We present a program called potfit which generates an effective atomic interaction potential by matching it to a set of reference data computed in first-principles calculations. It thus allows to perform large-scale atomistic simulations of materials with physically justified potentials. We describe the fundamental principles behind the program, emphasizing its flexibility in adapting to different systems and potential models, while also discussing its limitations. The program has been used successfully in creating effective potentials for a number of complex intermetallic alloys, notably quasicrystals.
Force matching is an established technique to generate effective potentials for molecular dynamics simulations from first-principles data. This method has been implemented in the open source code potfit. Here, we present a review of the method and describe the main features of the code. Particular emphasis is placed on the features added since the initial release: interactions represented by analytical functions, differential evolution as optimization method, and a greatly extended set of interaction models. Beyond the initially present pair and embedded-atom method potentials, potfit can now …
Simulation of crack propagation in alumina with ab-initio based polarizable force field
我们提出了一个有效的原子相互作用势的结晶α-Al 2 O 3产生的程序potfit。静电相互作用的沃尔夫直接，成对求和方法与球形截断。利用Tangney-Scandolo原子间力场方法计算了氧原子的极化率。势被优化以再现在松弛和应变配置以及Al 2 O3的{0001}、{10-10}和{11-20}表面中的力、能量和应力。力场生成的细节，并证明其有效性。我们应用开发的潜力，调查裂纹扩展α-Al 2 O 3单晶。
Effective potentials are an essential ingredient of classical molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. Little is understood of the consequences of representing the complex energy landscape of an atomic configuration by an effective potential or force field containing considerably fewer parameters. The probabilistic potential ensemble method has been implemented in the potfit force matching code. This introduces uncertainty quantification into the interatomic potential generation process. Uncertainties in the effective potential are propagated through MD to obtain uncertainties in quantities of int…
Density-functional theory forces, stresses and energies comprise a database from which the optimal parameters of a spline-based empirical potential combining Stillinger-Weber and modified embedded-atom forms are determined. Accuracy of the potential is demonstrated by predictions of ideal shear, stacking fault, vacancy migration, elastic constants and phonons all between 0 and 100 GPa. Consistency with existing models and experiments is demonstrated by application to screw dislocation core structure and deformation twinning in a tungsten nanorod. Lastly, the potential is used to study the high…
Electronic structure of layered LiNiO2 has been controversial despite numerous theoretical and experimental reports regarding its nature. We investigate the charge densities, lithium intercalation potentials and Li diffusion barrier energies of LixNiO2 (0.0 < x < 1.0) system using a truly ab-initio method, diffusion quantum Monte Carlo (DMC). We compare the charge densities from DMC and density functional theory (DFT) and show that local and semi-local DFT functionals yield spin polarization densities with incorrect sign on the oxygen atoms. SCAN functional and Hubbard-U correction improves th…
The Green function plays an essential role in the Kohn-Korringa-Rostocker (KKR) multiple scattering method. In practice, it is constructed from the regular and irregular solutions of the local Kohn-Sham equation and robust methods exist for spherical potentials. However, when applied to a non-spherical potential, numerical errors from the irregular solutions give rise to pathological behaviors of the charge density at small radius. Here we present a full-potential implementation of the relativistic KKR method to perform \textit{ab initio} self-consistent calculation by directly solving the Dir…
Finite temperature calculations, based on ab initio molecular dynamics (AIMD) simulations, are a powerful tool able to predict material properties that cannot be deduced from ground state calculations. However, the high computational cost of AIMD limits its applicability for large or complex systems. To circumvent this limitation we introduce a new method named Machine Learning Assisted Canonical Sampling (MLACS), which accelerates the sampling of the Born--Oppenheimer potential surface in the canonical ensemble. Based on a self-consistent variational procedure, the method iteratively trains a…
Thermal vibrations alter the external potential. Allen (Phys. Rev. B 18 (1978) 5217) proved that at finite temperatures the pseudopotential form factors are corrected by a Debye-Waller Factor (DWF). We generalize this result to the crystal potential. (The generalization to the all-electron case of the nuclear potential fails due to the breakdown of the rigid-atom approximation.) This finite temperature formalism only gives thermal-averaged properties and no dynamical information can be obtained. Hence, it is labeled the Quasi Ab Initio formalism. Analogous to the use of experimental lattice pa…
Accurate prediction of thermodynamic properties requires an extremely accurate representation of the free energy surface. Requirements are twofold -- first, the inclusion of the relevant finite-temperature mechanisms, and second, a dense volume-temperature grid on which the calculations are performed. A systematic workflow for such calculations requires computational efficiency and reliability, and has not been available within an ab initio framework so far. Here, we elucidate such a framework involving direct upsampling, thermodynamic integration and machine-learning potentials, allowing us t…
Recently, we developed a method to construct polynomial interatomic potentials from ab-initio calculations in order to accurately describe laser excited solids [PRL 124, 085501 (2020)]. However, ab-initio methods, and therefore analytical potentials derived from them, commonly do not provide an accurate prediction of the melting temperature. In order to reproduce the experimental melting properties, but keeping the accuracy in the laser excited case, we present here an approach to modify few key coefficients of polynomial interatomic potentials constructed from ab-initio data. We show that, wi…
Ab initio simulations of dislocations are essential to build quantitative models of material strength, but the required system sizes are often at or beyond the limit of existing methods. Many important structures are thus missing in the training or validation of interatomic potentials, whilst studies of dislocation-defect interactions must mitigate the effect of strong periodic image interactions along the line direction. We show how these restrictions can be lifted through the use of linear machine learning potentials in hybrid simulations, where only a subset of atoms are governed by ab init…
We consider the question of the amorphization of metallic alloys by melt quenching, as predicted by molecular dynamics simulations with semi-empirical potentials. The parametrization of the potentials is discussed on the example of the ternary Cu-Ti-Zr transition metals alloy, using as reference the ab-initio simulation. The pair structure in the amorphous state is computed from a potential of the Stillinger Weber form. The transferability of the parameters during the quench is investigated using two parametrizations: from solid state data, as usual, and from a new parametrization on the liqui…
We investigated six heavy element bismuth-based 18-VEC half-Heusler alloys CoTiBi, CoZrBi, CoHfBi, FeVBi, FeNbBi, and FeTaBi by first principles approach, in search of better thermoelectric prospects. The motivation is driven by expected lower thermal conductivity and the recent discovery of CoZrBi-based materials. Significantly, our calculated power factor values of all the systems show an increment of $\sim$40\% in comparison to the reported \textit{p}-type CoTiSb. We propose that doping at Bi-site, on account of electronic features, will be helpful in achieving the proposed power factor val…
In order to perform automated calculations of defect and dopant properties in semiconductors and insulators, we developed a software package, Defect and Dopant ab-initio Simulation Package (DASP), which is composed of four modules for calculating: (i) elemental chemical potentials, (ii) defect (dopant) formation energies and transition energy levels, (iii) defect and carrier densities and (iv) carrier dynamics properties of high-density defects. DASP uses the materials genome database for quick determination of competing secondary phases and calculation of the energy above convex hull when cal…
The potential of a wide range of layered ternary carbide and nitride MAX phases as conductors in interconnect metal lines in advanced CMOS technology nodes has been evaluated using automated first principles simulations based on density functional theory. The resistivity scaling potential of these compounds, i.e. the sensitivity of their resistivity to reduced line dimensions, has been benchmarked against Cu and Ru by evaluating their transport properties within a semiclassical transport formalism. In addition, their cohesive energy has been assessed as a proxy for the resistance against elect…
We discuss a novel approach that allows to obtain effective potentials from ab initio trajectories. Our method consists in fitting the weighted radial distribution functions obtained from the ab initio data with the ones obtained from simulations with the effective potential, and using the parameters of the latter as fitting variables. As a case study, we consider the example of amorphous silica, a material that is highly relevant in the field of glass science as well as in geology. Our approach is able to obtain an effective potential that gives a better description with respect to structural…
The Li-Sn binary system has been the focus of extensive research because it features Li-rich alloys with potential applications as battery anodes. Our present re-examination of the binary system with a combination of machine learning and ab initio methods has allowed us to screen a vast configuration space and uncover a number of overlooked thermodynamically stable alloys. At ambient pressure, our evolutionary searches identified a new stable Li$_3$Sn phase with a large BCC-based hR48 structure and a possible high-T LiSn$_4$ ground state. By building a simple model for the observed and predict…
Ab-initio chemical potentials of solid and liquid solutions and the chemistry of the Earth's core
基于密度泛函理论，提出了一套用{ \em ab initio}方法计算固液混合物化学势的通用方法。该方法的目的是给一个{ \em ab initio}的方法来处理共存的固体和液体溶液之间的化学平衡，特别是分配比的溶质之间的解决方案。对于液相，该方法是基于热力学积分的一般技术，应用于计算与溶剂和溶质原子的连续相互转化相关的自由能的变化，所需的热平均值由DFT分子动力学模拟计算。对于固相，自由能，因此化学势得到使用DFT计算的振动频率的系统包含取代溶质原子，与非谐波的贡献计算，在需要的地方，通过热力学积分。的实际使用的方法说明，应用它们来研究地球的核心，模拟为解决方案的S，Si和O的Fe的外部液体和内部固体部分之间的化学平衡。计算对核心的化学成分有很强的约束，并允许估计内核/外核边界的温度。
Ab initio studies of ionization potentials of hydrated hydroxide and hydronium
用多体方法计算了氢氧化物和水合氢离子的电离势分布，电子激发构型由{ \it ab initio}分子动力学产生。实验结果得到了很好的再现，并与分子激发态密切相关。在稳定构型中，电离势主要受第一溶剂化层内水分子的扰动。另一方面，在质子转移过程中，电子激发在质子接收复合物和质子供给复合物上都是离域的，这使得两种水合离子的激发能发生移动，光谱变宽。
In Part I of this two-part investigation we described a methodology for the development of robust, analytic, many-body atom-atom potentials for small organic molecules from first principles and demonstrated how the CamCASP program can be used to derive the damped, distributed multipole models for pyridine. Here we demonstrate how the theoretical ideas for the short-range models described in Part I, which are implemented in the CamCASP suite of programs, can be used to develop a series of many-body potentials for the pyridine system. Even the simplest of these potentials exhibit r.m.s. errors o…
Chemo-mechanical coupling stabilizes mixed $\mathrm{Ag}_{x}\mathrm{Cu}_{1-x}\mathrm{GaSe}_{2}$ solar-cell absorbers: Insights from Monte-Carlo simulations assisted by ab initio informed machine-learning potentials
Institute of Materials Science, Technische Universitat Darmstadt（达姆施塔特工业大学材料科学研究所）
Universal Interatomic Potentials as Configuration-Space Generators for One-Shot and Iterative Fine-Tuning of Ab Initio-Accurate Material-Specific Models
Effects of Fe substitution on the electronic, transport, and magnetic properties of ZnGa$_2$O$_4$: A systematic ab-initio study
采用密度泛函方法研究了Fe掺杂到宽禁带尖晶石ZnGa $_2$ O $_4$的四面体和八面体阳离子位的结构.我们计算了不同的取代的电子结构，并讨论了考虑不同近似的交换相关势的每种情况下的磁性和输运性质。我们表明，对于某些掺杂的情况下，获得的预测行为的显着差异取决于所采用的交换相关电位。概述了掺杂系统作为磁性半导体的可能应用。
Compositionally complex alloys or concentrated solid solutions are the latest frontier in catalyst design, but mixing different elements in one catalyst may result in surface segregation. Atomistic simulations can predict segregation patterns, but standard approaches based on mean-field models, cluster expansion, or classical interatomic potentials are often limited for the description of multicomponent alloys. We present machine learning potentials that can describe surface segregation with near DFT accuracy. The method is used to study a complex Co-Cu-Fe-Mo-Ni quinary alloy. For this alloy, …
Ab initio statistical mechanics of surface adsorption and desorption: I. H$_2$O on MgO (001) at low coverage
我们提出了一个通用的计算方案的基础上分子动力学（m.d.）模拟计算吸附分子在材料表面处于热平衡时的化学势。该方案基于平均力的计算（单位：m. d）。模拟，其中所选分子在表面上方的高度受到限制，随后对平均力进行积分，以获得平均力的势，从而获得化学势。该方案在任何覆盖率和温度下都是有效的，因此原则上它允许计算作为覆盖率和温度的函数的化学势。它避免了所有的统计力学近似，除了使用经典的统计力学的核，并假定没有预先的吸附网站。从化学势，可以计算分子的绝对解吸速率，只要表面上的平衡速率比解吸速率快。我们应用{ \em ab initio} m.d.用Perdew-Burke-Ernzerhof（PBE）交换相关模型模拟了MgO（001）上H $_2$ O在低覆盖度下的情况。计算得到Polanyi-Wigner频率前因子的{ \em ab initio}值，该值比过去通常假设的$10^{13}$ s $^{-1}$的值大两个数量级以上。与实验的临时比较表明，PBE吸附能可能太低，但在得出确切的结论之前，需要将计算扩展到更高的覆盖率。包括量子核效应的可能性，使用路径积分模拟指出。
We present M-SPARC: MATLAB-Simulation Package for Ab-initio Real-space Calculations. It can perform pseudopotential spin-polarized and unpolarized Kohn-Sham Density Functional Theory (DFT) simulations for isolated systems such as molecules as well as extended systems such as crystals, surfaces, and nanowires. M-SPARC provides a rapid prototyping platform for the development and testing of new algorithms and methods in real-space DFT, with the potential to significantly accelerate the rate of advancements in the field. It also provides a convenient avenue for the accurate first principles study…
While several studies confirmed that machine-learned potentials (MLPs) can provide accurate free energies for determining phase stabilities, the abilities of MLPs for efficiently constructing a full phase diagram of multi-component systems are yet to be established. In this work, by employing neural network interatomic potentials (NNPs), we demonstrate construction of the MgO-CaO eutectic phase diagram with temperatures up to 3400 K, which includes liquid phases. The NNP is trained over trajectories of various solid and liquid phases at several compositions that are calculated within the densi…
