Understanding the quantum dynamics of spin defects and their coherence properties requires accurate modeling of spin-spin interaction in solids and molecules, for example by using spin Hamiltonians with parameters obtained from first-principles calculations. We present a real-space approach based on density functional theory for the calculation of spin-Hamiltonian parameters, where only selected atoms are treated at the all-electron level, while the rest of the system is described with the pseudopotential approximation. Our approach permits calculations for systems containing more than 1000 atoms, as demonstrated for defects in diamond and silicon carbide. We show that only a small number of atoms surrounding the defect needs to be treated at the all-electron level, in order to obtain an overall all-electron accuracy for hyperfine and zero-field splitting tensors. We also present results for coherence times, computed with the cluster correlation expansion method, highlighting the importance of accurate spin-Hamiltonian parameters for quantitative predictions of spin dynamics.
Despite the enormous success and popularity of density-functional theory, systematic verification and validation studies are still limited in number and scope. Here, we propose a protocol to test publicly available pseudopotential libraries, based on several independent criteria including verification against all-electron equations of state and plane-wave convergence tests for phonon frequencies, band structure, cohesive energy and pressure. Adopting these criteria we obtain curated pseudopotential libraries (named SSSP or standard solid-state pseudopotential libraries), that we target for hig…
Nowadays pseudopotential density-functional theory calculations constitute the standard approach to tackle solid-state electronic problems. These rely on distributed pseudopotential tables that were built from all-electron atomic calculations using few popular semi-local exchange-correlation functionals, while pseudopotentials based on more modern functionals, like meta-GGA and hybrid functionals, or for many-body methods, such as $GW$, are often not available. Because of this, employing pseudopotentials created with inconsistent exchange-correlation functionals has become a common practice. O…
Uncertainty of DFT calculated mechanical and structural properties of solids due to incompatibility of pseudopotentials and exchange-correlation functionals
Ab initio simulation of photoemission spectroscopy in solids: Plane-wave pseudopotential approach, with applications to normal-emission spectra of Cu(001) and Cu(111)
The consistency between the exchange-correlation functional used in pseudopotential construction and in the actual density functional theory calculation is essential for the accurate prediction of fundamental properties of materials. However, routine hybrid density functional calculations at present still rely on GGA pseudopotentials due to the lack of hybrid functional pseudopotentials. Here, we present a scheme for generating hybrid functional pseudopotentials, and we analyze the importance of pseudopotential density functional consistency for hybrid functionals. We benchmark our PBE0 pseudo…
In this work, we developed and showcased the occ-RI-K algorithm to compute the exact exchange contribution in density functional calculations of solids near the basis set limit. Within the gaussian planewave (GPW) density fitting, our algorithm achieves a 1-2 orders of magnitude speedup compared to conventional GPW algorithms. Since our algorithm is well-suited for simulations with large basis sets, we applied it to 12 hybrid density functionals with pseudopotentials and a large uncontracted basis set to assess their performance on band gaps of 25 simple solids near the basis set limit. The la…
We present a general method of constructing \textit{in-situ} pseodopotentials from first principles, all-electron, full-potential electronic structure calculations of a solid. The method is applied to bcc Na, at equilibrium volume. The essential steps of the method involve (i) calculating an all-electron Kohn-Sham eigenstate. (ii) Replacing the oscillating part of the wavefunction (inside the muffin-tin spheres) of this state, with a smooth function. (iii) Representing the smooth wavefunction in a Fourier series, and (iv) inverting the Kohn-Sham equation, to extract the pseudopotential that pr…
Motivated by the disagreement between recent diffusion Monte Carlo calculations and experiments on the phase transition pressure between the ambient and beta-Sn phases of silicon, we present a study of the HCP to BCC phase transition in beryllium. This lighter element provides an oppor- tunity for directly testing many of the approximations required for calculations on silicon and may suggest a path towards increasing the practical accuracy of diffusion Monte Carlo calculations of solids in general. We demonstrate that the single largest approximation in these calculations is the pseudopotenti…
We present an efficient implementation of a surface Green's-function method for atomistic modeling of surfaces within the framework of density functional theory using a pseudopotential localized basis set approach. In this method, the system is described as a truly semi-infinite solid with a surface region coupled to an electron reservoir, thereby overcoming several fundamental drawbacks of the traditional slab approach. The versatility of the method is demonstrated with several applications to surface physics and chemistry problems that are inherently difficult to address properly with the sl…
The implementation of ultrasoft pseudopotentials into time-dependent density-functional perturbation theory is detailed for both the Sternheimer approach and the Liouville-Lanczos (LL) method, and equations are presented in the scalar relativistic approximation for periodic solids with finite momentum transfer q. The LL method is applied to calculations of the electron energy loss (EEL) spectrum of face-centered cubic bulk Au both at vanishing and finite q. Our study reveals the richness of the physics underlying the various contributions to the density fluctuation in gold. In particular, our …
Rototranslational sum rules for nuclear dynamics via traveling pseudopotentials
Institut de Ciència de Materials de Barcelona (ICMAB-CSIC)（巴塞罗那材料科学研究所）；ICREA - Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats（加泰罗尼亚高级研究学院）；CIC Nanogune and DIPC（纳米能源与技术协同创新中心与理论物理中心）；Ikerbasque, Basque Foundation for Science（伊克尔巴斯克，巴斯克科学基金会）；Theory of Condensed Matter, Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge（剑桥大学卡文迪许实验室凝聚态理论组）
Computational screening of battery electrolyte components is an extremely challenging task because very complex features like solidelectrolyte-interphase (SEI) formation and graphite exfoliation need to be taken into account at least at the final screening stage. We present estimators for both SEI formation and graphite exfoliation based on a combinatorial approach with quantum chemistry calculations on model system reactions, which can be applied automatically for a large number of compounds and thus allows for a systematic first assessment of the relevant properties within screening approach…
Various many-body perturbation theory techniques for calculating electron behavior rely on {\it W}, the screened Coulomb interaction. Computing {\it W} requires complete knowledge of the dielectric response of the electronic system, and the fidelity of the calculated dielectric response limits the reliability of predicted electronic and structural properties. As a simplification, calculations often begin with the random-phase approximation (RPA). However, even RPA calculations are costly and scale poorly, typically as $N^4$ ($N$ representing the system size). A local approach has been shown to…
The fixed node diffusion Monte Carlo (DMC) method has attracted interest in recent years as a way to calculate properties of solid materials with high accuracy. However, the framework for the calculation of properties such as total energies, atomization energies, and excited state energies is not yet fully established. Several outstanding questions remain as to the effect of pseudopotentials, the magnitude of the fixed node error, and the size of supercell finite size effects. Here, we consider in detail the semiconductors ZnSe and ZnO and carry out systematic studies to assess the magnitude o…
The modified Becke-Johnson exchange potential combined with local-density approximation correlation (mBJLDA) has recently attracted interest because it provides highly improved band gaps at a very low computational cost. In this work we performed an extensive investigation of the performance of the mBJLDA potential employing a norm-conserving pseudopotential plane-waves approach (mBJLDA@PP), as implemented in the abinit code, using a test set of 83 solids representing a wide range of semiconductors and insulators. Our results confirm the conclusion of our previous study that the number of elec…
We present a computational screening of experimental structural repositories for fast Li-ion conductors, with the goal of finding new candidate materials for application as solid-state electrolytes in next-generation batteries. We start from ~1400 unique Li-containing materials, of which ~900 are insulators at the level of density-functional theory. For those, we calculate the diffusion coefficient in a highly automated fashion, using extensive molecular dynamics simulations on a potential energy surface (the recently published pinball model) fitted on first-principles forces. The ~130 most pr…
A simple effective screening parameter for screened range-separated hybrid is constructed from the compressibility sum rule in the context of linear-response time-dependent Density Functional Theory. When applied to the dielectric-dependent hybrid (DDH), it becomes remarkably accurate for bulk solids compared to those obtained from fitting with the model dielectric function or depending on the valence electron density of materials. The present construction of the screening parameter is simple and realistic. The screening parameter developed in this way is physically appealing and practically u…
A Materials Project based open-source Python tool, MPInterfaces, has been developed to automate the high-throughput computational screening and study of interfacial systems. The framework encompasses creation and manipulation of interface structures for solid/solid hetero-structures, solid/implicit solvents systems, nanoparticle/ligands systems; and the creation of simple system-agnostic workflows for in depth computational analysis using density-functional theory or empirical energy models. The package leverages existing open-source high-throughput tools and extends their capabilities towards…
Correlation-consistent Gaussian basis sets for copper solids from material-constrained atomic optimization
University of Maryland（马里兰大学）；Peking University（北京大学）；Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences（中国科学院物理研究所）；The NOMAD Laboratory at the Fritz Haber Institute of the Max-Planck-Gesellschaft（马克斯·普朗克学会弗里茨·哈伯研究所NOMAD实验室）；Quantum Engine LLC（量子引擎有限责任公司）；Institute for Physical Science and Technology, University of Maryland（马里兰大学物理科学与技术研究院）
Thorough characterization of the thermo-mechanical properties of materials requires difficult and time-consuming experiments. This severely limits the availability of data and it is one of the main obstacles for the development of effective accelerated materials design strategies. The rapid screening of new potential systems requires highly integrated, sophisticated and robust computational approaches. We tackled the challenge by surveying more than 3,000 crystalline solids within the AFLOW framework with the newly developed "Automatic Elasticity Library" combined with the previously implement…
Carnegie Mellon University（卡内基梅隆大学）；Massachusetts Institute of Technology（麻省理工学院）
Next generation batteries based on lithium (Li) metal anodes have been plagued by the dendritic electrodeposition of Li metal on the anode during cycling, resulting in short circuit and capacity loss. Suppression of dendritic growth through the use of solid electrolytes has emerged as one of the most promising strategies for enabling the use of Li metal anodes. We perform a computational screening of over 12,000 inorganic solids based on their ability to suppress dendrite initiation in contact with Li metal anode. Properties for mechanically isotropic and anisotropic interfaces that can be use…
An exciting development over the past few decades has been the use of high-throughput computational screening as a means of identifying promising candidate materials for a variety of structural or functional properties. Experimentally, it is often found that the highest-performing materials contain substantial atomic site disorder. These are frequently overlooked in high-throughput computational searches however, due to difficulties in dealing with materials that do not possess simple, well-defined crystallographic unit cells. Here we demonstrate that the screening of magnetocaloric materials …
Hierarchical high-throughput screening of alkaline-stable lithium-ion conductors combining machine learning and first-principles calculations
Materials Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory（劳伦斯伯克利国家实验室材料科学部）；Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of California, Berkeley（加州大学伯克利分校材料科学与工程系）
We present a systematic downfolding many-body approach for extended systems. Many-body calculations operate on a simpler Hamiltonian which retains material-specific properties. The Hamiltonian is systematically improvable and allows one to dial, in principle, between the simplest model and the original Hamiltonian. As a by-product, pseudopotential errors are essentially eliminated using a frozen-core treatment. The computational cost of the many-body calculation is dramatically reduced without sacrificing accuracy. We use the auxiliary-field quantum Monte Carlo (AFQMC) method to solve the down…
Sulfide-based glasses and glass-ceramics showing high ionic conductivities and excellent mechanical properties are considered as promising solid-state electrolytes. Nowadays, the computational material techniques with the advantage of low research cost are being widely utilized for understanding, effectively screening and discovering of battery materials. In consideration of the rising importance and contributions of computational studying on the glassy SSE materials, here, this work summarizes the common computational methods utilized for studying the amorphous inorganic materials, review the…
We develop an iterative diagonalization scheme in solving a one-body self-consistent-field equation in the transcorrelated (TC) method using a plane-wave basis set. Non-Hermiticity in the TC method is well handled with a block-Davidson algorithm. We verify the required computational cost is efficiently reduced by our algorithm. In addition, we apply our plane-wave-basis TC calculation to some simple $sp$-electron systems with deep core states to elucidate an impact of the pseudopotential approximation to the calculated band structures. We find a position of the deep valence bands is improved b…
We present accurate many-body results of the electronic densities in several solid materials, including Si, NaCl, and Cu. These results are obtained using the ab initio auxiliary-field quantum Monte Carlo (AFQMC) method working in a plane-wave basis with norm-conserving, multiple-projector pseudopotentials. AFQMC has been shown to be an excellent many-body total energy method. Computation of observables and correlation functions other than the ground-state energy requires back-propagation, whose adaption and implementation in the plane-wave basis AFQMC framework are discussed in the present pa…
Universal scaling of electrochemical information transfer at solid-liquid interfaces
School of Engineering, Institute of Science Tokyo（东京科学大学工学院）；Department of Chemistry, Graduate School of Environmental, Life, Natural Science and Technology, Okayama University（冈山大学环境生命自然科学研究科化学系）
The electronic band structure of SrTiO$_3$ is investigated in the all-electron QS$GW$ approximation. Unlike previous pseudopotential based QS$GW$ or single-shot $G_0W_0$ calculations, the gap is found to be significantly overestimated compared to experiment. After putting in a correction for the underestimate of the screening by the random phase approximation in terms of a 0.8$Σ$ approach, the gap is still overestimated. The 0.8$Σ$ approach is discussed and justified in terms of various recent literature results including electron-hole corrections. Adding a lattice polarization correction (LPC…
