Brillouin metals

Fig. 6. Self-consistent band structure (48 valence and 5 conduction bands) for the hexagonal II arrangement of nanotubes, calculated along different high-symmetry directions in the Brillouin zone. The Fermi level is positioned at the degeneracy point appearing between K-H, indicating metallic behavior for this tubule array[17. ...

It is known that a metallic ID system is unstable against lattice distortion and turns into an insulator. In CNTs instabilities associated two kinds of distortions are possible, in-plane and out-of-plane distortions as shown in Fig. 8. The inplane or Kekuld distortion has the form that the hexagon network has alternating short and long bonds (-u and 2u, respectively) like in the classical benzene molecule [8,9,10]. Due to the distortion the first Brillouin zone reduees to one-third of the original one and both K and K points are folded onto the F point in a new Brillouin zone. For an out-of-plane distortion the sites A and B are displaced up and down ( 2) with respect to the cylindrical surface [11]. Because of a finite curvature of a CNT the mirror symmetry about its surface are broken and thus the energy of sites A and B shift in the opposite direction. 

It is shown that the numbers of valence electrons assigned to the y-alloys, /3-manganese and alloys with similar structure, and a-manganese by a new system of metallic valences agree closely with the electron numbers calculated for complete filling of important Brillouin poly-... 

In the papers referred to above it is pointed out that the mechanical properties of the transition elements and the distances between atoms in metals and intermetallic compounds are well accounted for by these considerations. In the following sections of the present paper a discussion is given of the number of valence electrons by the Brillouin polyhedron method, and it is shown that the calculations for the filled-zone alloys such as the 7-alloys provide further support for the new system of metallic valences. 

Inasmuch as the inscribed sphere corresponds to only 226 electrons per unit cube, it seems likely that the density of energy levels in momentum space has become small at 250.88, possibly small enough to provide a satisfactory explanation of the filled-zone properties. However, there exists the possibility that the Brillouin polyhedron is in fact completely filled by valence electrons. If there are 255.6 valence electrons per 52 atoms at the composition Cu6Zn8, and if the valence of copper is one greater than the valence of zinc, then it is possible to determine values of the metallic valences of these elements from the assumption that the Brillouin polyhedron is filled. These values are found to be 5.53 for copper and 4.53 for zinc. The accuracy of the determination of the metallic valences... 

The resonating-valence-bond theory of metals discussed in this paper differs from the older theory in making use of all nine stable outer orbitals of the transition metals, for occupancy by unshared electrons and for use in bond formation the number of valency electrons is consequently considered to be much larger for these metals than has been hitherto accepted. The metallic orbital, an extra orbital necessary for unsynchronized resonance of valence bonds, is considered to be the characteristic structural feature of a metal. It has been found possible to develop a system of metallic radii that permits a detailed discussion to be given of the observed interatomic distances of a metal in terms of its electronic structure. Some peculiar metallic structures can be understood by use of the postulate that the most simple fractional bond orders correspond to the most stable modes of resonance of bonds. The existence of Brillouin zones is compatible with the resonating-valence-bond theory, and the new metallic valencies for metals and alloys with filled-zone properties can be correlated with the electron numbers for important Brillouin polyhedra. 

Let us consider lithium as an example. In the usual treatment of this metal a set of molecular orbitals is formulated, each of which is a Bloch function built from the 2s orbitals of the atoms, or, in the more refined cell treatment, from 2s orbitals that are slightly perturbed to satisfy the boundary conditions for the cells. These molecular orbitals correspond to electron energies that constitute a Brillouin zone, and the normal state of the metal is that in which half of the orbitals, the more stable ones, are occupied by two electrons apiece, with opposed spins. 

The reciprocal lattice is useful in defining some of the electronic properties of solids. That is, when we have a semi-conductor (or even a conductor like a metal), we find that the electrons are confined in a band, defined by the reciprocal lattice. This has important effects upon the conductivity of any solid and is known as the "band theory" of solids. It turns out that the reciprocal lattice is also the site of the Brillouin zones, i.e.- the "allowed" electron energy bands in the solid. How this originates is explciined as follows. 

The theory of band structures belongs to the world of solid state physicists, who like to think in terms of collective properties, band dispersions, Brillouin zones and reciprocal space [9,10]. This is not the favorite language of a chemist, who prefers to think in terms of molecular orbitals and bonds. Hoffmann gives an excellent and highly instructive comparison of the physical and chemical pictures of bonding [6], In this appendix we try to use as much as possible the chemical language of molecular orbitals. Before talking about metals we recall a few concepts from molecular orbital theory. 

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