Electronic Structure Methods For Complex Materials

Density functional theory (DFT) has blossomed in the past few decades into a powerful tool that is used by experimentalists and theoreticians alike. This book highlights the extensive contributions that the DFT-based OLCAO method has made to progress in this field, and it demonstrates its competitiveness for performing ab initio calculations on large and complex models of practical systems. A brief historical account and introduction to the elements of the theory set the stage for discussions on semiconductors, insulators, crystalline metals and alloys, complex crystals, non-crystalline solids and liquids, microstructure containing systems and those containing impurities, defects, and surfaces, biomolecular systems, and the technique of ab initio core level spectroscopy calculation.

This book details the application of the OLCAO method for calculating the properties of solids from fundamental principles to a wide array of material systems. The method specializes in large and complex models and is able to compute a variety of useful properties including electronic, optical, and spectroscopic properties.

Most textbooks in the field are either too advanced for students or don't adequately cover current research topics. Bridging this gap, Electronic Structure of Materials helps advanced undergraduate and graduate students understand electronic structure methods and enables them to use these techniques in their work.Developed from the author's lecture

We present here the transcripts of lectures and talks which were delivered at the NATO ADVANCED STUDY INSTITUTE "Electronic Structure of Complex Systems" held at the State University of Ghent, Belgium during the period July 12-23, 1982. The aim of these lectures was to highlight some of the current progress in our understanding of the electronic structure of com plex systems. A massive leap forward is obtained in bandstructure calculations with the advent of linear methods. The bandtheory also profitted tremendously from the recent developments in the density functional theories for the properties of the interacting electron gas in the presence of an external field of ions. The means of per forming fast bandstructure calculations and the confidence in the underlying potential functions have led in the past five years or so to a wealth of investigations into the electronic properties of elemental solids and compounds. The study of the trends of the electronic structure through families of materials provided invalu able insights for the prediction of new materials. The detailed study of the electronic structure of specific solids was not neglected and our present knowledge of d- and f-metals and metal hydrides was reviewed. For those systems we also investi gated the accuracy of the one electron potentials in fine detail and we complemented this with the study of small clusters of atoms where our calculations are amenable to comparison with the frontiers of quantum chemistry calculations.

This book is a short survey of magnetochemistry as a promising method for revealing the electronic structure of inorganic substances, particularly solid oxide materials. It is supported by five chapters that describe materials with various structures and applications, showing how the method of magnetic dilution with the aid of other physical methods (electron spin resonance, magnetization, Raman and Mössbauer spectroscopy, and electrical conductivity), accompanied by thorough structural and quantum mechanical studies, may be used for describing the states of atoms and interatomic interactions in multicomponent oxide systems. The book will serve as a guide for researchers in the field of various oxide materials, since it shows the roots for selecting the best structures and qualitative and quantitative compositions of oxide materials on the basis of the knowledge about their electronic structure. It is devoted to some of the most popular structures of multicomponent oxides among modern materials—perovskites and pyrochlores—giving a unified approach to their chemical structure.

The study of electronic structure of materials is at a momentous stage, with new computational methods and advances in basic theory. Many properties of materials can be determined from the fundamental equations, and electronic structure theory is now an integral part of research in physics, chemistry, materials science and other fields. This book provides a unified exposition of the theory and methods, with emphasis on understanding each essential component. New in the second edition are recent advances in density functional theory, an introduction to Berry phases and topological insulators explained in terms of elementary band theory, and many new examples of applications. Graduate students and research scientists will find careful explanations with references to original papers, pertinent reviews, and accessible books. Each chapter includes a short list of the most relevant works and exercises that reveal salient points and challenge the reader.

Electronic-structure calculations of the properties of specific materials have become increasingly important over the last 30 years. Although several books on the subject have been published, it is rare to find one that covers in detail both the traditional quantum chemistry and the solid-state physics methods of electronic-structure calculations. This title bridges that gap, focusing equally on both types of method, including density-functional and Hartree-Fock-based approaches. The book is aimed at final-year undergraduate and postgraduate students of both chemistry and of physics. It describes in detail the fundamentals behind the various methods that are used in calculating electronic properties of materials, and that to some extent are commercially available. It should also be of interest to professional scientists working in related theoretical or experimental fields.

An authoritative text in condensed matter physics, unifying theory and methods to present electronic structure to students and researchers.