Insights into the structures and electronic properties of Cun+1μ and CunS μ (n = 1-12; μ = 0, ±1) clusters

Cheng-Gang Li; Zi-Gang Shen; Yan-Fei Hu; Ya-Nan Tang; Wei-Guang Chen; Bao-Zeng Ren

doi:10.1038/s41598-017-01444-6

Insights into the structures and electronic properties of Cu_n+1^μ and Cu_nS ^μ (n = 1-12; μ = 0, ±1) clusters

Sci Rep. 2017 May 2;7(1):1345. doi: 10.1038/s41598-017-01444-6.

Authors

Cheng-Gang Li^{1

2}, Zi-Gang Shen¹, Yan-Fei Hu³, Ya-Nan Tang¹, Wei-Guang Chen¹, Bao-Zeng Ren²

Affiliations

¹ College of Physics and Electronic Engineering, Quantum Materials Research Center, Zhengzhou Normal University, Zhengzhou, 450044, China.
² School of Chemical Engineering and Energy, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450001, China.
³ School of Physics and Electronic Engineering, Sichuan University of Science & Engineering, Zigong, 643000, China. yanfei_hu1982@suse.edu.cn.

Abstract

The stability and reactivity of clusters are closely related to their valence electronic configuration. Doping is a most efficient method to modify the electronic configuration and properties of a cluster. Considering that Cu and S posses one and six valence electrons, respectively, the S doped Cu clusters with even number of valence electrons are expected to be more stable than those with odd number of electrons. By using the swarm intelligence based CALYPSO method on crystal structural prediction, we have explored the structures of neutral and charged Cu_n+1 and Cu_nS (n = 1-12) clusters. The electronic properties of the lowest energy structures have been investigated systemically by first-principles calculations with density functional theory. The results showed that the clusters with a valence count of 2, 8 and 12 appear to be magic numbers with enhanced stability. In addition, several geometry-related-properties have been discussed and compared with those results available in the literature.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't