Electronic Stucture of Elemental Boron

Boron has complex structures in its crystalline forms that lead to a variety of properties. The primary phases of elemental boron are α-B12, t-B50, γ-B28, and β-B106 and are the focus of this thesis. As a preliminary step to elucidate the properties of these phases, ab initio calculations have been performed to obtain the electronic structure and optical properties of the system from a fundamental quantum mechanical point of view. Also calculated are the Xray Absorption Near Edge Structure (XANES) spectra which can provide information about the relationship between atomic structure and electronic structure. The calculated XANES spectra of α-B12 agrees with experimental data in terms of peak position and peak height. Based on the success of the α-B12 calculation, XANES spectra of t-B50, γ-B28, and β-B106 are predicted. In addition, these XANES spectra are grouped according to the similar geometrical features that are present in their atomic structures and analyzed.

Name thesis:degree_name

M.S.

Level thesis:degree_level

Masters

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Physics (UMKC)

Grantor dc:publisher

University of Missouri--Kansas City

Year dc:date.issued

2010

Author dc:creator

• Wang, Liaoyuan

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Ching, Wai-Yim

• Density Functional Theory (DFT), Density of States (DOS), Elemental Boron, Orthoganalized Linear Combination of Atomic Orbitals (OLCAO), X-ray Absorption Near Edge Structure (XANES)

Language dc:language.iso

en_US

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/10355/9345

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:mospace.umsystem.edu:10355/9345