We report results from ab-initio, self-consistent density functional theory (DFT) calculations of electronic, transport and bulk properties of rock salt magnesium sulfide (MgS). In the absence of experimental data on these properties, except for the bulk modulus, these results are predictions. Our calculations utilized the Ceperley and Alder local density approximation (LDA) potential and the linear combination of Gaussian orbitals (LCGO).The key difference between our computations and other previous ab-initio DFT ones stems from our use of successively larger basis sets, in consecutive, self-consistent calculations, to attain the ground state of the material. We predicted an indirect (Γ-X) band gap of 3.278 eV for a room temperature lattice constant of 5.200Å. We obtained a predicted low temperature indirect (Γ-X) band gap of 3.512 eV, using the equilibrium lattice constant of 5.183Å. We found a theoretical value of 79.76 GPa for the bulk modulus; it agrees very well with the experimental finding of 78 ± 3.7 GPa.

We report details of our ab-initio, self-consistent density functional theory (DFT) calculations of electronic and related properties of wurtzite beryllium oxide (w-BeO). Our calculations were performed using a local density approximation (LDA) potential and the linear combination of atomic orbitals (LCAO) formalism. Unlike previous DFT studies of BeO, the implementation of the Bagayoko, Zhao, and Williams (BZW) method, as enhanced by the work of Ekuma and Franklin (BZW-EF), ensures the full physical content of the results of our calculations, as per the derivation of DFT. We present our computed band gap, total and partial densities of states, and effective masses. Our direct band gap of 10.30 eV, reached by using the experimental lattice constants of a = 2.6979 Å and c = 4.3772 Å at room temperature, agrees very well the experimental values of 10.28 eV and 10.3 eV. The hybridization of O and Be p states in the upper valence bands, as per our calculated, partial densities of states, are in agreement with corresponding, experimental findings.

We present an ab-initio, self-consistent density functional theory (DFT) description of ground state electronic and related properties of hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN). We used a local density approximation (LDA) potential and the linear combination of atomic orbitals (LCAO) formalism. We rigorously implemented the Bagayoko, Zhao, and Williams (BZW) method, as enhanced by Ekuma and Franklin (BZW-EF). The method ensures a generalized minimization of the energy that is far beyond what can be obtained with self-consistency iterations using a single basis set. The method leads to the ground state of the material, in a verifiable manner, without employing over-complete basis sets. We report the ground state band structure, band gap, total and partial densities of states, and electron and hole effective masses of hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN). Our calculated, indirect band gap of 4.37 eV, obtained with room temperature experimental lattice constants of a = 2.504 Å and c = 6.661 Å, is in agreement with the measured value of 4.3 eV. The valence band maximum is slightly to the left of the K point, while the conduction band minimum is at the M point. Our calculated, total width of the valence and total and partial densities of states are in agreement with corresponding, experimental findings.

We carried out a density functional theory (DFT) study of the electronic and related properties of zinc blende indium arsenide (zb-InAs). These related properties include the total and partial densities of states and electron and hole effective masses. We utilized the local density approximation (LDA) potential of Ceperley and Alder. Instead of the conventional practice of performing self-consistent calculations with a single basis set, albeit judiciously selected, we do several self-consistent calculations with successively augmented basis sets to search for and reach the ground state of the material. As such, our calculations strictly adhere to the conditions of validity of DFT and the results are fully supported by the theory, which explains the agreement between our findings and corresponding, experimental results. Indeed, unlike some 21 previous ab initio DFT calculations that reported zb-InAs band gaps that are negative or zero, we found the room temperature measured value of 0.360 eV. It is a clear achievement to reproduce not only the locations of the peaks in the valence band density of states, but also the measured values of the electron and hole effective masses. This agreement with experimental results underscores not only the correct description of the band gap, but also of the overall structure of the bands, including their curvatures in the vicinities of the conduction band minimum (CBM) and of the valence band maximum (VBM).

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We report results from several ab-initio computations of electronic, transport and bulk properties of zinc-blende beryllium selenide (zb-BeSe). Our nonrelativistic calculations utilized a local density approximation (LDA) potential and the linear combination of atomic orbitals (LCAO). The key distinction of our calculations from other DFT calculations is the implementation of the Bagayoko, Zhao and Williams (BZW) method, as enhanced by Ekuma and Franklin (BZW-EF), in the LCAO formalism. Our calculated, indirect band gap is 5.46 eV, from Г to a conduction band minimum between Г and X, for a room temperature lattice constant of 5.152 Å. Available, room temperature experimental band gaps of 5.5 (direct) and 4-4.5 (unspecified) point to the need for additional measurements of this gap. Our calculated bulk modulus of 92.35 GPa is in excellent agreement with experiment (92.2 ± 1.8 GPa). Our predicted equilibrium lattice constant and band gap, at zero temperature, are 5.0438 Å and 5.4 eV, respectively.