| 1. |
- Biasin, Pietro, et al.
(författare)
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From borophene polymorphs towards a single honeycomb borophane phase : reduction of hexagonal boron layers on Al(111)
- 2023
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Ingår i: Nanoscale. - 2040-3364. ; 15:45, s. 18407-18414
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The recent interest in characterizing 2D boron polymorphs has led to claims of the first stabilization of a honeycomb phase with conical Dirac-like electron dispersion. However, the synthesis of chemically stable, single, and homogeneous 2D boron phases still represents a significant experimental challenge. This is ascribed to the intrinsic boron electronic configuration that, at variance with carbon, leads to the formation of multi-center covalent bonds. External charge compensation by substrate-induced doping can steer the geometry of the layer, both in the buckling and in the density of B vacancies, like in the case of the recently achieved stabilization of honeycomb boron layers on Al(111). The price to pay is however a strong boron-support interaction, resulting in general in a limiting kinetic hindrance with respect to the synthesis of homogenous single phases. In the specific case of Al(111) an AlB2 layer is known to form at the surface, quite far from a desirable quasi-freestanding borophene monolayer and at variance with graphene, which can be easily synthesized in an almost freestanding configuration e.g. on Ir(111). We provide here evidence for the (reversible) formation of well-ordered honeycomb borophane upon hydrogenation of the honeycomb boron phase on Al(111).
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| 2. |
- Biasin, Pietro, et al.
(författare)
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Growth and Redox Properties of Boron on Al(111) : Competing Affinities in the Case of Honeycomb AlB2
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Ingår i: ACS Nano. - 1936-0851.
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The complexity of the geometric and electronic structure of boron allotropes is associated with the multicentric bonding character and the consequent B polymorphism. When growth is limited to two-dimensions (2D), the structural and electronic confinement yields the borophenes family, where the interaction with the templating substrate actually determines the stability of inequivalent boron phases. We report here a detailed study of the growth of the honeycomb AlB2 phase on Al(111), followed by an investigation of its oxidation and reduction properties. By means of a combined experimental and theoretical approach, we show that the structure of the B/Al interface is affected by the complex interplay between B, Al, and common reactive agents like oxygen and hydrogen. While kinetic effects associated with diffusion and strain release influence the AlB2 growth in vacuo, Al, B, O, and H chemical affinities determine its redox behavior. Reduction with atomic hydrogen involves the B layer and yields an ordered honeycomb borophane H/AlB2 phase. Instead, oxidation takes place at the Al interface, giving origin to buried and 1D surface aluminum oxide phases.
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| 3. |
- Baraldi, Alessandro, et al.
(författare)
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The (1x1)-> hexagonal structural transition on Pt(100) studied by high-energy resolution core level photoemission
- 2007
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Ingår i: Journal of Chemical Physics. - : AIP Publishing. - 0021-9606 .- 1089-7690. ; 127:16
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The (1 x 1)-> quasihexagonal (HEX) phase transition on a clean Pt(100) surface was investigated by monitoring the time evolution of the Pt4f(7/2) core level photoemission spectra. The spectral component originating from the atoms forming the (1 x .1) metastable unreconstructed surface was found at -570 +/- 20 meV with respect to the bulk peak. Ab initio calculations based on density functional theory confirmed the experimental assignment. At temperatures above 370 K, the (1 x 1) phase irreversibly reverts to the more stable HEX phase, characterized by a surface core level shifted component at -185 +/- 40 meV. By analyzing the intensity evolution of the core level components, measured at different temperatures in the range of 393-475 K, we determined the activation energy of the phase transformation, E=0.76 +/- 0.04 eV. This value is considerably lower than the one previously determined by means of low energy electron diffraction. Possible reasons for this discrepancy are discussed.
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| 4. |
- Gunde, Miha, et al.
(författare)
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First-principles characterization of Mg low-index surfaces : Structure, reconstructions, and surface core-level shifts
- 2019
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Ingår i: Physical Review B. - 2469-9950. ; 100:7
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In this paper, first-principles calculations provide structural characterization of three low-index Mg surfaces - Mg(0001), Mg(1010), and Mg(1120) - and their respective surface core-level shifts (SCLSs). Inspired by the close similarities between Be and Mg surfaces, we also explore the reconstruction of Mg(1120). Through the calculation of surface energies and the use of the angular-component decomposed density of states, we show that reconstructions are likely to occur at the Mg(1120) surface, similarly to what was found earlier for Be(1120). Indeed, the surface energy of some of the explored reconstructions is slightly lower than that of the unreconstructed surface. In addition, because of lattice symmetry, the morphology of the unreconstructed surface (1120) results in a steplike zig-zag chain packing, with topmost chains supporting a resonant, quasi-one-dimensional (1D), partially filled electronic state. As the presence of partially filled quasi-1D bands is a necessary condition for Peierls-like dimerization, we verify that the undimerized surface chain remains stable with respect to it. Some of the reconstructions, namely, the 2×1 and 3×1 added row reconstructions, induce a stronger relaxation of the topmost chains, increasing the coupling with lower layers and thus significantly damping the quasi-1D character of this state. The original approach followed offers a common and general framework to identify quasi-1D bands - even in the case of resonant electronic surface states - and to meaningfully compare calculated and measured SCLSs even in the presence of multicomponent peak contributions.
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| 5. |
- Lejaeghere, Kurt, et al.
(författare)
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Reproducibility in density functional theory calculations of solids.
- 2016
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Ingår i: Science. - : American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). - 0036-8075 .- 1095-9203. ; 351:6280, s. 1415-1422
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The widespread popularity of density functional theory has given rise to an extensive range of dedicated codes for predicting molecular and crystalline properties. However, each code implements the formalism in a different way, raising questions about the reproducibility of such predictions. We report the results of a community-wide effort that compared 15 solid-state codes, using 40 different potentials or basis set types, to assess the quality of the Perdew-Burke-Ernzerhof equations of state for 71 elemental crystals. We conclude that predictions from recent codes and pseudopotentials agree very well, with pairwise differences that are comparable to those between different high-precision experiments. Older methods, however, have less precise agreement. Our benchmark provides a framework for users and developers to document the precision of new applications and methodological improvements.
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