Multiple minima on the energy landscape of elemental zinc:: A wave function based ab initio study

Zinc crystallizes in the hcp structure, but with an anomalously large c/a ratio, indicating a strong distortion away from ideal packing. Coupled cluster calculations within the framework of the method of increments, improved by an embedding scheme for metals, were performed to explore the potential energy surface of zinc with respect to the hexagonal lattice parameters. The inclusion of the filled d shell in the correlation treatment proved to be essential. From the exceptional shape of the potential energy surface the existence of a zinc modification with a nearly ideal c/a ratio can be deduced.