In this work, we present our preliminary ab initio results for the structural and electronic properties of both Si- and C-terminated SiC (100) surfaces in (2×1) and c(2×2) reconstruction patterns. Based on our results, we found that the Si-terminated surfaces are dominated by weak bonded Si-dimers, which are stabilized only at Si-rich conditions, leading to (3×2) or more complex reconstruction patterns, as verified experimentally. Also, our results show that the C-terminated surfaces is characterized by strong triply-bonded C-dimers, in a c(2×2) reconstruction pattern, which consists of C2 pairs over Si bridge sites, in agreement with experimental results.

In this work, we presented our preliminary ab initio results for the vibrational modes and the phonon frequencies of the SiC (100) surfaces. Our results are in good agreement with the available experimental data whenever this comparison is possible. For the accepted models of the C-terminated surfaces in the c(2×2) reconstruction, while in the bridge-dimer model there is an acetylene-like vibrational A1 mode at 2031 cm-1, which is infrared active, in the staggered-dimer model, there is a Füchs-Kliewer (FK) mode at 1328 cm-1, which is experimentally detected. For Si-terminated surfaces in the p(2×1) reconstruction, instead, no FK was obtained, in contradiction with the HREELS experimental results for the Si-terminated surfaces, but they are in consonance with the fact that this surface should be described by a (3×2) or more complex models.

We present, our preliminary results of a systematic theoretical study of the adsorption of N over As-terminated GaAs (100) (2×1) surfaces. We analyzed the changes in the bond-lengths, bond-angles and the energetics involved before and after deposition. Our results show that the N-atoms will prefer the unoccupied sites of the surface, close to the As dimer. The presence of N pushes the As dimer out of the surface, leading to the anion exchange between N and As atoms. Based on our results, we discussed the kinetics of the N islands formation during epitaxial growth of the III-Nitrides.

We have calculated the vibrational modes and frequencies of the crystalline PPP (in both the Pbam and Pnnm symmetries) and PPV (in the P2(1)/c symmetry). Our results are in good agreement with the available experimental data. Also, we have calculated the temperature dependence of their specific heats at constant volume, and of their vibrational entropies. Based on our results, at high temperatures, the PPP is more stable in the Pnnm structure than in the Pbam one.

In this work, by using the density-functional theory within the local density approximation, plane wave expansions and the pseudopotential method, we present our preliminary results for the strain-induced shifts of the zone center phonon modes and of the effective charges on the III-Nitrides. Our results are in good agreement with the experiment as well as with other calculations, whenever a comparison is possible.

In this work, we have calculated ab initio the phonon dynamics of the Ga-rich GaAs (100) (1 × 1), GaAs (100) (2 × 1), GaN (100) (1 × 1), GaAs (110) and GaN (110) surfaces. Our results for the (100) surfaces show that, while the (2 × 1) reconstruction is characterized by dimer vibrations, the (1 × 1) reconstruction presents interesting features which is closely related to the reduced mass of the compound. All the studied cases show the presence of a Rayleigh mode. The calculated properties for the (110) surfaces agree very well with the available experimental data from HEELS and inelastic He-atom scattering as well as with other theoretical calculations.

We present, a systematic theoretical study of the adsorption of Ga, In and N over GaAs (110) surfaces based on parameter-free, self-consistent total energy and force calculations using the density functional theory. We analyzed the changes in the bond-lengths and in the bond-angles before and after deposition, as well as the total energy behaviour with the adsorbate chemical potential variation. Our results show that the GaN growth over GaAs (110) is energetically more favorable than the InN growth. However, the resulting InN film can be cubic only if we apply small strains on the substrate, while the GaN one is hexagonal.

First-principles calculations of electronic band structures of the ordered cubic alloys Al xGa1-xN and Cd xZn1-xTe are carried out. The band structures are used to provide e ective masses and Luttinger parameters which are useful in the parametrization of theories based on e ective hamiltonians.

Using the density-functional theory within the Full Potential Linear Augmented Plane-Wave (FP-LAPW) method, we have calculated, in this work, the equation of state, the effective charges and the phonon dispersion along [100] and [111] directions for the cubic III-Nitrides(c-BN, c-AlN, c-GaN and c-InN), including hydrostatic strains dependence. A good agreement with the micro-Raman scattering experiment is obtained for the phonon modes at <FONT FACE=Symbol>G.</FONT> Our results show that, for c-InN case, the apparent discrepancy between the known experimental results is a consequence of hydrostatic effects on the sample due to differences of the used Raman methods.

In this work, using Density Functional, Hartree-Fock and Extended Hückel Theories together with the supercell and cluster model approaches, we present our preliminary results for the simulation of the adsorption of Si and C atoms over the (111) SiC surfaces as well as the torsion of SiC molecules at that surfaces. Our results shown that, before and after the adsorption, the cubic structure are the most stable one, when compared with the hexagonal ones. However, the torsional energy barrier between the cubic and the hexagonal structures is small enough that, at the conditions of SiC growth, it facilitates the SiC polytype formation.

We present a systematic theoretical study of several III-nitride (110) surfaces based on accurate, parameter-free, self-consistent total energy and force calculations using the density functional theory, the generalized gradient approximation(GGA) for the exchange-correlation term, and the Full Potential Linear Augmented Plane Wave (FPLAPW) approach associated with the slab supercell model. We studied AlN, BN, GaN and InN and analyzed the theoretical trends for the equilibrium atomic structures and surface band structures. We used supercells built up of 7 atomic layers and a vacuum region equivalent of 5 atomic layers. For the Ga and In species, the 3d and 4d electrons were treated properly as valence electrons. In connection with the atomic structures, we are concerned with the LEED parameters delta1<FONT FACE=Symbol>^</FONT>, delta1x, delta2<FONT FACE=Symbol>^</FONT> , d12<FONT FACE=Symbol>^</FONT>, d12x and omega for the (110) surface. We analyzed the changes in the bond-lengths and in the bond-angles at the anion and cation sites. We conclude that similarly to the III-arsenide (110) and III-phosphide (110) surfaces, the III-nitride (110) surfaces relax such that the cation-surface atom moves inward and the N-surface atom moves outward. The large Coulomb energy of the III-nitrides as compared with the other III-V compounds re ects in the smaller value of the tilt angle omega and in the small value of delta1<FONT FACE=Symbol>^</FONT>. To our knowledge, this is the rst time the FPLAPW method is used for such a systematic study of III-nitrides, and we compare our results with recent results obtained with other approaches as reported in the literature.