First-Principles Calculations for Structures and Melting Temperature of Si6 Clusters

We investigate the structures and the melting temperature of the Si6 cluster by using the first-principles pseudopotential method in real space and Langevin molecular dynamics. It is shown that the ground structure of the Si6 cluster is a square bipyramid, and the corresponding melting temperature is about 1923 K. In the heating procedure, the structures of the Si6 cluster change from high symmetry structures containing 5-8 bonds, via prolate structures containing 3-4 bonds, to oblate structures containing 1-2 bonds.