Structural, electronic and vibrational properties of indium oxide clusters

Geometric, electronic and vibrational properties of the most stable and energetically favourable configurations of indium oxide clusters In_mO_n (1≤m, n≤4) are investigated using density functional theory. The lowest energy geometries prefer the planar arrangement of the constituent atoms with a trend to maximize the number of ionic In-O bonds. Due to the charge transfer from In to O atoms, the electrostatic repulsion occurs between the atoms with the same kind of charge. The minimization of electrostatic repulsion and the maximization of In-O bond number compete between each other and determine the location of the isometric total energy. The most stable linear In-O-In-O structure of In₂O₂ cluster is attributed to the reduced electrostatic repulsive energy at the expense of In-O bond number, while the lowest energy rhombus-like structure of In₂O₃ cluster reflects the maximized number of In-O bonds. Furthermore, the vibrational frequencies of the lowest energy clusters are calculated and compared with the available experimental results. The energy gap and the charge density distribution for clusters with varying oxygen/indium ratio are also discussed.