Calculating phase-coherent quantum transport in nanoelectronics with ab initio quasiatomic orbital basis set

We present an efficient and accurate computational approach to study phase-coherent quantum transport in molecular and nanoscale electronics. We formulate a Green’s-function method in the recently developed ab initio nonorthogonal quasiatomic orbital basis set within the Landauer-Büttiker formalis...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Qian, Xiaofeng, Li, Ju, Yip, Sidney
Other Authors: Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Materials Science and Engineering
Format: Article
Language:en_US
Published: American Physical Society 2011
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/64475
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2727-0137
_version_ 1826199701826830336
author Qian, Xiaofeng
Li, Ju
Yip, Sidney
author2 Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Materials Science and Engineering
author_facet Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Materials Science and Engineering
Qian, Xiaofeng
Li, Ju
Yip, Sidney
author_sort Qian, Xiaofeng
collection MIT
description We present an efficient and accurate computational approach to study phase-coherent quantum transport in molecular and nanoscale electronics. We formulate a Green’s-function method in the recently developed ab initio nonorthogonal quasiatomic orbital basis set within the Landauer-Büttiker formalism. These quasiatomic orbitals are efficiently and robustly transformed from Kohn-Sham eigenwave functions subject to the maximal atomic-orbital similarity measure. With this minimal basis set, we can easily calculate electrical conductance using Green’s-function method while keeping accuracy at the level of plane-wave density-functional theory. Our approach is validated in three studies of two-terminal electronic devices, in which projected density of states and conductance eigenchannel are employed to help understand microscopic mechanism of quantum transport. We first apply our approach to a seven-carbon atomic chain sandwiched between two finite crosssectioned Al 001 surfaces. The emergence of gaps in the conductance curve originates from the selection rule with vanishing overlap between symmetry-incompatible conductance eigenchannels in leads and conductor. In the second application, a 4,4 single-wall carbon nanotube with a substitutional silicon impurity is investigated. The complete suppression of transmission at 0.6 eV in one of the two conductance eigenchannels is attributed to the Fano antiresonance when the localized silicon impurity state couples with the continuum states of carbon nanotube. Finally, a benzene-1,4-dithiolate molecule attached to two Au 111 surfaces is considered. Combining fragment molecular orbital analysis and conductance eigenchannel analysis, we demonstrate that conductance peaks near the Fermi level result from resonant tunneling through molecular orbitals of benzene- 1,4-dithiolate molecule. In general, our conductance curves agree very well with previous results obtained using localized basis sets while slight difference is observed near the Fermi level and conductance edges.
first_indexed 2024-09-23T11:24:14Z
format Article
id mit-1721.1/64475
institution Massachusetts Institute of Technology
language en_US
last_indexed 2024-09-23T11:24:14Z
publishDate 2011
publisher American Physical Society
record_format dspace
spelling mit-1721.1/644752022-09-27T19:18:17Z Calculating phase-coherent quantum transport in nanoelectronics with ab initio quasiatomic orbital basis set Qian, Xiaofeng Li, Ju Yip, Sidney Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Materials Science and Engineering Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering Yip, Sidney Qian, Xiaofeng Yip, Sidney We present an efficient and accurate computational approach to study phase-coherent quantum transport in molecular and nanoscale electronics. We formulate a Green’s-function method in the recently developed ab initio nonorthogonal quasiatomic orbital basis set within the Landauer-Büttiker formalism. These quasiatomic orbitals are efficiently and robustly transformed from Kohn-Sham eigenwave functions subject to the maximal atomic-orbital similarity measure. With this minimal basis set, we can easily calculate electrical conductance using Green’s-function method while keeping accuracy at the level of plane-wave density-functional theory. Our approach is validated in three studies of two-terminal electronic devices, in which projected density of states and conductance eigenchannel are employed to help understand microscopic mechanism of quantum transport. We first apply our approach to a seven-carbon atomic chain sandwiched between two finite crosssectioned Al 001 surfaces. The emergence of gaps in the conductance curve originates from the selection rule with vanishing overlap between symmetry-incompatible conductance eigenchannels in leads and conductor. In the second application, a 4,4 single-wall carbon nanotube with a substitutional silicon impurity is investigated. The complete suppression of transmission at 0.6 eV in one of the two conductance eigenchannels is attributed to the Fano antiresonance when the localized silicon impurity state couples with the continuum states of carbon nanotube. Finally, a benzene-1,4-dithiolate molecule attached to two Au 111 surfaces is considered. Combining fragment molecular orbital analysis and conductance eigenchannel analysis, we demonstrate that conductance peaks near the Fermi level result from resonant tunneling through molecular orbitals of benzene- 1,4-dithiolate molecule. In general, our conductance curves agree very well with previous results obtained using localized basis sets while slight difference is observed near the Fermi level and conductance edges. United States. Dept. of Energy. Office of Basic Energy Sciences United States. Dept. of Energy. Office of Energy Research National Science Foundation (U.S.). Materials Research Science and Engineering Centers (Program) (Grant no. DMR- 0520020) United States. Air Force Office of Scientific Research (Grant No. FA9550-08-1-0325) 2011-06-17T15:03:49Z 2011-06-17T15:03:49Z 2010-11 2010-06 Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle 1098-0121 1550-235X http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/64475 Qian, Xiaofeng, Ju Li, and Sidney Yip. “Calculating phase-coherent quantum transport in nanoelectronics with ab initio quasiatomic orbital basis set.” Physical Review B 82.19 (2010) : n. pag. © 2010 The American Physical Society https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2727-0137 en_US http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.82.195442 Physical review B Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use. application/pdf American Physical Society APS
spellingShingle Qian, Xiaofeng
Li, Ju
Yip, Sidney
Calculating phase-coherent quantum transport in nanoelectronics with ab initio quasiatomic orbital basis set
title Calculating phase-coherent quantum transport in nanoelectronics with ab initio quasiatomic orbital basis set
title_full Calculating phase-coherent quantum transport in nanoelectronics with ab initio quasiatomic orbital basis set
title_fullStr Calculating phase-coherent quantum transport in nanoelectronics with ab initio quasiatomic orbital basis set
title_full_unstemmed Calculating phase-coherent quantum transport in nanoelectronics with ab initio quasiatomic orbital basis set
title_short Calculating phase-coherent quantum transport in nanoelectronics with ab initio quasiatomic orbital basis set
title_sort calculating phase coherent quantum transport in nanoelectronics with ab initio quasiatomic orbital basis set
url http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/64475
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2727-0137
work_keys_str_mv AT qianxiaofeng calculatingphasecoherentquantumtransportinnanoelectronicswithabinitioquasiatomicorbitalbasisset
AT liju calculatingphasecoherentquantumtransportinnanoelectronicswithabinitioquasiatomicorbitalbasisset
AT yipsidney calculatingphasecoherentquantumtransportinnanoelectronicswithabinitioquasiatomicorbitalbasisset