Yongkyung Kwon

Quantum solvation and molecular rotations in superfluid helium clusters

Spectroscopic experiments on molecules embedded in free clusters of liquid helium reveal a number of unusual features deriving from the unique quantum behavior of this nanoscale matrix environment. The apparent free rotation of small molecules in bosonic 4He clusters is one of the experimentally most well documented of these features. In this Focus article, we set this phenomenon in the context of experimental and theoretical advances in this field over the last ten years, and describe the microscopic insight which it has provided into the nature and dynamic consequences of quantum solvation in a superfluid. We provide a comprehensive theoretical analysis which is based on a unification of conclusions drawn from diffusion and path integral Monte Carlo calculations. These microscopic quantum calculations elucidate the origin of the empirical free rotor spectrum, and its relation to the boson character and superfluid nature of the quantum nanosolvent. The free rotor behavior of the molecular rotation is pre...

Effects of backflow correlation in the three-dimensional electron gas: Quantum Monte Carlo study

The correlation energy of the homogeneous three-dimensional interacting electron gas is calculated using the variational and fixed-node diffusion Monte Carlo methods, with trial functions that include backflow and three-body correlations. In the high-density regime ( r s<5) the effects of backflow dominate over those due to three-body correlations, but the relative importance of the latter increases as the density decreases. Since the backflow correlations vary the nodes of the trial function, this leads to improved energies in the fixed-node diffusion Monte Carlo calculations. The effects are comparable to those found for the two-dimensional electron gas, leading to much improved variational energies and fixed-node diffusion energies similar to the releasednode energies of Ceperley and Alder. @S0163-1829~98!00135-0#

Cohesion Energetics of Carbon Allotropes: Quantum Monte Carlo Study

We have performed quantum Monte Carlo calculations to study the cohesion energetics of carbon allotropes, including sp(3)-bonded diamond, sp(2)-bonded graphene, sp-sp(2) hybridized graphynes, and sp-bonded carbyne. The computed cohesive energies of diamond and graphene are found to be in excellent agreement with the corresponding values determined experimentally for diamond and graphite, respectively, when the zero-point energies, along with the interlayer binding in the case of graphite, are included. We have also found that the cohesive energy of graphyne decreases systematically as the ratio of sp-bonded carbon atoms increases. The cohesive energy of γ-graphyne, the most energetically stable graphyne, turns out to be 6.766(6) eV/atom, which is smaller than that of graphene by 0.698(12) eV/atom. Experimental difficulty in synthesizing graphynes could be explained by their significantly smaller cohesive energies. Finally, we conclude that the cohesive energy of a newly proposed graphyne can be accurately estimated with the carbon-carbon bond energies determined from the cohesive energies of graphene and three different graphynes considered here.

Localization of helium at an aromatic molecule in superfluid helium clusters

Analysis of the helium distribution around a benzene molecule in a 4HeN cluster with the path integral method shows evidence of near complete localization of two 4He atoms at positions above and below the molecular plane. These two atoms are only very weakly coupled to the remainder of the first solvation shell by permutation exchanges, implying that these atoms are effectively removed from the superfluid solvation. The implications of such localization for molecular spectra in helium clusters are discussed.

Superfluid solvation structure of OCS in helium clusters

We make a detailed study of the local solvation structure and energetics of an OCS molecule in clusters of 4He at finite temperatures. Calculations are made with the path integral Monte Carlo method, incorporating the exchange permutation symmetry of the bosonic 4He atoms. Analysis of the local extent of superfluidity is made with an approximate exchange path estimator developed previously. The sensitivity of the helium solvation structure to the interaction potential is examined with calculations for two recently published He–OCS potentials, and the vibrational shift of the antisymmetric OCS vibration is estimated from a set of vibrationally adiabatic potentials. We comment on possible effects of molecular rotation on the local solvation structure, and discuss the microscopic two-fluid analysis of the rotational spectroscopy of OCS in 4HeN.

Path integral methods for rotating molecules in superfluids

We present a path integral Monte Carlo (PIMC) methodology for quantum simulation of molecular rotations in superfluid environments such as helium and para-hydrogen that combines the sampling of rotational degrees of freedom for a molecular impurity with multilevel Metropolis sampling of Bose permutation exchanges for the solvating species. We show how the present methodology can be applied to the evaluation of imaginary time rotational correlation functions of the molecular impurity, from which the effective rotational constants can be extracted. The combined rotation/permutation sampling approach allows for the first time explicit assessment of the effect of Bose permutations on molecular rotation dynamics, and the converse, i.e., the effect of molecular rotations on permutation exchanges and local superfluidity. We present detailed studies showing that the effect of Bose permutations in the solvating environment is more significant for the dynamics of heavy than light molecules in helium, and that Bose permutation exchanges are slightly enhanced locally by molecular rotation. Finally, the examples studied here reveal a size dependence of rotational excitations for molecules possessing a strongly anisotropic interaction with helium in 4HeN clusters between N approximately 20 and N approximately 10(3).

Graphdiyne as a high-capacity lithium ion battery anode material

Using the first-principles calculations, we explored the feasibility of using graphdiyne, a 2D layer of sp and sp2 hybrid carbon networks, as lithium ion battery anodes. We found that the composite of the Li-intercalated multilayer α-graphdiyne was C6Li7.31 and that the calculated voltage was suitable for the anode. The practical specific/volumetric capacities can reach up to 2719 mAh g−1/2032 mAh cm−3, much greater than the values of ∼372 mAh g−1/∼818 mAh cm−3, ∼1117 mAh g−1/∼1589 mAh cm−3, and ∼744 mAh g−1 for graphite, graphynes, and γ-graphdiyne, respectively. Our calculations suggest that multilayer α-graphdiyne can serve as a promising high-capacity lithium ion battery anode.

OCS in para-hydrogen clusters: Rotational dynamics and superfluidity

We present a detailed analysis of the rotational excitations of the linear OCS molecule solvated by a variable number of para-hydrogen molecules (9 < or = N < or = 17). The effective rotational constant extracted from the fit of the rotational energy levels decreases up to N = 13, indicating near-rigid coupling between OCS rotations and para-hydrogen motion. Departure from rigidity is instead seen for larger clusters with 14 < or = N < or = 17. Path-integral Monte Carlo calculations show that the N dependence of the effective rotational constant can be explained in terms of a partial superfluid response of para-hydrogen to rotations about an axis perpendicular to the OCS axis. Complete para-hydrogen superfluid response to rotations about the OCS axis is found for N > or = 10.

Roton-rotation coupling of acetylene in 4He.

Rotational absorption spectra of acetylene in superfluid 4He calculated using a path-integral correlation function approach are seen to result in an anomalously large distortion constant in addition to a reduced rotational constant, with values in excellent agreement with recent experiments. Semianalytic treatment of the dynamics with a combined correlated basis function-diffusion Monte Carlo method reveals that this anomalous behavior is due to strong coupling of the higher rotational states of the molecule with the roton and maxon excitations of 4He, and the associated divergence of the 4He density of states in this region.

Commensurate-incommensurate transition of 4He adsorbed on a single C60 molecule.

Path-integral Monte Carlo calculations have been performed to study (4)He adsorption on a single C(60) molecule. Helium corrugations on the fullerene molecular surface are incorporated with the (4)He-C(60) interaction described by the sum of all (4)He-C interatomic pair potentials. Radial density distributions show a layer-by-layer growth of (4)He with the first adlayer being located at a distance of ~6.3 Å from the center of the C(60) molecule. The monolayer shows different quantum states as the number of (4)He adatoms N varies. For N = 32, we find a commensurate solid, with each of the 32 adsorption sites on the molecular surface being occupied by a single (4)He atom. Various domain-wall structures are observed as more (4)He atoms are added and the first layer crystallizes into an incommensurate solid when it is completely filled. This commensurate-incommensurate transition of the helium monolayer is found to be accompanied by re-entrant superfluid response at a low temperature of 0.31 K with the superfluidity being totally quenched at N = 32, 44, and 48. Finally, the different quantum states observed in the helium monolayer around C(60) are compared with phase diagrams proposed for the corresponding layer on a graphite surface.