Electronic and optical properties of two-dimensional ice I
Authors: Wang Dan , Qiu Rong , Chen Bo , Bao Nan-Yun , Kang Dong-Dong , Dai Jia-Yu ,   Department of Physics, National University of Defense Technology, Changsha 410073, China
Published: June 2021

Two-dimensional ice is a new type of atomic-scale material obtained by typical atomic manufacturing techniques. Its structure and nucleation growth play an essential role in many fields such as material science, tribology, biology, atmospheric science and planetary science. Although the structural properties of two-dimensional ice have been investigated extensively, little is known about its electronic and optical properties. In this paper, the main electronic, optical, dielectric properties and infrared spectra of two-dimensional ice I at zero temperature are calculated by density functional theory and linear response theory. The study reveals that the two-dimensional ice I is an indirect band gap and its optical properties show anisotropic lattice. And the absorption energy range for the two-dimensional ice I is in the ultraviolet region of the spectrum (> 3.2 eV) and the visible region of the spectrum (between 2 and 3.2 eV), respectively. Secondly, the radial distribution function and the vibrational density of states of the two-dimensional ice I at a finite temperature are simulated by <i>ab initio</i> molecular dynamics method. For the structure of the two-dimensional ice I, whether SCAN or PBE functional, after considering the vdW effect, there is almost no effect on the atomic distance, while by comparison, the SCAN functional and the PBE functional are quite different. Therefore, it can be seen that the main reason for affecting the distance between atoms in the structure is due to the consideration of the strong confinement effect of SCAN. In terms of the vibration characteristics of two-dimensional ice I, comparing with PBE and vdW-DF-ob86, the first two peaks of the IR spectrum of SCAN + rVV10 functional show blue shift, and the two peaks in the high frequency region present the red shift. Therefore, considering the strong confinement effect of SCAN, the intermolecular tensile vibration of two-dimensional ice I becomes stronger, while the intramolecular H—O—H bending vibration and O—H bond tensile vibration become weaker. The effect of van der Waals action on vibration properties is not obvious. Furthermore, we investigate the temperature effects on the vibration spectra of two-dimensional ice I. It is found that with the increase of temperature, the intermolecular librational mode weakens at a low frequency, the intramolecular bending and stretching bands gradually broaden, and the intramolecular O-H stretching peak presents the blue-shifts with temperature rising. The results of this paper reveal the electronic structure of atomic-scale two-dimensional ice I, and demonstrate its unique optical absorption mechanism, which is helpful in further experimentally characterizing and manipulating the two-dimensional ice on an atomic scale. Since the two-dimensional ice on the surface can promote or inhibit the formation of three-dimensional ice, it has potential applications in designing and developing the anti-icing materials. In addition, two-dimensional ice itself can also be used as a unique two-dimensional material, providing a brand-new standard material for high-temperature superconductivity, deep-ultraviolet detection, cryo-electron microscopy imaging.