Scalable Electronic Structure (ScalES) v1.0
ScalES is a high performance software package for performing large scale electronic structure calculations on high performance supercomputers.
SEARCH · Search NASA
Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.
Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.
ScalES is a high performance software package for performing large scale electronic structure calculations on high performance supercomputers.
The 31st Annual Workshop on Recent Developments in Electronic Structure Theory was held May 20-22, 2019 at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications. This workshop series travels to a different institution within the US each year. This is a report of the Workshop.
The electronic structure and chemical states of HgBa2CaCu20(sub 6 + delta), epitaxial films have been studied with x-ray photelectron spectroscopy. Signals from the superconducting phase dominate all the core-level spectra, and a clear Fermi edge is observed in the valence-band region. The Ba, Ca, Cu, and O core levels are similar to those of Tl2Ba2CaCu208(+)O(sub 6 + delta), but distinct differences are observed in the valence bands which are consistent with differences in the calculated densities of states.
The donor/acceptor interaction in non-fullerene organic photovoltaics leads to the mixing domain that dictates the morphology and electronic structure of the blended thin film. Initiative effort is paid to understand how these domain properties affect the device performances on high-efficiency PM6:Y6 blends. Different fullerenes acceptors are used to manipulate the feature of mixing domain. It is seen that a tight packing in the mixing region is critical, which could effectively enhance the hole transfer and lead to the enlarged and narrow electron density of state (DOS). As a result, short-circuit current (J SC ) and fill factor (FF) are improved. The distribution of DOS and energy levels strongly influences open-circuit voltage (V OC ). The raised filling state of electron Fermi level is seen to be key in determining device V OC . Energy disorder is found to be a key factor to energy loss, which is highly correlated with the intermolecular distance in the mixing region. A 17.53% efficiency is obtained for optimized ternary devices, which is the highest value for similar systems. The current results indicate that a delicate optimization of the mixing domain property is an effective route to improve the V OC , J SC , and FF simultaneously, which provides new guidelines for morphology control toward high-performance organic solar cells.
We present real space quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) calculations of the scandate LaSc0 3 that proved to be challenging for traditional electronic structure approaches due to strong correlation effects resulting in inaccurate band gaps from DFT and GW methods when compared with existing experimental data. Besides calculating an accurate QMC band gap corrected for supercell size biases and in agreement with numerous experiments, we also predict the cohesive energy of the crystal using the standard fixed-node QMC without any empirical or non-variational parameters. We show that promotion (optical) gap and fundamental gap agree with each other illustrating a clear absence of significant excitonic effects in the ideal crystal. We obtained these results in perfect consistency in two independent tracks that employ different basis sets (plane wave vs. localized gaussians), different codes for generating orbitals (QUANTUM ESPRESSO vs. CRYSTAL), different QMC codes (QMCPACK vs. QWALK) and different high-accuracy pseudopotentials (ccECPs vs. Troullier-Martins) presenting the maturity and consistency of QMC methodology and tools for studies of strongly correlated problems.
For two HTSC materials, Y{sub 1−x}Ca{sub x}Ba{sub 2}Cu{sub 3}O{sub 6.7} and Tl{sub 0.8}Hg{sub 0.2}Ba{sub 2}Ca{sub 2}Cu{sub 3}O{sub 8.15}, their crystal structure has been studied earlier in the temperature interval 100–300 K. It is shown that for both compounds, the height of CuO{sub 5} pyramids has a minimum in temperature interval from ∼ 150 to ∼ 250 K. The electronic structure is calculated using first principles based on the obtained data of crystal structure. It is revealed that a decrease in the CuO{sub 5} pyramid height leads to the appearance of the electronic state density peak with an energy of 0.3–0.4 eV under Fermi level. Localized states of barium and apical oxygen make the main contribution to this peak. By reduction the temperature below ∼ 150 K, these localized electronic states disappear, and under continuous cooling, the superconductivity appears.
Layered quasi-two-dimensional transition-metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs), which can be readily made in ultrathin films, offer excellent opportunities for studying how dimensionality affects electronic structure and physical properties. Among all TMDCs, NbSe2 is of special interest; bulk NbSe2 hosts a charge-density-wave phase at low temperatures and has the highest known superconducting transition temperature, and these properties can be substantially modified in the ultrathin film limit. Motivated by these effects, we report herein a study of few-layer NbSe2 films, with a well-defined single-domain orientation, epitaxially grown on GaAs. Angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy was used to determine the electronic band structure and the Fermi surface as a function of layer thickness; first-principles band-structure calculations were performed for comparison. The results show interesting changes as the film thickness increases from a monolayer (ML) to several layers. The most notable changes occur between a ML and a bilayer, where the inversion symmetry in bulk NbSe2 is preserved in the bilayer but not in the ML. Finally, the results illustrate some basic dimensional effects and provide a basis for further exploring and understanding the properties of NbSe2.
Using the full-potential linearized augmented plane wave method, together with the generalized gradient approximation and modified Becke-Johnson as correlation potential, the electronic structures and magnetism for nitrogen-doped ZnS are investigated. Based on the generalized gradient approximation, calculations show nitrogen-substituting sulfur (N{sub S}) would induce the ZnS to be paramagnetic metal. As the band gap increasing to the experimental results (obtained by the modified Becke-Johnson potential), the N{sub S} defects would induce the ZnS to be a ferromagnetic metal. The total magnetic moment for ZnS supercell with single N{sub S} defect is 0.85 μ{sub B}. Positive chemical pair interactions imply that N{sub S} defects would form homogeneous distribution in ZnS host. Sulfur vacancies would give rise to the ZnS with N{sub S} defects system losing the magnetism. Moderate formation energy (0.71 eV) indicates ZnS with N{sub S} defects could be fabricated experimentally.
The flat-plane condition is the union of two exact constraints in electronic structure theory: (i) energetic piecewise linearity with fractional electron removal or addition and (ii) invariant energetics with change in electron spin in a half filled orbital. Semi-local density functional theory (DFT) fails to recover the flat plane, exhibiting convex fractional charge errors (FCE) and concave fractional spin errors (FSE) that are related to delocalization and static correlation errors. We previously showed that DFT+U eliminates FCE but now demonstrate that, like other widely employed corrections (i.e., Hartree-Fock exchange), it worsens FSE. To find an alternative strategy, we examine the shape of semi-local DFT deviations from the exact flat plane and we find this shape to be remarkably consistent across ions and molecules. We introduce the judiciously modified DFT (jmDFT) approach, wherein corrections are constructed from few-parameter, low-order functional forms that fit the shape of semi-local DFT errors. Here we select one such physically intuitive form and incorporate it self-consistently to correct semi-local DFT. We demonstrate on model systems that jmDFT represents the first easy-to-implement, no-overhead approach to recovering the flat plane from semi-local DFT.
The structural, electronic, and magnetic properties of Ti{sub 2}RhSn{sub 1-x}Si{sub x}, Ti{sub 2}RhSn{sub 1-x}Ge{sub x}, and Ti{sub 2}RhGe{sub 1-x}Si{sub x} (x = 0, 0.25, 0.5, 0.75, and 1) quaternary Heusler alloys have been investigated using first-principles density functional theory within generalized gradient approximation (GGA) and local spin-density approximation with Hubbard-U corrections (LSDA+U). The calculations have been performed using the full-potential linearized augmented Plane wave plus local orbitals method. The crystal structures of Ti{sub 2}RhSn{sub 1-x}Si{sub x}, Ti{sub 2}RhSn{sub 1-x}Ge{sub x}, and Ti{sub 2}RhGe{sub 1-x}Si{sub x} were found to be cubic in (F-43m) symmetry for x = 0, 1 and cubic in (P-43m) symmetry for x = 0.25, 0.75, while tetragonal in (P-4m2) symmetry for x = 0.5. The results show that all Ti{sub 2}RhSn1-xSix, Ti{sub 2}RhGe{sub 0.75}Si{sub 0.25}, and Ti{sub 2}RhGe alloys are half-metallic ferrimagnetic. These new materials are good candidates for potential applications in spintronic.
The changes in electronic structure related to transport processes occurring during the alloying of he alloy Ni3Mn with iron and cobalt, and the ordering of the ternary alloys thus formed are presented. The Hall effect, the absolute thermal emf, the internal saturation induction, the Nernst-Ettingshausen constant, and the electrical resistivity were measured. Results show a decrease in the contribution of hole sections of the Fermi surface to the transport process occurs together with a considerable increase in the contribution of electron sections. In this case, the mobility of 3 dimensional holes decreases and the mobility of 4s electrons increases considerably.
We have performed ab initio calculations for the structural, electronic, optical, elastic and thermal properties of CuGaTe{sub 2}. In this study, we used an accurate full potential linearized augmented plane wave (FP-LAPW) method to find the equilibrium structural parameters and to compute the full elastic tensors. We report electronic and optical properties with the recently developed density functional of Tran and Blaha. Furthermore, optical features such as dielectric functions, refractive indices, extinction coefficient, optical reflectivity, absorption coefficients, optical conductivities, were calculated for photon energies up to 30 eV. The thermodynamical properties such as Debye temperature, entropy and Gruneisen parameter, bulk modulus and hardness were calculated employing the quasi-harmonic Debye model at different temperatures (0–1000 K) and pressures (0–8 GPa) and the silent results were interpreted. Most of the investigated parameters are reported for the first time.
We review the progress in atomic structure theory with a focus on superheavy elements and their predicted ground state configurations important for an element’s placement in the periodic table. To understand the electronic structure and correlations in the regime of large atomic numbers, it is essential to correctly solve the Dirac equation in strong Coulomb fields, and to take into account quantum electrodynamic effects. We specifically focus on the fundamental difficulties encountered when dealing with the many-particle Dirac equation. We further discuss the possibility for future many-electron atomic structure calculations going beyond the critical nuclear charge $Z_{crit}≈170$, where levels such as the $1s$ shell dive into the negative energy continuum ($E_{nκ} < –m_{e}c^2$). The nature of the resulting Gamow states within a rigged Hilbert space formalism is highlighted.
Significance The temperature ( T )-dependent evolution of the Kondo lattice electronic structure is a long-standing topic of theoretical and experimental investigation, still lacking a truly microscopic theory that agrees with a full experimental characterization. Here multiple characteristic T scales of the interaction of localized f moments with conduction electrons in the Kondo lattice CeCo I n 5 are identified and investigated using angle-resolved photoemission measurements that substantiate dynamical mean-field theory which newly includes the full realism of crystalline electric-field (CEF) f splittings. Thereby errors in the itinerant versus localized f -state classification from standard density functional theory are corrected, microscopic insight into the broad T -range crossover of f -hybridization effects is gained, and a prediction of CEF degeneracy crossover below the lattice coherence T is made.
The valence electronic structure and core levels of Tl2Ba2CuO(6 + delta) (Tl-2201) epitaxial films have been measured with X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and are compared to those of Tl2Ba2CaCu2O(8 + delta) (Tl-2212). Changes in the Tl-2201 core-level binding energies with oxygen doping are consistent with a change in the chemical potential. Differences between the Tl-2201 and Tl-2212 measured densities of states are consistent with the calculated Cu 3d and Tl 6s partial densities of states.
Spin states appearing near the magnetic phase transition in helicoidal ferromagnet MnSi are studied on the basis of the spin-fluctuation theory and the LSDA + U + SO calculations of the electronic structure. The temperature dependence of the uniform magnetic susceptibility is calculated near the magnetic phase transition temperature, and the result agrees well with the experiment. Spin correlators corresponding to various solutions of the equation of magnetic state are determined in the region of the magnetic phase transition expanded in temperature. It is shown that, in this region, a helicoidal short-range order appears in the form of the superposition of left and right spin spirals with stochastic weight coefficients. It is shown that the magnetic susceptibility divergences on the helicoid wave vector at the temperature of disappearance of local magnetization and during the transition to the paramagnetic state.
We study the relationship between antiferromagnetic order and the electronic properties of KCuMnS 2 with the ThCr 2 Si 2 -type structure. We propose two magnetic structures for KCuMnS 2 with the ThCr 2 Si 2 -type structure. Powder samples of KCuMnS 2 and KLiMnS 2 were prepared for structural studies and magnetization measurements. In both compounds, the Mn 2+ site is alloyed by either Cu + or Li + . We also prepared single crystals of KCuMnS 2 for x-ray and neutron-diffraction studies and resistivity measurements. We relate these properties to the electronic structure calculated with density functional theory. Neutron-diffraction studies reveal that KCuMnS 2 exhibits long-range magnetic ordering with a Néel temperature near 160 K and a moment of 0.92(2) μ B /Mn 2+ at 6 K. In contrast, KLiMnS 2 never exhibits long-range magnetic ordering down to 3.5 K. Here, both sulfides never display a crystallographic phase transition from our temperature-dependent x-ray and neutron-diffraction studies. We discuss the magnetic phases in detail and how they relate to isostructural phases such as iron-based superconductors and related chalcogenides. Electrical resistance measurements indicate that while KCuMnS 2 is semiconducting, there is an anomaly around the Néel temperature, which indicates that long-range magnetism influences its electronic structure.
In multinary compound semiconductors, cation disorder can decisively alter the electronic properties and impact potential applications. ZnSnN 2 is a ternary nitride of interest for photovoltaics, which forms in a wurtzite-derived crystal structure. In the ground state, every N anion is coordinated by two Zn and two Sn cations, thereby observing the octet rule locally. Using a motif-based model Hamiltonian, we performed Monte Carlo simulations that provide atomistic representations of ZnSnN 2 with varying degrees of cation disorder. Subsequent electronic structure calculations describe the evolution of band gaps, optical properties, and carrier localization effects as a function of the disorder. We find that octet-rule conserving disorder is practically impossible to avoid but perfectly benign, with hardly any effects on the electronic structure. In contrast, a fully random cation distribution would be very detrimental, but fortunately it is energetically highly unfavorable. A degree of disorder that can realistically be expected for nonequilibrium thin-film deposition leads to a moderate band-gap reduction and to moderate carrier localization effects. Comparing the simulated structures with experimental samples grown by sputtering, we find evidence that these samples indeed incorporate a certain degree of octet-rule violating disorder, which is reflected in the x-ray diffraction and in the optical absorption spectra. This study demonstrates that the electronic properties of ZnSnN 2 are dominated by changes of the local coordination environments rather than long-range ordering effects.