Atomic-Scale Description of the Magnetic TiN|FeCo Multilayers.

Motivated by the experimental findings of Wolff et al., we investigated the TiN|FeCo multilayers at the atomic scale. Four different models were employed to investigate the interface, considering both Fe and Co surface terminations of the FeCo compounds. The interface formation energy formalism was employed to study the thermodynamic stability of these models. The results show that an interface mediated by Co atoms is most likely to appear in the experiment. Also, the Fe surface termination is more viable than a Co surface termination. The magnetic moments of Co at the interface are 1.48 µB/atom, which denotes a decay compared to bulk (1.76 µB/atom). Besides, Ti acquires a very small induced magnetization of -0.05 µB/atom. Our proposed atomistic model of the TiN|FeCo multilayer system fits perfectly with the structure obtained in experiments, and it is a step forward in the theoretical-experimental design of wear-resistant coatings with outstanding magnetic and mechanical properties.

Electronic and optical properties of the buckled and puckered phases of phosphorene and arsenene.

Using first-principles calculations, we have investigated the structural, electronic, and optical properties of phosphorene and arsenene, group V two-dimensional materials. They have attracted the scientific community's interest due to their possible applications in electronics and optoelectronics. Since phosphorene and arsenene are not planar monolayers, two types of structures were considered for each system: puckered and buckled arrangements. Computations of band gap were performed within the GW approach to overcome the underestimation given by standard DFT and predict trustable band gap values in good agreement with experimental measurements. Our calculated electronic band gaps lie in the range from near-infrared to visible light, suggesting potential applications in optoelectronics devices. The computed electronic band gaps are 2.95 eV and 1.83 eV for blue and black phosphorene systems. On the other hand, the values for buckled and puckered arsenene are 2.56 eV and 1.51 eV, respectively. Moreover, the study of the optical properties has been dealt by computing the dielectric function imaginary part, which was obtained using the Bethe-Salpeter approach. The use of this technique allows the consideration of excitonic effects. Results indicate strong exciton binding energies of 830 meV for blue phosphorene, 540 meV for black phosphorene, 690 meV for buckled arsenene, and 484 meV for puckered arsenene. The results of our study suggest the possibility of using these materials in electronic and optoelectronic devices.

First-principles studies of the strain-induced band-gap tuning in black phosphorene.

Using first-principles calculations, we have studied the band-gap modulation as function of applied strain in black phosphorene (BP). Dynamical stability has been assessed as well. Three cases have been considered, in the first and second, the strain was applied uniaxially, in thex- andy-axis, separately. In the third, an isotropic in-plane strain was analyzed. Different strain percentages have been considered, ranging from 4% to 20%. The evolution of the band-gap is studied by using standard DFT and the G0W0approach. The band-gap increases for small strains but then decreases for higher strains. A change in electronic behavior also takes place: the strained systems change from direct to indirect band-gap semiconductor, which is explained in terms of thesandp-orbitals overlap. Our study shows that BP is a system with a broad range of applications: in band-gap engineering, or as part of van der Waals heterostructures with materials of larger lattice parameters. Its stability, and direct band-gap behavior are not affected for less than 16% of uniaxial and biaxial strain. Our findings show that phosphorene could be deposited in a large number of substrates without losing its semiconductor behavior.

Electron correlations and memory effects in ultrafast electron and hole dynamics in VO2.

By applying an approach based on time-dependent density functional theory and dynamical mean-field theory (TDDFT+DMFT) we examine the role of electron correlations in the ultrafast breakdown of the insulating M1 phase in bulk VO2. We consider the case of a spatially homogeneous ultrafast (femtosecond) laser pulse perturbation and present the dynamics of the melting of the insulating state, in particular the time-dependence of the excited charge density. The time-dependence of the chemical potential of the excited electron and hole subsystems shows that even for such short times the dynamics of the system is significantly affected by memory effects-the time-resolved electron-electron interactions. The results pave the way for obtaining a microscopic understanding of the ultrafast dynamics of strongly-correlated materials.

Surface enhanced Raman scattering of amino acids assisted by gold nanoparticles and Gd(3+) ions.

The surface enhanced raman scattering (SERS) signal from the l-tyrosine (tyr) molecule adsorbed on gold nanoparticles (Au-tyr) is compared with the SERS signal assisted by the presence of gadolinium ions (Gd(3+)) coordinated with the Au-tyr system. An enhancement factor of the SERS signal in the presence of Gd(3+) ions was ∼5 times higher than that produced by l-tyrosine adsorbed on gold nanoparticles. The enhancement of the SERS signal can be attributed to a corresponding increase in the local electric field due to the presence of Gd(3+) ions in the vicinity of a gold dimer configuration. This scenario was confirmed by solving numerically Maxwell equations, showing an increase of 1 order of magnitude in the local electric scattered field when the Gd(3+) ion is located in between a gold dimer compared with naked gold nanoparticles.