A comparative theoretical study on the electrical and nonlinear optical properties of Li atom adsorbed on AlN and BN single-walled nanotubes.

The geometrical structures, electrical properties, and nonlinear optical (NLO) properties of AlNNT-Li and BNNT-Li nanotube systems were investigated by means of the density functional theory (DFT) method. Frontier molecular orbitals and density of states analyses show that adsorption of the Li atom can significantly narrow the wide HOMO-LUMO gaps of pure AlNNT and BNNT. The results reveal that AlNNT-Li and BNNT-Li systems containing diffuse excess electrons can be regarded as inorganic electrides. The formation of diffuse excess electrons leads to a decrease in transition energies, thereby increasing the first hyperpolarizabilities (β 0) of AlNNT-Li and BNNT-Li. This work may contribute to the development of potential high-performance NLO materials. Graphical abstract The structural characteristics and nonlinear optical properties of the AlNNT-Li and BNNT-Li systems were studied by means of density functional theory. Introduction of Li atoms greatly enhances the static first hyperpolarizabilities of AlNNT-Li and BNNT-Li.