Density functional theory study of Au-fcc/Ge and Au-hcp/Ge interfaces

• Olga Sikora,
• Małgorzata Sternik,
• Benedykt R. Jany,
• Franciszek Krok,
• Przemysław Piekarz and
• Andrzej M. Oleś

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 1093–1105, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.90

• displacements due to significant mismatch. Finally, analyzing the electronic properties, we demonstrate that Au/Ge systems have metallic character, but covalent-like bonding states between interfacial Ge and Au atoms are also present. Keywords: Au/Ge heterostructures; density functional theory; electronic

• separation (adhesion) were used. We applied first principles methods based on density functional theory (DFT) to study Au/Ge heterostructures with different interfacial plane orientations. The remainder of the paper is organized as follows. In the Methodology section the calculation details are given, and

• provide surface energy details for gold and germanium crystals and the charge density differences for the Au/Ge heterostructures. Methodology Interfacial energy and the work of separation in DFT calculations In contrast to the bulk phase of a material, the surface atoms have an incomplete set of neighbors