the required six-dimensional potential energy surfaces (PES). Computed reaction probabilities and rotational quadrupole alignment parameters have been compared for surface temperatures Ts = 0 and 925 K. Surface thermal expansion of the lattice leads to a considerable decrease of reaction barrier heights and thereby to increased reaction probabilities as well as decreased rotational quadrupole alignment parameter values in associative desorption.

A few simple rules governing hydrogenation of graphene dots.

We investigated binding of hydrogen atoms to small polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs)--i.e., graphene dots with hydrogen-terminated edges--using density functional theory and correlated wavefunction techniques. We considered a number of PAHs with three to seven hexagonal rings and computed binding energies for most of the symmetry unique sites, along with the minimum energy paths for significant cases. The chosen PAHs are small enough to not present radical character at their edges, yet show a clear preference for adsorption at the edge sites which can be attributed to electronic effects. We show how the results, as obtained at different levels of theory, can be rationalized in detail with the help of a few simple concepts derivable from a tight-binding model of the π electrons.

7D Quantum Dynamics of H2 Scattering from Cu(111): The Accuracy of the Phonon Sudden Approximationy

Abstract The correct prediction of elementary processes occurring when H2 scatters from a metal surface is one of the main challenges of surface science. In the field, the scattering of H2 from Cu(111) has been considered a prototype system for activated dissociative chemisorption. Experimental and theoretical work suggested that a proper description of some scattering experiments on this system might require going beyond the static surface approximation, to consider how the motion of the Cu atoms affects the scattering event. Previous work suggested that important effects of phonons on the dynamics can be incorporated in the Potential Energy Surface (PES) by including four degrees of freedom, that have approximately additive couplings with the hydrogen molecule: the 3 dimensional motion of the nearest 1st layer copper atom and the displacement of the nearest 2nd layer copper atom along the direction perpendicular to the surface [3]. In the present work, we extend the 6D dynamical model by including the perpendicular motion of the 2nd layer surface atom and we study this novel dynamical model with two techniques: an approximate method based on the Phonon Sudden Approximation (PSA) and an exact description using 7D wavepacket quantum dynamics. We consider how the inclusion and the excitation of the lattice degree of freedom affect some relevant processes: dissociative chemisorption, vibrational excitation of H2 and state-to-state scattering probabilities fully resolved with respect to the vibrational states of the surface. We show that the PSA works in an excellent way for the system, thereby suggesting that this might be a viable way to study higher dimensional quantum models, incorporating four surface degrees of freedom that appear to be most relevant for H2 scattering.

Analysis of strain relaxation by microcracks in epitaxial GaAs grown on Ge/Si substrates

A detailed spectroscopic and morphological study of GaAs epitaxial layers grown by molecular beam epitaxy on Ge buffer layers deposited by low energy plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition on Si is presented. The aim is to understand the nature of thermal strain relaxation induced by crack formation in the epilayers. The comparison of the experimental data on the spatial strain relaxation pattern with the theoretical prediction from a purely elastic model indicates that strain relaxation around cracks arises from two contributions. At short distances the main contribution is essentially plastic, due to the presence of extended defects. At large distances, on the contrary, elastic relaxation seems to dominate. It is also shown that GaAs grown on Ge∕Si substrates is in a state of metastable strain as a consequence of the fact that cracks relax the thermal tensile strain only locally.

Quantum dynamics of hydrogen atoms on graphene. I. System-bath modeling

An accurate system-bath model to investigate the quantum dynamics of hydrogen atoms chemisorbed on graphene is presented. The system comprises a hydrogen atom and the carbon atom from graphene that forms the covalent bond, and it is described by a previously developed 4D potential energy surface based on density functional theory ab initio data. The bath describes the rest of the carbon lattice and is obtained from an empirical force field through inversion of a classical equilibrium correlation function describing the hydrogen motion. By construction, model building easily accommodates improvements coming from the use of higher level electronic structure theory for the system. Further, it is well suited to a determination of the system-environment coupling by means of ab initio molecular dynamics. This paper details the system-bath modeling and shows its application to the quantum dynamics of vibrational relaxation of a chemisorbed hydrogen atom, which is here investigated at T = 0 K with the help of the multi-configuration time-dependent Hartree method. Paper II deals with the sticking dynamics.

Quantum dynamics of hydrogen atoms on graphene. II. Sticking

Following our recent system-bath modeling of the interaction between a hydrogen atom and a graphene surface [Bonfanti et al., J. Chem. Phys. 143, 124703 (2015)], we present the results of converged quantum scattering calculations on the activated sticking dynamics. The focus of this study is the collinear scattering on a surface at zero temperature, which is treated with high-dimensional wavepacket propagations with the multi-configuration time-dependent Hartree method. At low collision energies, barrier-crossing dominates the sticking and any projectile that overcomes the barrier gets trapped in the chemisorption well. However, at high collision energies, energy transfer to the surface is a limiting factor, and fast H atoms hardly dissipate their excess energy and stick on the surface. As a consequence, the sticking coefficient is maximum (∼0.65) at an energy which is about one and half larger than the barrier height. Comparison of the results with classical and quasi-classical calculations shows that quantum fluctuations of the lattice play a primary role in the dynamics. A simple impulsive model describing the collision of a classical projectile with a quantum surface is developed which reproduces the quantum results remarkably well for all but the lowest energies, thereby capturing the essential physics of the activated sticking dynamics investigated.

Compact MCTDH Wave Functions for High-Dimensional System-Bath Quantum Dynamics

We employ a simple multiconfiguration time-dependent Hartree (MCTDH) ansatz tailored to an effective-mode transformation of environmental variables that brings the bath into a linear chain form. In this form, important (primary) degrees of freedom can be easily identified and treated at a high correlation level, whereas secondary modes are left uncorrelated. The resulting approach scales linearly with the bath dimensions and allows us to easily access recurrence times much longer than usually possible, at a very small computational cost. Test calculations for model atom-surface problems show that the system dynamics is correctly reproduced in the relevant time window, and quantitative agreement is attained for energy relaxation and sticking, particularly in non-Markovian environments. These results pave the way for tackling realistic system-bath quantum dynamical problems on the picosecond scale.

Phonon sideband recombination kinetics in single quantum dots

We report an experimental study on the recombination kinetics of single strain-free GaAs quantum dots (QDs) grown by modified droplet epitaxy. The different bands composing the single quantum dot emission line at high temperature show identical dynamics, proving the common origin of all contributions. Our results thus agree with the interpretation of the broad pedestal band appearing when increasing the temperature as originated from the phonon replica. Finally, the relative weight of the phonon replicas depends both on temperature and on the QD size, in agreement with the theoretical predictions.