The native point defects are studied in LiGaO2 using hybrid functional calculations. We find that the relative energy of formation of the cation vacancies and the cation antisite defects depends strongly on the chemical potential conditions. The lowest energy defect is found to be the GaLi2+ donor. It is compensated mostly by VLi−1 and in part by LiGa−2 in the more Li-rich conditions. The equilibrium carrier concentrations are found to be negligible because the Fermi level is pinned deep in the gap and this is consistent with insulating behavior in pure LiGaO2. VGa has high energy under all reasonable conditions. Both GaLi and VO are found to be negative U centers with deep 2+/0 transition levels.

The pentagonal boron carbon nitride (penta-BCN) monolayer has been recently proposed as a new member of the pentagon-based two-dimensional nanosheets [Zhao et al., J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 11(9), 3501 (2020)]. By using density functional theory with the generalized gradient approximation, we have carried out detailed investigations of a hydrogenated penta-BCN sheet, where the pristine penta sheet is decorated with H atoms to the composition BCNH2. The hydrogenated penta-BCN (H-BCN) structure is mechanically, thermally, and dynamically stable. It has a wide and indirect bandgap of 4.46 eV, contrasting with the direct gap of 1.70 eV in pristine BCN. H-BCN is environmentally stable at 1 bar of H2 down to 10−10 bar; beyond this point, pristine BCN becomes more stable. Compared with penta-BCN, the components of the elastic modulus tensor C11 and C12 of hydrogenated penta-BCN are reduced, while C12 and C66 are increased. The strain tensors of piezoelectricity in H-BCN are d21=0.462,d22=0.213, and d16=1.03pm/V, which are lower than those of pristine penta-BCN. The hydrogenated BCN structure displays a higher spontaneous polarization Ps than penta-BCN (4.64 × 10−10 vs 3.38 × 10−10 C/m, respectively). The smaller in-plane Young's moduli Ea and Eb for H-BCN indicated that that they are softer than those for penta-BCN. Strain engineering can help tune electronic properties. In agreement with this claim, we found that the indirect gap of H-BCN was tunable from 4.46 to 3.26 eV under an applied tensile strain of 0%–16%, the range where the structure is dynamically stable throughout. Meanwhile, H-BCN is dynamically unstable under an applied compressive strain.

The discovery of new and stable two-dimensional (2D) materials with exotic properties is essential for technological advancement. Inspired by the recently reported penta-PdPSe, we proposed penta-NiPS as a new member of the penta-2D materials based on first-principles calculations. The penta-NiPS monolayer is stable in two polymorphs including the α phase with an identical structure as penta-PdPSe and the newly proposed β phase with rotated sublayers. Comprehensive analyses indicated that both phases are thermodynamically, dynamically, mechanically, and thermally stable. The penta-NiPS is a soft material with 2D Young’s modulus of E a = 208 N m–1 and E b = 178 N m–1 for the α phase and E a = 184 N m–1 and E b = 140 N m–1 for the β phase. Interestingly, the α-penta-NiPS showed nearly zero Poisson’s ratios along the in-plane direction, where its dimensions would be maintained when being extended. For electronic application, we demonstrated that penta-NiPS is a wide band gap semiconductor with an indirect band gap of 2.35 eV for the α phase and 2.20 eV for the β phase.