Faculty Publications

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  • Item
    Vibrational spectra of Ruthenium Carbide structures yielded by the structure search employing evolutionary algorithm
    (Elsevier Ltd, 2015) Harikrishnan, G.; Ajith, K.M.; Chandra, S.; Valsakumar, M.C.
    Out of the three dynamically stable structures of Ruthenium Carbides yielded by the exhaustive structure search employing evolutionary algorithm, Born effective charges are computed for the semiconducting RuC in Zinc blende structure using density functional perturbation theory. Using the phonon frequencies and the Born effective charge tensors of Ru and C in this structure, infrared spectrum is generated for this system. Computations of these dynamical quantities and IR spectra from first principles can be helpful in the unambiguous determination of the stoichiometry and structure by comparison of the experimental measurements with the computational predictions. The positive formation energies of the three systems show that high pressure and possibly high temperature may be necessary for their synthesis. Formation energies of these systems at different pressures are computed. One of the structurally stable systems, Ru3C with hexagonal structure (P6¯m2), has negative formation energy at 200 GPa. The system reported from the first synthesis of Ruthenium Carbide also has the same symmetry, though it has a different stoichiometry. © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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    Evolutionary algorithm based structure search and first-principles study of B12C3polytypes
    (Elsevier Ltd, 2017) Harikrishnan, H.; Ajith, K.M.; Chandra, S.; Mundachali Cheruvalath, V.
    The structure search based on evolutionary algorithm has yielded six unique Boron Carbide structures in B12C3stoichiometry, three of them with negative formation energies. Their formation energies lie within a band of 166 meV/atom, so they can be formed together in any optimal high temperature synthesis of B12C3and they are thermodynamically stable at temperatures up to 660 K. This work is the first independent confirmation using structure search that B11Cp(CBC) is the ground state structure of B12C3stoichiometry. New structures like the 14-atom-cage and the supercell (B11Cp)(B10Cpe 2)(CBC)(CBB) have also emerged in the structure search. Five structures have base-centered monoclinic symmetry and the supercell has triclinic symmetry, implying that the determination of monoclinic symmetry in B12C3by experimental measurements is an option for further inquiry. The mechanical stability of these systems are established through the analysis of their elastic constants and their dynamical stability from the phonon data. The high value of Bulk modulus (?250 GPa) indicates their high hardness and the B/G value confirms their brittle nature. The electronic structure shows that they are semiconductors with a significant reduction in the band gap when the structure does not contain the CBC chain. The curve fitting of the cumulative IR spectrum against the experimental spectrum implies that the presence of B11Cp(CBC) in the ground state composition could mostly be through structures of larger unit cells. The hardness values of these systems estimated by using the semi-empirical model based on bond strength are in excellent agreement with the experimental values. For the four structures with chain the hardness values are close to the superhard regime (>40 GPa). © 2016 Elsevier B.V.
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    Semiconducting B13C2 system: Structure search and DFT-based analysis
    (Institute of Physics, 2019) Pillai, H.G.; Madam, A.K.; Chandra, S.; Cheruvalath, V.M.
    DFT calculation on Boron Carbide in B13C2 stoichiometry using a 15-atom unit cell necessarily results in metallic ground state regardless of the crystal structure. This is because such a unit cell consists of odd number of electrons, and hence complete filling of the top most band(s) of nonzero occupancy is impossible. This is in contrast to the observed semiconducting nature. If the crystal structure of B13C2 is made of a 30-atom unit cell which cannot be reduced to a 15 atom cell, there is a possibility of obtaining either a metallic or a semiconducting state as such a cell consists of an even number of electrons. In this work the evolutionary algorithm based structure search using 30-atom unit cells has yielded a previously unreported semiconducting system of B13C2 with unique bonding pattern. The mechanical and dynamical stability of the system have been properly established through the computation of elastic constants and phonon spectra. Its bond lengths, elastic moduli, hardness and infrared spectrum are in good agreement with experimental data. ©2019 IOP Publishing Ltd.