Preface
This thesis is submitted for the candidacy of PhD degree in Physics from the
Technical University of Denmark. The work contained in the thesis was carried
out at the Center for Atomic-scale Materials Design (CAMd), Department of
Physics in the period from August 2012 to July 2015 under the supervision of
Prof. Karsten W. Jacobsen and Prof. Kristian S. Thygesen.
I cannot thank enough my supervisors Karsten and Kristian for their continuous
support in my projects. Every bit of discussion I had with them improved
my understanding of the subject matter. Their immense zeal in the projects
and their unparalleled guidance always kept me motivated and helped me to
get over the bottlenecks I faced during my research.
Also, I would like to thank Aleksandra, Ivano, Filip, Niels and Thomas for
all the suggestions and discussions regarding different projects. Big thanks to
Chris, Kirsten, Kristian, Martin, Niels and Simon Lamowski for generously
agreeing to proofread the thesis and for the good times at CAMd. A deep
gratitude to Jens Jørgen and Marcin for helping in the code developments
and troubleshootings and Ole for taking such a good care of Niflheim for its
seamless functioning. A huge thanks to Marianne for making my move to
Denmark easy by taking care of all the rigmarole and other administrative
matters.
Among friends my special thanks to Kristian for his continuous support and
invitations for Indian festival dinners to make me feel home. I would also like
to thank my other colleagues at CAMd - Korina, Manuel, Morten, Per, Simone
and Ulrik for all the fun times.
Last but not least my heartfelt thanks to my family members for their continuous
support and my girlfriend Shrutija for not letting me feel the long-distance
relationship really as long-distance and supporting me in all the ways she could.
Mohnish Pandey
Kongens Lyngby, July 2015