A computational investigation of boron-doped chromium and chromium clusters by density functional theory

The geometries,stabilities and electronic properties of Crn and CrnB(n=2-9) clusters have been systematically investigated by density functional theory.The results suggest that the lowest energy structures for CrnB clusters can be obtained by substituting one Cr atom in Crn+1 clusters with B atom.The geometries of CrnB clusters are similar to that of Crn+1 clusters except for local structural distortion.The second-order difference and fragmentation energy show Cr4,Cr6,Cr8,Cr3B,Cr5B and Cr8B cluster are the most stable among these studied clusters.The impurity B increases the stabilities of chromium cluster.When B is doped on the Crn clusters,cluster geometry does dominate positive role in enhancing their stability.The doped B atom does not change the coupling way of the Cr site in Crn clusters,but breaks the symmetry and the Cr atoms are no longer equivalent.The doped B atom increases the total magnetic moments of Crn in most cases.