Calculation of the equation of state and elastic moduli of MgO using molecular orbital theory

The success of molecular orbital theory in calculating crystal properties such as bond lengths and atomic force constants has been well documented in the literature. Calculations can be extended to crystals under simulated compression and strain to determine elastic moduli and their pressure derivatives. Comparison of the molecular orbital results with both experimental values and results obtained by calculations such as the potential induced breathing model provides insight into the nature of chemical bonding in MgO. In this study, several molecular clusters were investigated as possible models for MgO; the cluster Mg₄O₄H₂₄ was chosen as the best model. Molecular energies were calculated with respect to bond length for both compression and expansion based on clusters that had been optimized for minimum energy. The resulting energy-volume curve was fitted to a recently derived equation of state (Brown, in preparation) to derive the values of K ₀ and dK₀/dP and the individual elastic moduli and their pressure derivatives were calculated by applying strain to the molecular cluster at both zero and elevated pressures. Agreement between theory and experiment varies between parameters, but the overall trend is encouraging. Since the molecular orbital model includes only short range interactions, its ability to approximating model the elastic moduli of MgO suggests a strong contribution to the elastic energy from short range interactions.