First-principles studies on graphene-supported transition metal clusters.

Theoretical studies on the structure, stability, and magnetic properties of icosahedral TM13 (TM = Fe, Co, Ni) clusters, deposited on pristine (defect free) and defective graphene sheet as well as graphene flakes, have been carried out within a gradient corrected density functional framework. The defects considered in our study include a carbon vacancy for the graphene sheet and a five-membered and a seven-membered ring structures for graphene flakes (finite graphene chunks). It is observed that the presence of defect in the substrate has a profound influence on the electronic structure and magnetic properties of graphene-transition metal complexes, thereby increasing the binding strength of the TM cluster on to the graphene substrate. Among TM13 clusters, Co13 is absorbed relatively more strongly on pristine and defective graphene as compared to Fe13 and Ni13 clusters. The adsorbed clusters show reduced magnetic moment compared to the free clusters.

Magnetic nanostructures by adaptive twinning in strained epitaxial films.

We exploit the intrinsic structural instability of the Fe(70)Pd(30) magnetic shape memory alloy to obtain functional epitaxial films exhibiting a self-organized nanostructure. We demonstrate that coherent epitaxial straining by 54% is possible. The combination of thin film experiments and large-scale first-principles calculations enables us to establish a lattice relaxation mechanism, which is not expected for stable materials. We identify a low twin boundary energy compared to a high elastic energy as key prerequisite for the adaptive nanotwinning. Our approach is versatile as it allows to control both, nanostructure and intrinsic properties for ferromagnetic, ferroelastic, and ferroelectric materials.

A guideline for atomistic design and understanding of ultrahard nanomagnets.

Magnetic nanoparticles are of immense current interest because of their possible use in biomedical and technological applications. Here we demonstrate that the large magnetic anisotropy of FePt nanoparticles can be significantly modified by surface design. We employ X-ray absorption spectroscopy offering an element-specific approach to magnetocrystalline anisotropy and the orbital magnetism. Experimental results on oxide-free FePt nanoparticles embedded in Al are compared with large-scale density functional theory calculations of the geometric- and spin-resolved electronic structure, which only recently have become possible on world-leading supercomputer architectures. The combination of both approaches yields a more detailed understanding that may open new ways for a microscopic design of magnetic nanoparticles and allows us to present three rules to achieve desired magnetic properties. In addition, concrete suggestions of capping materials for FePt nanoparticles are given for tailoring both magnetocrystalline anisotropy and magnetic moments.

Structural and magnetic properties of ternary Fe(1-)MnPt nanoalloys from first principles.

BACKGROUND: Structural and magnetic properties of binary Mn-Pt and ternary Fe(1-) (x)Mn(x)Pt nanoparticles in the size range of up to 2.5 nm (561 atoms) have been explored systematically by means of large scale first principles calculations in the framework of density functional theory. For each composition several magnetic and structural configurations have been compared. RESULTS: The concentration dependence of magnetization and structural properties of the ternary systems are in good agreement with previous bulk and thin film measurements. At an intermediate Mn-content around x = 0.25 a crossover between several phases with magnetic and structural properties is encountered, which may be interesting for exploitation in functional devices. CONCLUSION: Addition of Mn effectively increases the stability of single crystalline L1(0) particles over multiply twinned morphologies. This, however, compromises the stability of the ferromagnetic phase due to an increased number of antiferromagnetic interactions. The consequence is that only small additions of Mn can be tolerated for data recording applications.

Simulating functional magnetic materials on supercomputers.

The recent passing of the petaflop per second landmark by the Roadrunner project at the Los Alamos National Laboratory marks a preliminary peak of an impressive world-wide development in the high-performance scientific computing sector. Also, purely academic state-of-the-art supercomputers such as the IBM Blue Gene/P at Forschungszentrum Jülich allow us nowadays to investigate large systems of the order of 10(3) spin polarized transition metal atoms by means of density functional theory. Three applications will be presented where large-scale ab initio calculations contribute to the understanding of key properties emerging from a close interrelation between structure and magnetism. The first two examples discuss the size dependent evolution of equilibrium structural motifs in elementary iron and binary Fe-Pt and Co-Pt transition metal nanoparticles, which are currently discussed as promising candidates for ultra-high-density magnetic data storage media. However, the preference for multiply twinned morphologies at smaller cluster sizes counteracts the formation of a single-crystalline L1(0) phase, which alone provides the required hard magnetic properties. The third application is concerned with the magnetic shape memory effect in the Ni-Mn-Ga Heusler alloy, which is a technologically relevant candidate for magnetomechanical actuators and sensors. In this material strains of up to 10% can be induced by external magnetic fields due to the field induced shifting of martensitic twin boundaries, requiring an extremely high mobility of the martensitic twin boundaries, but also the selection of the appropriate martensitic structure from the rich phase diagram.

Thermal decomposition of trimethylgallium Ga(CH3)3: a shock-tube study and first-principles calculations.

The thermal decomposition of Ga(CH3)3 has been studied both experimentally in shock-heated gases and theoretically within an ab-initio framework. Experiments for pressures ranging from 0.3 to 4 bar were performed in a shock tube equipped with atomic resonance absorption spectroscopy (ARAS) for Ga atoms at 403.3 nm. Time-resolved measurements of Ga atom concentrations were conducted behind incident waves as well as behind reflected shock waves at temperatures between 1210 and 1630 K. The temporal variation in Ga-atom concentration was described by a reaction mechanism involving the successive abstraction of methyl radicals from Ga(CH3)3 (R1), Ga(CH3)2 (R2), and GaCH3 (R3), respectively, where the last reaction is the rate-limiting step leading to Ga-atom formation. The rate constant of this reaction (R3) was deduced from a simulation of the measured Ga-atom concentration profiles using thermochemical data from ab-initio calculations for the reactions R1 and R2 as input. The Rice-Ramsperger-Kassel-Marcus (RRKM) method including variational transition state theory was applied for reaction R3 assuming a loose transition state. Structural parameters and vibrational frequencies of the reactant and transition state required for the RRKM calculations were obtained from first-principles simulations. The energy barrier E3(0) of reaction R3, which is the most sensitive parameter in the calculation, was adjusted until the RRKM rate constant matched the experimental one and was found to be E(0) = 288 kJ/mol. This value is in a good agreement with the corresponding ab-initio value of 266 kJ/mol. The rate constant of reaction R3 was found to be k 3/(cm(3) mol(-1)s(-1)) = 2.34 x 10(11) exp[-23330(K/ T)].

Multiply twinned morphologies of FePt and CoPt nanoparticles.

Based on large-scale density functional theory calculations we provide a systematic overview of the size dependence of the energetic order and magnetic properties of various morphologies of FePt and CoPt clusters with diameters of up to 2.5 nm. For FePt, ordered multiply twinned icosahedra and decahedra are more favorable than the L1_(0) phase throughout the investigated size range. For CoPt, segregated morphologies predominate with considerably increased energy differences to the L1_(0) structure. The compositional trends are traced back to differences between the morphologies in the partial electronic density of states associated with the 3d element.

Shellwise Mackay transformation in iron nanoclusters.

Structure and magnetism of iron clusters with up to 641 atoms have been investigated by means of density functional theory calculations including full geometric optimizations. Body-centered cubic (bcc) isomers are found to be lowest in energy when the clusters contain more than about 100 atoms. In addition, another stable conformation has been identified for magic-number clusters, which lies well within the range of thermal energies as compared to the bcc isomers. Its structure is characterized by a close-packed particle core and an icosahedral surface, while intermediate shells are partially transformed along the Mackay path between icosahedral and cuboctahedral geometry. The gradual transformation results in a favorable bcc environment for the subsurface atoms. For Fe55, the shellwise Mackay-transformed morphology is a promising candidate for the ground state.

Electron correlation effects in the Fe dimer.

The potential energy surface of the Fe dimer is investigated on the basis of density functional theory in the generalized gradient approximation (GGA). Electron correlation effects are taken into account explicitly within the GGA+U approach. We find a value of 2.20 eV for the Coulomb repulsion parameter U to describe the Fe dimer best, yielding a 9 Sigma(g)- ground state with an interatomic separation of 2.143 A. Agreement of the associated vibrational frequency, binding energy, ionization potential, and electron affinity with experimental data as well as corresponding results calculated within a high-level ab initio approach is improved significantly compared to conventional GGA. The effect of U on calculated geometric and magnetic properties of larger Fe clusters is discussed.

The retinal conformation and its environment in rhodopsin in light of a new 2.2 A crystal structure.

A new high-resolution structure is reported for bovine rhodopsin, the visual pigment in rod photoreceptor cells. Substantial improvement of the resolution limit to 2.2 A has been achieved by new crystallization conditions, which also reduce significantly the probability of merohedral twinning in the crystals. The new structure completely resolves the polypeptide chain and provides further details of the chromophore binding site including the configuration about the C6-C7 single bond of the 11-cis-retinal Schiff base. Based on both an earlier structure and the new improved model of the protein, a theoretical study of the chromophore geometry has been carried out using combined quantum mechanics/force field molecular dynamics. The consistency between the experimental and calculated chromophore structures is found to be significantly improved for the 2.2 A model, including the angle of the negatively twisted 6-s-cis-bond. Importantly, the new crystal structure refinement reveals significant negative pre-twist of the C11-C12 double bond and this is also supported by the theoretical calculation although the latter converges to a smaller value. Bond alternation along the unsaturated chain is significant, but weaker in the calculated structure than the one obtained from the X-ray data. Other differences between the experimental and theoretical structures in the chromophore binding site are discussed with respect to the unique spectral properties and excited state reactivity of the chromophore.

11-cis-retinal protonated Schiff base: influence of the protein environment on the geometry of the rhodopsin chromophore.

Density functional theory (DFT) calculations based on the self-consistent-charge tight-binding approximation have been performed to study the influence of the protein pocket on the 3-dimensional structure of the 11-cis-retinal Schiff base (SB) chromophore. Starting with an effectively planar chromophore embedded in a protein pocket consisting of the 27 next-nearest amino acids, the relaxed chromophore geometry resulting from energy optimization and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations has yielded novel insights with respect to the following questions: (i) The conformation of the beta-ionone ring. The protein pocket tolerates both conformations, 6-s-cis and 6-s-trans, with a total energy difference of 0.7 kcal/mol in favor of the former. Of the two possible 6-s-cis conformations, the one with a negative twist angle (optimized value: -35 degrees ) is strongly favored, by 3.6 kcal/mol, relative to the one in which the dihedral is positive. (ii) Out-of-plane twist of the chromophore. The environment induces a nonplanar helical deformation of the chromophore, with the distortions concentrated in the central region of the chromophore, from C10 to C13. The dihedral angle between the planes formed by the bonds from C7 to C10 and from C13 to C15 is 42 degrees. (iii) The absolute configuration of the chromophore. The dihedral angle about the C12-C13 bond is +170 degrees from planar s-cis, which imparts a positive helicity on the chromophore, in agreement with earlier considerations based on theoretical and spectroscopic evidence.