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We present a new code to evaluate thermoelectric and electronic transport properties of extended systems with a maximally-localized Wannier function basis set. The semiclassical Boltzmann transport equations for the homogeneous infinite system are solved in the constant relaxation-time approximation and band energies and band derivatives are obtained via Wannier interpolations. Thanks to the exponential localization of the Wannier functions obtained, very high accuracy in the Brillouin zone integrals can be achieved with very moderate computational costs. Moreover, the analytical expression for the band derivatives in the Wannier basis resolves any issues that may occur when evaluating derivatives near band crossings. The code is tested on binary and ternary skutterudites CoSb_3 and CoGe_{3/2}S_{3/2}., Comment: 19 pages, 7 figures

First principles calculations are used to investigate electronic band structure and vibrational spectra of pnictogen substituted ternary skutterudites. We compare the results with the prototypical binary composition CoSb$_3$ to identify the effects of substitutions on the Sb site, and evaluate the potential of ternary skutterudites for thermoelectric applications. Electronic transport coefficients are computed within the Boltzmann transport formalism assuming a constant relaxation time, using a new methodology based on maximally localized Wannier function interpolation. Our results point to a large sensitivity of the electronic transport coefficients to carrier concentration and to scattering mechanisms associated with the enhanced polarity. The ionic character of the bonds is used to explain the detrimental effect on the thermoelectric properties.

We investigate from first principles the proposed destruction of the controversial eg' pockets in the Fermi surface of NaxCoO2 due to Na disorder, by calculating its k-dependent configurational averaged spectral function . To this end, a Wannier function based method is developed that treats the effects of disorder beyond the mean field. Remarkable spectral broadenings of order ~eV are found for the oxygen orbitals, possibly explaining their absence in the experiments. Contrary to the current lore, however, the eg' pockets remain almost perfectly coherent. The developed method is expected to generate exciting opportunities in the study of the countless functional materials that owe their important electronic properties to disordered dopants.

The apparent contradiction between the recently observed weak charge disproportion and the traditional Mn$^{3+}$/Mn$^{4+}$ picture of the charge-orbital orders in half-doped manganites is resolved by a novel Wannier states analysis of the LDA$+U$ electronic structure. Strong electron itinerancy in this charge-transfer system significantly delocalizes the occupied low-energy "Mn$^{3+}$" Wannier states such that charge leaks into the "Mn$^{4+}$"-sites. Furthermore, the leading mechanisms of the charge order are quantified via our first-principles derivation of the low-energy effective Hamiltonian. The electron-electron interaction is found to play a role as important as the electron-lattice interaction. \ignore{A general picture of doped holes in strongly correlated charge-transfer systems is presented and applied to the study of charge order in half-doped manganites, using a novel Wannier states analysis of the LDA$+U$ electronic structure. While residing primarily in the oxygen atoms, the doped holes form additional effective $e_g$ orbitals at the low-energy scale, leading to an effective Mn$^{3+}$/Mn$^{4+}$ valence picture that enables weak charge disproportion, resolving the current serious contradictions between the recent experimental observations of charge distribution and traditional models. Furthermore, the leading mechanisms of the observed charge order are quantified via our first-principles derivation of the low-energy effective Hamiltonian, Comment: accepted by Europhysics Letters

The relative importance of electron-lattice (e-l) and electron-electron (e-e) interactions in ordering orbitals in LaMnO$_3$ is systematically examined within the LDA+$U$ approximation of density functional theory. A realistic effective Hamiltonian is derived from novel Wannier functions analysis of the electronic structure. Surprisingly, e-l interaction ($\simeq 0.9$ eV) alone is found insufficient to stabilize the orbital ordered state. On the other hand, e-e interaction ($\simeq 1.7$ eV) not only induces orbital ordering, but also greatly facilitates the Jahn-Teller distortion via enhanced localization. Further experimental means to quantify the competition between these two mechanisms are proposed., Comment: RevTex 4, 5 pages, 3 figures. Revision for publication