NSF Home IMAGE LIBRARY HOME Contact NSF Image Library How to Use the NSF Image Library
Image Information


IMAGE SEARCH
ALL IMAGES
NEW ADDITIONS TO THE LIBRARY
NEWS IMAGES
NSF SENIOR STAFF
OTHER PHOTO SOURCES

Atomic Structure of a Silicon Nanocrystal

Caption:

A model of the Atomic Structure of a Silicon Nanocrystal. [See also, Excited Electron State of a Silicon Nanocrystal and Calculated Valence Electron Density of Silicon Nanocrystal.]

This research was funded in part by National Science Foundation grants DMR 01-02668 and DMR 01-21361.

More about this Image
We use computer programs based on concepts from quantum physics (ex., Jaguar, Gamess, Gaussian, Crystal) to calculate the most probable structure for a molecule or solid (a structure of atoms that continues in every direction in an infinitely repeating pattern). For example, this picture is our calculated model of a silicon nanocrystal which is composed of 29 silicon atoms (the orange spheres) and 24 hydrogen atoms (the white spheres). When we calculate the geometry of these molecules or solids, we also calculate the wavefunction, which is a complicated mathematical function that describes the states of every electron in the molecule. We use the wavefunction to calculate other properties of the molecule or solid.

Atomic Structure of a Silicon Nanocrystal
(Preview Only)

Credit: Credit Lucas Wagner, Quantum Simulations Laboratory, North Carolina State University; simulations completed using computational resources provided by the National Center for Supercomputing Applications.
Year of Image: 2002

Categories:

COMPUTERS / Supercomputing
PHYSICS / Quantum

Formats Available:

Restrictions:

No additional restrictions--beyond NSF's general restrictions--have been placed on this image. For a list of general restrictions that apply to this and all images in the NSF Image Library, see the section "Conditions".

Image Library HomeNSF HomeOffice of Legislative and Public Affairs Home


The National Science Foundation
4201 Wilson Boulevard
Arlington, Virginia 22230, USA
Tel: 703-292-5111
FIRS: 800-877-8339 ~ TDD: 703-292-5090

Last Modified: Mar 29, 2001