Pseudopotential calculations for ideal interfaces

This paper surveys some modern calculations for interfaces. The systems discussed are ideal semiconductor surfaces (semiconductor-vacuum interfaces, s/v), Schottky barriers (semiconductor-metal interfaces, s/m), and heterojunctions (semiconductor-semiconductor interfaces, s/s). The calculations focus on the electronic properties which are calculated using a pseudopotential approach. The pseudopotential is the effective potential felt by valence electrons. The core electrons are assumed to be frozen and completely insensitive to the interface or even neighboring bulk atoms. This approximation simplifies the calculations significantly since the properties of the core electrons are not computed and the valence electrons can be treated as being nearly free electrons in a weak potential. Using this approach, a variety of properties of bulk solids have been investigated