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Vibrational renormalisation of the electronic band gap in hexagonal and cubic ice.

Accepted version
Peer-reviewed

Type

Article

Change log

Authors

Engel, Edgar A 
Monserrat, Bartomeu 
Needs, Richard J 

Abstract

Electron-phonon coupling in hexagonal and cubic water ice is studied using first-principles quantum mechanical methods. We consider 29 distinct hexagonal and cubic ice proton-orderings with up to 192 molecules in the simulation cell to account for proton-disorder. We find quantum zero-point vibrational corrections to the minimum electronic band gaps ranging from -1.5 to -1.7 eV, which leads to improved agreement between calculated and experimental band gaps. Anharmonic nuclear vibrations play a negligible role in determining the gaps. Deuterated ice has a smaller band-gap correction at zero-temperature of -1.2 to -1.4 eV. Vibrations reduce the differences between the electronic band gaps of different proton-orderings from around 0.17 eV to less than 0.05 eV, so that the electronic band gaps of hexagonal and cubic ice are almost independent of the proton-ordering when quantum nuclear vibrations are taken into account. The comparatively small reduction in the band gap over the temperature range 0 - 240 K of around 0.1 eV does not depend on the proton ordering, or whether the ice is protiated or deuterated, or hexagonal, or cubic. We explain this in terms of the atomistic origin of the strong electron-phonon coupling in ice.

Description

Keywords

cond-mat.mtrl-sci, cond-mat.mtrl-sci

Journal Title

J Chem Phys

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

0021-9606
1089-7690

Volume Title

143

Publisher

AIP Publishing

Rights

All rights reserved
Sponsorship
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EP/J017639/1)
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EP/K014560/1)
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EP/F032773/1)
EPSRC (1208472)