We present a theoretical investigation of visible absorption and related luminescence of alkali atoms (Li, Na, and K) embedded in Ar matrix. We used a model based on core polarization pseudopotentials, which allows us to determine accurately the gas-to-matrix shifts of various trapping sites. The remarkable agreement between our calculated results and the experimental spectra recorded by several authors allows us to establish a clear assignment of the observed spectra, which are made of contributions from crystalline sites on the one hand, and of grain boundary sites on the other hand. Our study reveals remarkably large Stokes shifts, up to 9000 cm(-1), which could be observed experimentally to identify definitely the trapping sites.

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We investigate the relaxation of photoexcited Li(2)(+) chromophores solvated in Ne(n) clusters (n = 2-22) by means of molecular dynamics with surface hopping. The simplicity of the electronic structure of these ideal systems is exploited to design an accurate and computationally efficient model. These systems present two series of conical intersections between the states correlated with the Li+Li(2s) and Li+Li(2p) dissociation limits of the Li(2)(+) molecule. Frank-Condon transition from the ground state to one of the three lowest excited states, hereafter indexed by ascending energy from 1 to 3, quickly drives the system toward the first series of conical intersections, which have a tremendous influence on the issue of the dynamics. The states 1 and 2, which originate in the Frank-Condon area from the degenerated nondissociative 1(2)Π(u) states of the bare Li(2)(+) molecule, relax mainly to Li+Li(2s) with a complete atomization of the clusters in the whole range of size n investigated here. The third state, which originates in the Frank-Condon area from the dissociative 1(2)Σ(u)(+) state of the bare Li(2)(+) molecule, exhibits a richer relaxation dynamics. Contrary to intuition, excitation into state 3 leads to less molecular dissociation, though the amount of energy deposited in the cluster by the excitation process is larger than for excitation into state 1 and 2. This extra amount of energy allows the system to reach the second series of conical intersections so that approximately 20% of the clusters are stabilized in the 2(2)Σ(g)(+) state potential well for cluster sizes n larger than 6.

We present a detailed investigation of the ground and lowest excited states of M-Ne dimers, for M=Li, Na, and K. We show that the potential energy curves of these Van der Waals dimers can be obtained accurately by considering the alkali neon systems as one-electron systems. Following previous authors, the model describes the evolution of the alkali valence electron in the combined potentials of the alkali and neon cores by means of core polarization pseudopotentials. The key parameter for an accurate model is the M(+)-Ne potential energy curve, which was obtained by means of ab initio CCSD(T) calculation using a large basis set. For each MNe dimer, a systematic comparison with ab initio computation of the potential energy curve for the X, A, and B states shows the remarkable accuracy of the model. The vibrational analysis and the comparison with existing experimental data strengthens this conclusion and allows for a precise assignment of the vibrational levels.

Pure carbon clusters have received considerable attention for a long time. However, fundamental questions, such as what the smallest stable carbon cluster dication is, remain unclear. We investigated the stability and fragmentation behavior of C n 2+ ( n = 2–4) dications using state-of-the-art atom probe tomography. These small doubly charged carbon cluster ions were produced by laser-pulsed field evaporation from a tungsten carbide field emitter. Correlation analysis of the fragments detected in coincidence reveals that they only decay to C n –1 + + C + . During C 2 2+ → C + + C + , significant kinetic energy release (∼5.75–7.8 eV) is evidenced. Through advanced experimental data processing combined with ab initio calculations and simulations, we show that the field-evaporated diatomic 12 C 2 2+ dications are either in weakly bound 3 Π u and 3 Σ g – states, quickly dissociating under the intense electric field, or in a deeply bound electronic 5 Σ u – state with lifetimes >180 ps.

We present an ab initio study of OH(-)(H2O)n (n = 1-7) clusters in their lowest three singlet and two triplet electronic states, calculated with the RASPT2 method. Minimum energy structures were obtained by geometry optimization for both (a) the 1(1)Σ(+) ground state and (b) the 1(3)Π excited state. From these structures, vertical detachment energies (VDEs), transition energies, and atomic charges were calculated. (a) We found that ground-state geometries present the hydroxide at the surface, accepting three and four H bonds from water. The excess charge is strongly stabilized by water up to a VDE of 6.7 eV for n = 7. Bound singlet excited states for ground-state geometries exist for n ≥ 3, and their VDE increases up to 1 eV for n = 7. (b) The 1(3)Π state equilibrium geometries completely differ from the ground-state geometries. They are characterized by the hydroxide acting as a single H bond donor to a water molecule, which then donates a H-bond to two others, forming a "tree" pattern. All minimum energy structures present this "tree" pattern and a constant total number of 2n - 2 H bonds, or equivalently 3 dangling hydrogens. The excess charge stabilizes from n = 2 and goes mainly at the surface, on the dangling hydrogens of water. An almost neutral OH radical is then formed. Resulting structural resemblances with the neutral system make the VDEs of the first excited states weakly geometry dependent but size sensitive because of additive polarization effects. In contrast, the 1(1)Σ(+) state at the 1(3)Π geometries is strongly sensitive to structural patterns. We bring out existing correlations between these patterns and the corresponding 1(1)Σ(+) state energy increase, which leads to couplings with excited states and possibly to an inversion of the state energy order. From these assessments, we propose a scenario for recombination of aqueous hydroxide following excitation in a charge-transfer-to-solvent state.

We present a theoretical investigation of the structure and optical absorption of M(2)(+) alkali dimers (M=Li,Na,K) solvated in Ne(n) clusters for n=1 to a few tens Ne atoms. For all these alkali, the lowest-energy isomers are obtained by aggregation of the first Ne atoms at the extremity of the alkali molecule. This particular geometry, common to other M(2)(+)-rare gas clusters, is intimately related to the shape of the electronic density of the X  (2)Σ(g)(+) ground state of the bare M(2)(+) molecules. The structure of the first solvation shell presents equilateral Ne(3) and capped pentagonal Ne(6) motifs, which are characteristic of pure rare gas clusters. The size and geometry of the complete solvation shell depend on the alkali and were obtained at n=22 with a D(4h) symmetry for Li and at n=27 with a D(5h) symmetry for Na. For K, our study suggests that the closure of the first solvation shell occurs well beyond n=36. We show that the atomic arrangement of these clusters has a profound influence on their optical absorption spectrum. In particular, the XΣ transition from the X  (2)Σ(g)(+) ground state to the first excited (2)Σ(u)(+) state is strongly blueshifted in the Frank-Condon area.

The ideal picture of a near-perfect 3D microscope often presented regarding Atom Probe Tomography faces several issues. These issues degrade the metrological performance of the instrument and find their roots in the phenomena acting at the atomic to the mesoscopic level in the vicinity of the surface of a field emitter. From the field evaporation process at the atomic scale, to the macroscopic scale of the instrument, the path to model the imaging process and to develop more accurate and reliable reconstruction algorithms is not a single lane road. This paper focused on the numerical methods used to understand, treat, and potentially heal imaging issues commonly affecting the data in atom probe experiments. A lot of room for improvement exists in solving accuracy problems observed in complex materials by means of purely electrostatic models describing the image formation in a classical approach. Looking at the sample at the atomic scale, the phenomena perturbing the imaging process are subtle. An examination of atomic scale modifications of the sample surface in the presence of a high surface electric field is therefore mandatory.Atomic scale molecular dynamic models integrating the influence of the high surface electric are being developed with this aim. It is also demonstrated that the complex behavior of atoms and molecules in high fields, and consequences on collected data, can be understood through the use of accurate ab-initio models modified to include the impact of the extreme surface electric field.The capability to correlate the physical properties of materials to the local three dimensional distribution of atoms is nowadays crucial in designing new and improved materials and devices. When designing nanostructured materials, the dream is to be able to catch with the highest metrological performance a snapshot of the region of interest. Being able to identify structural and elemental information with 3D details on the single-atom level could transform the understanding of the relationship between structure (e.g. composition, defects, crystallography) and properties (e.g. magnetic, electric, photonic, or mechanical properties for instance) at the most fundamental level. This approach is explored using the atom probe tomography instrument (APT). This instrument is indeed unique in the world of nano-analysis tools, for its ability to provide, after analysis of a volume of interest in the material, a 3D map of atom positions, with atoms labelled by their elemental identities [1,2,3,4].By wandering between the static positions of atoms present in an APT dataset, the instrument's user often feels that the three dimensional image is a snapshot of the specimen that was left unharmed by the analysis process. This feeling is obviously an illusion. At the APT specimen level, i.e. a sharply pointed needle (called the tip), the imaging process utilizes extremely intense physical mechanisms on the surface and sub-surface of the materials. A strong electric voltage generates locally a huge surface electric field (sever...