Mattia Sist

Quantitative analysis of intermolecular interactions in orthorhombic rubrene

A combination of single-crystal X-ray and neutron diffraction experiments are used to determine the electron density distribution in orthorhombic rubrene. The topology of electron density, NCI analysis and energetics of intermolecular interactions clearly demonstrate the presence of π⋯π stacking interactions in the crystalline state.

Crystal structure and phase transition of thermoelectric SnSe.

Tin selenide-based functional materials are extensively studied in the field of optoelectronic, photovoltaic and thermoelectric devices. Specifically, SnSe has been reported to have an ultrahigh thermoelectric figure of merit of 2.6 ± 0.3 in the high-temperature phase. Here we report the evolution of lattice constants, fractional coordinates, site occupancy factors and atomic displacement factors with temperature by means of high-resolution synchrotron powder X-ray diffraction measured from 100 to 855 K. The structure is shown to be cation defective with a Sn content of 0.982 (4). The anisotropy of the thermal parameters of Sn becomes more pronounced approaching the high-temperature phase transition (∼ 810 K). Anharmonic Gram-Charlier parameters have been refined, but data from single-crystal diffraction appear to be needed to firmly quantify anharmonic features. Based on modelling of the atomic displacement parameters the Debye temperature is found to be 175 (4) K. Conflicting reports concerning the different coordinate system settings in the low-temperature and high-temperature phases are discussed. It is also shown that the high-temperature Cmcm phase is not pseudo-tetragonal as commonly assumed.

X-ray electron density investigation of chemical bonding in van der Waals materials

Van der Waals (vdW) solids have attracted great attention ever since the discovery of graphene, with the essential feature being the weak chemical bonding across the vdW gap. The nature of these weak interactions is decisive for many extraordinary properties, but it is a strong challenge for current theory to accurately model long-range electron correlations. Here we use synchrotron X-ray diffraction data to precisely determine the electron density in the archetypal vdW solid, TiS2, and compare the results with density functional theory calculations. Quantitative agreement is observed for the chemical bonding description in the covalent TiS2 slabs, but significant differences are identified for the interactions across the gap, with experiment revealing more electron deformation than theory. The present data provide an experimental benchmark for testing theoretical models of weak chemical bonding.Electron density in TiS2 is determined by synchrotron X-ray diffraction, which reveals significant differences between experimental data and theory for interlayer van der Waals interactions.

Carrier concentration dependence of structural disorder in thermoelectric Sn1−xTe

The crystal structure of SnTe is investigated from 20 to 800 K in two samples with different carrier concentrations by single-crystal and powder synchrotron X-ray diffraction, coupled with maximum entropy analysis.

Accurate atomic displacement parameters from time-of-flight neutron-diffraction data at TOPAZ

Accurate atomic displacement parameters (ADPs) are a good indication of high-quality diffraction data. Results from the newly commissioned time-of-flight Laue diffractometer TOPAZ at the SNS are presented. Excellent agreement is found between ADPs derived independently from the neutron and X-ray data emphasizing the high quality of the data from the time-of-flight Laue diffractometer.

High-Temperature Crystal Structure and Chemical Bonding in Thermoelectric Germanium Selenide (GeSe)

The discovery of the ultra-high thermoelectric figure of merit of 2.6 in SnSe has drawn attention to other lead-free IV-VI orthorhombic semiconductors. GeSe has been predicted to possess thermoelectric performances comparable to SnSe. Here, a complete structural study is reported of GeSe with temperature by means of high-resolution synchrotron powder X-ray diffraction. In the orthorhombic phase, the evolution of the bond distances with temperature is shown to deviate significantly with respect to SnSe. Analysis of the chemical bonding within the Quantum Theory of Atoms in Molecules shows that GeSe is ionic with van der Waals interlayer interactions. The signature of the N shell lone pair of Ge is also evident from both the electron density Laplacian and the ELF topologies.

Charge-density study of van der Waals layered MoS2 and TiS2

High-resolution diffraction data are essential to determine accurate charge density. We reported d-space resolution dependence of the charge densities in Ref. 1. To obtain high-resolution X-ray diffraction data, we have performed synchrotron diffraction experiments using 60 keV X-ray at PETRA-III [2], 50 keV X-ray at SPring-8 and multiple powder diffraction data method [1]. Recently, we have probed charge densities of iso-structural metal hexaborides as a pi-bonding system using ultra-high resolution d > 0.22 Å powder data [3]. Our present challenge is to evaluate the weak interaction in van der Waals-layered structures such as MoS2 and TiS2. The layered transition metal dichalcogenides have been attractive due to their unique properties, e.g., as topological insulators, charge density wave system and materials for energy. The layered structure exhibits strong covalent intralayer bonding and weak van der Waals (vdW) interlayer interaction. Compared to strong intralayer bonding, weak interlayer interaction is difficult to be evaluated not only experimentally but also theoretically because vdW force is not described in ground states. The experimental evaluation of vdW interlayer interaction can be useful for the fundamental understanding of the vdW interaction and layered structure. In the present study, we evaluate and compare the weak vdW interlayer interaction in MoS2 (space group: P63/mmc) and TiS2 (space group: P-3m1) using experimental X-ray charge densities. The charge densities were modelled with the Hansen-Coppens multipole model using single-crystal diffraction data with a resolution of d > 0.3 Å measured at the BL02B1 of SPring-8. In the presentation, we will discuss the weak interlayer vdW interaction from experimental and theoretical charge densities.

Material Design Inputs from Charge Density Analysis in Organic Semiconductors

In recent years, semiconducting organic materials have attracted a considerable amount of interest to develop all-organic or hybrid organic-inorganic electronic devices such as organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs), organic field-effect transistors (OFETs), or photovoltaic cells. Rubrene (5,6,11,12-tetraphenyltetracene, RUB) is one of the most explored compound in this area as it has nearly 100% fluorescence quantum efficiency in solution. Additionally, the OFET fabricated by vacuum-deposited using orthorhombic rubrene single crystals show p-type characteristics with high mobility up to 20cm2/Vs (Podzorov et al., 2004). The large charge-carrier mobilities measured have been attributed to the packing motif (Fig a) which provides enough spatial overlap of the π-conjugated tetracene backbone. In the same time, RUB undergoes an oxidation in the presence of light to form rubrene endoperoxide (RUB-OX) (Fumagalli et al., 2011). RUB-OX molecules show electronic and structural properties strikingly different from those of RUB, mainly due to the disruption in the conjugate stacking of tetracene moieties. The significant semiconducting property of RUB is not clear yet. In this context, high resolution single crystal X-ray data of RUB (Fig b) and RUB-OX have been collected at 100K. Owing to the presence of weak aromatic stacking and quadrupolar interactions, the neutron single crystal data is also collected at 100K. The C-H bond distances and scaled anisotropic displacement parameters (ADP) of hydrogens from the neutron experiment are used in the multipolar refinements of electron density. The chemical bonding features (Fig c), the topology of electron density and strength of weak interaction are calculated by the Atoms in Molecules (AIM) theory (Bader, 1990). It is further supported by the source function description and mapping of non-covalent interactions based on the electron density. The detailed comparison of two organic semiconductors, RUB and RUB-OX will be discussed.

Investigating anharmonicity and disorder in cadmium and zinc telluride

CdTe and ZnTe are often referred to as II-VI semiconductors. Due to the structural and photoelectric properties and low-cost manufacturability, CdTe and ZnTe based thin films are used in the photovoltaic technology and in variety of electronic devices such as infrared, X-ray and gamma ray detectors (Eisen at al., 1998). The structure of another telluride, PbTe, has recently been reviewed and the emerging atomic disorder with temperature seems to have an indissoluble liaison with the high thermoelectric figure of merit of such promising material (Bozin et al., 2010). Deviations of the cation from its position in the ideal rock-salt structure have been probed by means of Maximum Entropy Method (MEM) calculations on Synchrotron powder X-ray diffraction data (SPXRD) (Kastbjerg et al., 2013). Motivated by the peculiar structural features in lead telluride, we investigate anharmonicity and disorder of the cations in both the zincblende structures, CdTe and ZnTe. High resolution SPXRD data at 100 K have been collected for both compounds. High energy radiation and minute capillaries have been used with the aim to minimize systematic errors on the data such as absorption and anomalous scattering. Accurate Rietveld refinements have been carried out in order to extract the best dataset of structure factors. Maximum Entropy Method calculations have hence been computed, providing the least-biased information deduction from experimental data. The disorder, anharmonicity and chemical bonding within the crystalline CdTe and ZnTe have been deeply investigated through the MEM densities and comparisons with the cation displacement in the structure of lead telluride have been established.