PNNL

Abstract

Simplified theories of transition metal electronic structure have been postulated for many decades. Here we test one such approximation, namely separate treatments of d (valence) and s/p (conduction) electrons in transition metal clusters, within a density functional formalism. Two different basic approaches are considered: (a) an independent-band approximation, in which the d- and s/p-bands interact only via the ?-dependent components of the Kohn-Sham operator; and (b) a more realistic approximation, in which the lowest-energy d- and s/p-orbitals (separately derived) are allowed to interact through explicit off-diagonal coupling matrix elements. Results are presented for the energy differences among three structural forms (icosahedral, cuboctahedral and truncated decahedral) of 13-atom Ni and Pt clusters. We demonstrate that an explicit decoupling of the d- and s/p-bands does not produce accurate results for the clusters considered here, not even for nickel, i.e., the transition metal for which d-s/p mixing should be at its minimum. By contrast, allowing the lowest energy orbitals of the two separate bands to interact improves the results considerably, and assures a fair description of metal-metal bonding. This suggests simplified models that exclude explicit d-s/p coupling should be employed with caution.