Inorganic electrides of alkali metal doped Zn12O12 nanocage with excellent nonlinear optical response

Finding new materials with exceptionally large nonlinear optical response is an interesting and challenging avenue for scientific research. Here, we report the alkali metal doped Zn12O12 nanocages as inorganic electrides with excellent nonlinear optical response. Density functional theory calculations have been performed for geometric, electronic and nonlinear optical response of exo- and endohedrally alkali metal doped Zn12O12 nanoclusters. For exohedral doping, all different possible doping sites are considered for decoration of alkali metal on the nanocage. The electride nature of the complexes is highly dependent on the position of alkali metal doping. All exohedral complexes except for alkali metal doping on six membered ring (r6) are electride in nature, as revealed from frontier molecular orbital analysis. Interaction energies reveal that all doped nanoclusters except endo-K@Zn12O12 are thermodynamically stable. The exothermic encapsulation of alkali metals in Zn12O12 nanocages is in marked contradiction with other inorganic fullerenes where encapsulation is an endothermic process. The barriers for boundary crossing are also evaluated in order study the interconversion of exo- and endohedral complexes. Doping of alkali metal significantly influences the properties of nanocages. HOMO-LUMO (H-L) gap is reduced significantly whereas hyperpolarizability is increased several orders of magnitude. The NLO response of exohedrally doped complexes is higher than the corresponding endohedral complexes, which is in mark contradiction with the behavior of phosphide or nitride nanocages. The highest first hyperpolarizability of 1.0 x 105 au is calculated for K@r6-Zn12O12 complex. Third order NLO response of these complexes is calculated and compared with the best systems reported in the literature at the same level of theory.

Automated summary

The alkali metal doped Zn12O12 nanocages exhibit excellent nonlinear optical response, influenced by the position of doping and significantly impacting their electronic properties. The study reveals that exohedrally doped complexes show higher NLO response compared to endohedral complexes, showcasing potential for advanced nonlinear optical materials.