No Arabic abstract
An atomic-orbital basis set framework is presented for carrying out velocity- gauge real-time time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) simulations in periodic systems employing range-separated hybrid functionals. Linear optical response obtained from real-time propagation of the time-dependent Kohn-Sham equations including nonlocal exchange is considered in prototypical solid-state materials such as bulk Si, LiF and monolayer hexagonal-BN. Additionally core excitations in monolayer hexagonal-BN at the B and N K-edges are investigated and the role of long-range and short-range nonlocal exchange in capturing valence and core excitonic effects is discussed. Results obtained using this time-domain atomic orbital basis set framework are shown to be consistent with equivalent frequency-domain planewave results in the literature. The developments discussed lead to a time-domain generalized Kohn-Sham TDDFT implementation for the treatment of core and valence electron dynamics and light-matter interaction in periodic solid-state systems.
The interaction of laser fields with solid-state systems can be modeled efficiently within the velocity-gauge formalism of real-time time dependent density functional theory (RT-TDDFT). In this article, we discuss the implementation of the velocity-gauge RT-TDDFT equations for electron dynamics within a linear combination of atomic orbitals (LCAO) basis set framework. Numerical results obtained from our LCAO implementation, for the electronic response of periodic systems to both weak and intense laser fields, are compared to those obtained from established real-space grid and Full-Potential Linearized Augumented Planewave approaches. Potential applications of the LCAO based scheme in the context of extreme ultra-violet and soft X-ray spectroscopies involving core-electronic excitations are discussed.
Motivated by an experiment in which the singlet-triplet gap in triphenylene based copolymers was effectively tuned, we used time dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) to reproduce the main results. By means of conventional and long-range corrected exchange correlation functionals, the luminescence energies and the exciton localization were calculated for a triphenylene homopolymer and several different copolymers. The phosphorescence energy of the pure triphenylene chain is predicted accurately by means of the optimally tuned long-range corrected LC-PBE functional and slightly less accurate by the global hybrid B3LYP. However, the experimentally observed fixed phosphorescence energy could not be reproduced because the localization pattern is different to the expectations: Instead of localizing on the triphenylene moiety - which is present in all types of polymers - the triplet state localizes on the different bridging units in the TDDFT calculations. This leads to different triplet emission energies for each type of polymer. Yet, there are clear indications that long-range corrected TDDFT has the potential to predict the triplet emission energies as well as the localization behavior more accurate than conventional local or semi-local functionals.
High harmonic generation (HHG) spectra have the potential to show novel signatures of ordered phases in condensed matter. We studied the femtosecond laser-driven electronic response of monolayer NbSe2 using state-of-the-art computational methods, which can guide future synthesis and optical characterization. Earlier studies found distinct signatures of charge density wave (CDW) ordered phases in the ground state of NbSe2 monolayers, in co-existence with superconductivity. Driving such systems with ultrashort laser pulses can shed new light on optically controlling various exotic phases (e.g. CDW) in monolayer NbSe2. This will not only provide a fundamental understanding of non-equilibrium phase-transitions in NbSe2, but also will open a path forward for revolutionizing quantum information technologies, such as valleytronics. To this end, we have studied high harmonic generation (HHG) in monolayer NbSe2 under various optical pump intensities using real-time time-dependent density functional theory (RT-TDDFT). Our calculations predict distinct signatures in HHG spectra for certain harmonics in the presence of CDW order in monolayer NbSe2. Finally, we also examined the dependence of HHG spectra on excitation intensity and qualitatively revealed its power-law behavior.
Understanding, optimizing, and controlling the optical absorption process, exciton gemination, and electron-hole separation and conduction in low dimensional systems is a fundamental problem in materials science. However, robust and efficient methods capable of modelling the optical absorbance of low dimensional macromolecular systems and providing physical insight into the processes involved have remained elusive. We employ a highly efficient linear combination of atomic orbitals (LCAOs) representation of the Kohn--Sham (KS) orbitals within time dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) in the reciprocal space ($k$) and frequency ($omega$) domains, as implemented within our LCAO-TDDFT-$k$-$omega$ code, and apply the derivative discontinuity correction of the exchange functional $Delta_x$ to the KS eigenenergies. In so doing we are able to provide a semi-quantitative description of the optical absorption, conductivity, and polarizability spectra for prototypical 0D, 1D, 2D, and 3D systems within the optical limit ($|bf{q}|to0^+$) as compared to both available measurements and from solving the Bethe$-$Salpeter equation with quasiparticle $G_0 W_0$ eigenvalues ($G_0 W_0$-BSE). Specifically, we consider 0D fullerene (C$_{60}$), 1D metallic (10,0) and semiconducting (10,10) single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs), 2D graphene (GR) and phosphorene (PN), and 3D rutile (R-TiO$_2$) and anatase (A-TiO$_2$). For each system, we also employ the spatially resolved electron-hole density to provide direct physical insight into the nature of their optical excitations. These results demonstrate the reliability, applicability, efficiency, and robustness of our LCAO-TDDFT-$k$-$omega$ code, and open the pathway to the computational design of macromolecular systems for optoelectronic, photovoltaic, and photocatalytic applications $in$ $silico$.
The nonlocal van der Waals (NL-vdW) functionals [Dion et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 92, 246401 (2004)] are being applied more and more frequently in solid-state physics, since they have shown to be much more reliable than the traditional semilocal functionals for systems where weak interactions play a major role. However, a certain number of NL-vdW functionals have been proposed during the last few years, such that it is not always clear which one should be used. In this work, an assessment of NL-vdW functionals is presented. Our test set consists of weakly bound solids, namely rare gases, layered systems like graphite, and molecular solids, but also strongly bound solids in order to provide a more general conclusion about the accuracy of NL-vdW functionals for extended systems. We found that among the tested functionals, rev-vdW-DF2 [Hamada, Phys. Rev. B 89, 121103(R) (2014)] is very accurate for weakly bound solids, but also quite reliable for strongly bound solids.