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Using density functional theory (DFT) and density functional perturbation theory (DFPT), we investigate the stability and response functions of CsH2PO4, a ferroelectric material at low temperature. This material cannot be described properly by the usual (semi)local approximations within DFT. The long-range e−-e− correlation needs to be properly taken into account, using, for instance, Grimme’s DFT-D methods, as investigated in this work. We find that DFT-D3(BJ) performs the best for the members of the dihydrogenated alkali phosphate family (KH2PO4, RbH2PO4, CsH2PO4), leading to experimental lattice parameters reproduced with an average deviation of 0.5%. With these DFT-D methods, the structural, dielectric, vibrational, and mechanical properties of CsH2PO4 are globally in excellent agreement with the available experiments (<2% MAPE for Raman-active phonons). Our study suggests the possible existence of a new low-temperature phase of CsH2PO4, not yet reported experimentally. Finally, we report the implementation of DFT-D contributions to elastic constants within DFPT.

The strong dependence of Raman intensities with respect to the laser frequency is investigated thanks to the development of a first-principles methodology that relies on finite differences of the calculated dielectric function. This methodology is applied to the computation of the first-order frequency-dependent Raman intensity of silicon, gallium arsenide and silicon carbide, with excitonic effects described by the Bethe-Salpeter equation. We found these to be crucial for the accurate description of the experimental enhancement for laser photon energies around the gap. We also present a study on transition-metal dichalcogenides that reveals an atypical exciton-phonon interaction for WS2 and WSe2. This approach is generalized to the more complex second-order Raman intensity, with phonon losses coming from the entire Brillouin zone. Temperature effects are also important for optical properties. Indeed, vibrations of the atoms induce temperature-dependent modifications of the band structure that, in turn influence optical properties. In this work, we present a methodology for first-principles calculations of temperature-dependent band structure and optical properties, that is validated with respect to frequency-dependent and temperature-dependent Raman intensities of silicon. Finally, all the techniques presented in this work are combined to analyze the more difficult case of multiferroic BiFeO3. Recent experiments have shown strong laser-frequency dependence effects in Raman intensities but a small temperature dependence on first-order Raman. However, second-order Raman intensities show strong temperature dependence. Frequency-dependent Raman intensities and temperature-dependent band structures are computed and discussed., (FSA - Sciences de l'ingénieur) -- UCL, 2017

Most theoretical studies of nanoscale transport in molecular junctions rely on the combination of the Landauer formalism with Kohn-Sham density functional theory (DFT) using standard local and semilocal functionals to approximate exchange and correlation effects. In many cases, the resulting conductance is overestimated with respect to experiments. Recent works have demonstrated that this discrepancy may be reduced when including many-body corrections on top of DFT. Here we study benzene-dithiol (BDT) gold junctions and analyze the effect of many-body perturbation theory (MBPT) on the calculation of the conductance with respect to different bonding geometries. We find that the many-body corrections to the conductance strongly depend on the metal-molecule coupling strength. In the BDT junction with the lowest coupling, many-body corrections reduce the overestimation on the conductance to a factor 2, improving the agreement with experiments. In contrast, in the strongest coupling cases, many-body corrections on the conductance are found to be sensibly smaller and standard DFT reveals a valid approach.

Bournonite (CuPbSbS3) is an earth-abundant mineral with potential thermoelectric applications. This material has a complex crystal structure (space group Pmn21 #31) and has previously been measured to exhibit a very low thermal conductivity (k o 1 W m1 K1 at T Z 300 K). In this study, we employ highthroughput density functional theory calculations to investigate how the properties of the bournonite crystal structure change with elemental substitutions. Specifically, we compute the stability and electronic properties of 320 structures generated via substitutions {Na–K–Cu–Ag}{Si–Ge–Sn–Pb}{N–P–As–Sb–Bi}{O–S–Se–Te} in the ABCD3 formula. We perform two types of transport calculations: the BoltzTraP model, which has been extensively tested, and a newer AMSET model that we have developed and which incorporates scattering effects. We discuss the differences in the model results, finding qualitative agreement except in the case of degenerate bands. Based on our calculations, we identify p-type CuPbSbSe3, CuSnSbSe3 and CuPbAsSe3 as potentially promising materials for further investigation. We additionally calculate the defect properties, finding that n-type behavior in bournonite and the selected materials is highly unlikely, and p-type behavior might be enhanced by employing Sb-poor synthesis conditions to prevent the formation of SbPb defects. Finally, we discuss the origins of various trends with chemical substitution, including the possible role of stereochemically active lone pair effects in stabilizing the bournonite structure and the effect of cation and anion selection on the calculated band gap.

High mobility p-type transparent conducting oxides (TCOs) are critical to current and future optoelectronic devices such as displays, transparent transistors or solar cells. Typical oxides have flat oxygen-based valence bands leading to high hole effective masses and low mobilities. This makes the discovery of high hole mobility oxides very challenging. Sn2+ oxides are known to form Sn-s/O-p mixtures and dispersive valence bands (low hole effective mass). However, not all Sn2+ oxides exhibit low hole effective mass, pointing to the importance of structural factors. Here, we analyze the electronic structure and chemical bonding of three Sn2+ oxides of interest as p-type oxides: SnO and the two K2Sn2O3 polymorphs. We rationalize the differences in their hole effective masses by their Sn–O–Sn angles. As band dispersion is governed by the orbital overlap, Sn–O–Sn angles near 1801 maximize the overlap and minimize the hole effective mass. We show that this principle is generalizable to a larger set of Sn2+ oxides. Our work leads to simple structural design principles for the development of low hole effective mass oxides based on Sn2+ (but also other reduced main group cations) offering a new avenue for the ongoing search for high mobility p-type TCOs.

Electronic transport in materials is governed by a series of tensorial properties such as conductivity, Seebeck coefficient, and effective mass. These quantities are paramount to the understanding of materials in many fields from thermoelectrics to electronics and photovoltaics. Transport properties can be calculated from a material’s band structure using the Boltzmann transport theory framework. We present here the largest computational database of electronic transport properties based on a large set of 48,000 materials originating from the Materials Project database. Our results were obtained through the interpolation approach developed in the BoltzTraP software, assuming a constant relaxation time. We present the workflow to generate the data, the data validation procedure, and the database structure. Our aim is to target the large community of scientists developing materials selection strategies and performing studies involving transport properties.

Motivated by the recently proposed parallel orbital-updating approach in real space method, we propose a parallel orbital-updating based plane-wave basis method for electronic structure calculations, for solving the corresponding eigenvalue problems. In addition, we propose two new modified parallel orbital-updating methods. Compared to the traditional plane-wave methods, our methods allow for two-level parallelization, which is particularly interesting for large scale parallelization. Numerical experiments show that these new methods are more reliable and efficient for large scale calculations on modern supercomputers.

Using first-principles calculations, we perform a comprehensive and systematic analysis to establish the role of van der Waals (vdW) interactions and anharmonicity in the vibrational properties of the low-temperature orthorhombic phase of the hybrid perovskite CH3NH3PbI3. To this end, we consider the most common approaches for including vdW effects in our phonon calculations: the semiempirical Grimme approximations, the Tkatchenko-Scheffler dispersion corrections, and the vdW density-functional method. The vibrational normal modes are first calculated within the harmonic approximation. We consider the LDA and GGA approximations to the exchange-correlation functional and include spin−orbit coupling (SOC) effects. On top of the harmonic calculations, we also evaluate the anharmonicity of the normal modes and the phonon−phonon coupling by solving one-dimensional and two-dimensional nuclear Schrödinger equations, respectively, via the finite-displacement method. We observe that both the LDA and GGA approximations work remarkably well in describing the vibrational properties of CH3NH3PbI3. We find that vdW effects and relativistic effects do not have any significant impact on the vibrational properties of CH3NH3PbI3. Our study also reveals that the spinning modes of the organic CH3NH3+ cations carry considerable anharmonicity but that the anharmonic coupling between different modes is relatively small.

Photovoltaics, which convert sunlight into electricity, is one of the sustainable solutions to meet the global energy demand. In this framework, Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) has attracted considerable attention as a potential earth-abundant and non-toxic absorber material for thin film solar cells due to its favorable electronic and optical properties. Despite the considerable efforts, its efficiency has remained low. One possible explanation is the cation disorder in the system. In this thesis, we investigate this issue using two different approaches. Firstly, since the arrangement of cations over several possible sites makes first-principles density functional theory (DFT) calculations impractical, we rely on a combination of DFT with cluster expansion and Monte Carlo methods to evaluate the thermodynamical properties. We identify the phase transitions and also analyze the nature of bandgap change with temperature. Secondly, since Raman and infrared spectroscopies are considered to be robust techniques for analyzing disorder in CZTS, we compute the vibrational properties of well-known ordered structures of CZTS (kesterite, stannite and PMCA) and compare them with experiments. The effect of different exchange-correlation functionals is also addressed both in a qualitative and quantitative manner. Further, newer features arising from the spectra of many other structures show a better matching with experiments. Both approaches highlight the importance of cation disorder on the properties of CZTS., (FSA - Sciences de l'ingénieur) -- UCL, 2017

Using many-body perturbation theory, the optical properties of modified compact and angular dibenzochrysenes are investigated. First, for a series of already existing molecules in that family, the computed absorption spectra are benchmarked against experimental data in order to evaluate the strengths and the limitations of the method. Then, the computed absorption spectra are presented for newly designed dibenzochrysenes. One of the main results is that the addition of thiophenyl groups at specific positions produces an enhancement of the absorption in the visible region. The information provided in this study can be used as a guide to synthesize optimized materials for solar cells.

The search for new materials based on computational screening relies on methods that accurately predict, in an automatic manner, total energy, atomic-scale geometries, and other fundamental characteristics of materials. Many technologically important material properties directly stem from the electronic structure of a material, but the usualworkhorse for total energies, namely density-functional theory, is plagued by fundamental shortcomings and errors from approximate exchange-correlation functionals in its prediction of the electronic structure. At variance, the GW method is currently the state-of-the-art ab initio approach for accurate electronic structure. It is mostly used to perturbatively correct density-functional theory results, but is, however, computationally demanding and also requires expert knowledge to give accurate results. Accordingly, it is not presently used in high-throughput screening: fully automatized algorithms for setting up the calculations and determining convergence are lacking. In this paper, we develop such a method and, as a first application, use it to validate the accuracy of G0W0 using the PBE starting point and the Godby-Needs plasmon-pole model (G0 WGN0 @PBE) on a set of about 80 solids. The results of the automatic convergence study utilized provide valuable insights. Indeed, we find correlations between computational parameters that can be used to further improve the automatization of GW calculations. Moreover, we find that G0 WGN0 @PBE shows a correlation between the PBE and the G0 WGN0 @PBE gaps that is much stronger than that between GW and experimental gaps. However, the G0 WGN0 @PBE gaps still describe the experimental gaps more accurately than a linear model based on the PBE gaps. With this paper, we hence show that GW can be made automatic and is more accurate than using an empirical correction of the PBE gap, but that, for accurate predictive results for a broad class of materials, an improved starting point or some type

Multi-layer graphene with rhombohedral ABC stacking is considered as a promising carbon phase possibly displaying correlated states like magnetism or high-T c superconductivity due to the occurrence of an ultraflat electronic surface band at the Fermi level. Despite Bernal graphite being the most stable form of graphite, three and four layers graphene samples with rhombohedral stacking can be synthesized. Recently, flakes of thickness up to 17 layers were tentatively attributed ABC sequences although the Raman fingerprint of rhombohedral multilayer graphene is currently unknown and the 2D two-phonon resonant Raman spectrum of Bernal graphite not completely theoretically understood. Here we provide a complete first principles description of the 2D Raman peak in three and four layer graphene for all possible stackings, as well as for bulk Bernal, rhombohedral and an alternation of Bernal and rhombohedral graphite, that can be seen as a periodic sequence of ABA and ABC trilayers. Calculations for several laser energies are performed and practical prescriptions are proposed to identify long range sequences of ABC multi-layer graphene flakes. Our work is a prerequisite to experimental non-destructive identification and synthesis of rhombohedral multi-layer graphene and graphite., (FSA - Sciences de l'ingénieur) -- UCL, 2017

The widespread popularity of density functional theory has given rise to an extensive range of dedicated codes for predicting molecular and crystalline properties. However, each code implements the formalism in a different way, raising questions about the reproducibility of such predictions. We report the results of a community-wide effort that compared 15 solid-state codes, using 40 different potentials or basis set types, to assess the quality of the Perdew-Burke-Ernzerhof equations of state for 71 elemental crystals. We conclude that predictions from recent codes and pseudopotentials agree very well, with pairwise differences that are comparable to those between different high-precision experiments. Older methods, however, have less precise agreement. Our benchmark provides a framework for users and developers to document the precision of new applications and methodological improvements.

Electrochemical generation of oxygen via the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is a key enabling step for many air-breathing electrochemical energy storage devices. IrO2 (Ir4+: 5d5) ranks among the most active known OER catalysts. However, it is unclear how the environment of the Ir4+ oxygen-coordination octahedra affects the OER electrocatalysis. Herein, we present the OER kinetics on a single-crystal, epitaxial SrIrO3(100)p perovskite oxide synthesized using molecular-beam epitaxy on a DyScO3(110) substrate. We find that by switching the host structure of the Ir4+ oxygen-coordination octahedra from corner- and edge-sharing rutile (IrO2) to purely corner-sharing perovskite (SrIrO3), the OER activity increases by more than an order of magnitude. We explain our finding with the correlated, semimetal electronic structure of SrIrO3; our density functional theory calculations reveal that the adsorption energetics on SrIrO3 depends sensitively on the electron-electron interaction, whereas for IrO2, it depends rather weakly. This finding suggests the importance of correlations on the OER and the design of future transition metal oxide electrocatalysts.

The widespread popularity of density functional theory has given rise to an extensive range of dedicated codes for predicting molecular and crystalline properties. However, each code implements the formalism in a different way, raising questions about the reproducibility of such predictions. We report the results of a community-wide effort that compared 15 solid-state codes, using 40 different potentials or basis set types, to assess the quality of the Perdew-Burke-Ernzerhof equations of state for 71 elemental crystals. We conclude that predictions from recent codes and pseudopotentials agree very well, with pairwise differences that are comparable to those between different high-precision experiments. Older methods, however, have less precise agreement. Our benchmark provides a framework for users and developers to document the precision of new applications and methodological improvements.

Transparent conducting oxides (TCOs) are essential to many technologies. These materials are doped (n- or p-type) oxides with a large enough band gap (ideally >3 eV) to ensure transparency. However, the high carrier concentration present in TCOs leads additionally to the possibility for optical transitions from the occupied conduction bands to higher states for n-type materials and from lower states to the unoccupied valence bands for p-type TCOs. The “second gap” formed by these transitions might limit transparency, and a large second gap has been sometimes proposed as a design criteria for high performance TCOs. Here, we study the influence of this second gap on optical absorption using ab initio computations for several well-known n- and p-type TCOs. Our work demonstrates that most known n-type TCOs do not suffer from second gap absorption in the visible even at very high carrier concentrations. On the contrary, p-type oxides show lowering of their optical transmission for high carrier concentrations due to second gap effects. We link this dissimilarity to the different chemistries involved in n- versus typical p-type TCOs. Quantitatively, we show that second gap effects lead to only moderate loss of transmission (even in p-type TCOs) and suggest that a wide second gap, while beneficial, should not be considered as a needed criteria for a working TCO.

ABINIT is a package whose main program allows one to find the total energy, charge density, electronic structure and many other properties of systems made of electrons and nuclei, (molecules and periodic solids) within Density Functional Theory (DFT), Many-Body Perturbation Theory (GW approximation and Bethe–Salpeter equation) and Dynamical Mean Field Theory (DMFT). ABINIT also allows to optimize the geometry according to the DFT forces and stresses, to perform molecular dynamics simulations using these forces, and to generate dynamical matrices, Born effective charges and dielectric tensors. The present paper aims to describe the new capabilities of ABINIT that have been developed since 2009. It covers both physical and technical developments inside the ABINIT code, as well as developments provided within the ABINIT package. The developments are described with relevant references, input variables, tests and tutorials.

Using density functional theory (DFT) and its time-dependent (TD) extension, the electronic and optical properties of the hexathiapentacene (HTP) molecule, a derivative of pentacene (PNT) obtained by symmetric substitution of the six central H atoms with S atoms, are investigated for its gas and solid phases. For the molecular structure, all-electron calculations are performed using a Gaussian localized orbital basis set in conjunction with the Becke three-parameter Lee-Yang-Parr (B3LYP) hybrid exchange-correlation functional. Electron affinities, ionization energies, quasiparticle energy gaps, optical absorption spectra, and exciton binding energies are calculated and compared with the corresponding results for PNT, as well as with the available experimental data. The DFT and TDDFT results are also validated by performing many-body perturbation theory calculations within the GW and Bethe-Salpeter equation formalisms. The functionalization with S atoms induces an increase of both ionization energies and electron affinities, a sizable reduction of the fundamental electronic gap, and a redshift of the optical absorption onset. Notably, the intensity of the first absorption peak of HTP falling in the visible region is found to be nearly tripled with respect to the pure PNT molecule. For the crystal structures, pseudopotential calculations are adopted using a plane-wave basis set together with the Perdew-Burke-Ernzerhof exchange-correlation functional empirically corrected in order to take dispersive interactions into account. The electronic excitations are also obtained within a perturbative B3LYP scheme. A comparative analysis is carried out between the ground-state and excited-state properties of crystalline HTP and PNT linking to the findings obtained for the isolated molecules.

Using first-principles calculations, we study the electronic and transport properties of rutheniumterpyridine molecules sandwiched between two Au(111) electrodes. We analyse both single and packed molecular devices, more amenable to scaling and realistic integration approaches. The devices display all together robust negative differential resistance features at low bias voltages. Remarkably, the electrical control of the spin transport in the studied systems implies a subtle distribution of the magnetisation density within the biased devices and highlights the key role of the Au(111) electrical contacts.

Originally conceived as surface imaging instruments, the scanning tunnelling microscope (STM) and the atomic force microscope (AFM) were recently used to probe molecular chemical bonds with exquisite sensitivity. Remarkably, molecule-functionalized scanning tips can also provide direct access to the inelastic electron tunneling spectrum (IETS) of the terminal molecule. Here we report atomic manipulation experiments addressing carbon monoxide (CO) isotopes at low temperatures. The unique and quantifiable dependence of the CO vibrational modes offers insight into tip-controlled force and charge sensing of surface adsorbates, subsurface defects, and quantum nanostructures. The specific behavior of the monitored vibrational modes originates from the interplay of interaction forces between the top electrode—a scanned tip functionalized with a single molecule—and the atomic scale force field surrounding the target atomically assembled nanostructure. We also present density functional theory (DFT) computations that have been performed in order to scrutinize and visualize the vibrational spectroscopic fingerprints and local force fields. Yan

Thermoelectrics are promising for addressing energy issues but their exploitation is still hampered by low efficiencies. So far, much improvement has been achieved by reducing the thermal conductivity but less by maximizing the power factor. The latter imposes apparently conflicting requirements on the band structure: a narrow energy distribution and a low effective mass. Quantum confinement in nanostructures and the introduction of resonant states were suggested as possible solutions to this paradox, but with limited success. Here, we propose an original approach to fulfill both requirements in bulk semiconductors. It exploits the highly directional character of some orbitals to engineer the band structure and produce a type of low-dimensional transport similar to that targeted in nanostructures, while retaining isotropic properties. Using first-principle calculations, the theoretical concept is demonstrated in Fe2YZ Heusler compounds, yielding power factors 4 to 5 times larger than in classical thermoelectrics at room temperature. Our findings are totally generic and rationalize the search of alternative compounds with similar behavior. Beyond thermoelectricity, these might be relevant also in the context of electronic, superconducting, or photovoltaic applications.

Using benzenediamine and benzenedithiol molecular junctions as benchmarks, we investigate the widespread analysis of the quantum transport conductance in terms of the projected density of states (PDOS) onto molecular orbitals (MOs). We first consider two different methods for identifying the relevant MOs: (1) diagonalization of the Hamiltonian of the isolated molecule and (2) diagonalization of a submatrix of the junction Hamiltonian constructed by considering only basis elements localized on the molecule. We find that these two methods can lead to substantially different MOs and hence PDOS. Furthermore, within Method 1, the PDOS can differ depending on the isolated molecule chosen to represent the molecular junction (e.g., with or without dangling bonds); within Method 2, the PDOS depends on the chosen basis set. We show that these differences can be critical when the PDOS is used to provide a physical interpretation of the conductance (especially when its value is small, as it happens typically at zero bias). In this work, we propose a new approach in an attempt to reconcile the two traditional methods. Although some improvements were achieved, the main problems remain unsolved. Our results raise more general questions and doubts on a PDOS-based analysis of the conductance.