Electronic and structural properties of 3D, 2D and 1D materials

In this work several applications of the ab initio pseudopotential density functional theory method are presented. With this method it is possible to calculate the electronic ground state properties of many systems like bulk solids, surfaces, nanotubes, and nanowires, and draw conclusions about the systems structural and electronic properties. With modifications of this approach excited states can also be treated. The first chapter of this thesis gives a brief description of the computational techniques employed. The second chapter describes results of calculations on the structural and electronic properties of carbon and germanium. We try to shed some light on a still poorly understood structural phase transition of graphite under pressure at low temperatures, which is different from the high temperature regime. Next, we study the phase transition path of germanium under pressure and predict the existence of a new phase. The following chapter explores the possibility of superconductivity in the graphite-like compound BC3 since there are many similarities between the electronic structure of this material and the 39 K superconductor MgB2. Subsequently, results of calculations on the adsorption of indium atoms on carbon nanotubes and graphite-like surfaces are presented. These studies explain some very interesting experimental results of In migration on nanotubes in an electrical potential. In the following chapters the electronic properties of very thin metallic MoSe nanowires are studied, and the different regimes of stability of metallic monatomic chains of Au, Al, Ag, Pd, Rh, and Ru are investigated and compared. Chapter 7 addresses the possible polymerization of C60 molecules inside carbon and boron nitride nanotubes. Finally, the propagation of a light signal in a medium with gains and losses is investigated, and the possibility of a discontinuity in the index of refraction is discussed.