Silvana Botti

Density-based mixing parameter for hybrid functionals

A very popular ab initio scheme to calculate electronic properties in solids is the use of hybrid functionals in density functional theory (DFT) that mixes a portion of the Fock exchange with DFT functionals. In spite of its success, a major problem still remains, related to the use of one single mixing parameter for all materials. Guided by physical arguments that connect the mixing parameter to the dielectric properties of the solid, and ultimately to its band gap, we propose a method to calculate this parameter from the electronic density alone. This approach is able to cut significantly the error of traditional hybrid functionals for large and small gap materials, while retaining a good description of the structural properties. Moreover, its implementation is simple and leads to a negligible increase of the computational time.

Band structures of Cu2ZnSnS4 and Cu2ZnSnSe4 from many-body methods

We calculate the band structures of kesterite and stannite Cu2ZnSnS4 and Cu2ZnSnSe4, using a state-of-the-art self-consistent GW approach. Our accurate quasiparticle states allow to discuss: the dependence of the gap on the anion displacement; the key-role of the nonlocality of the exchange-correlation potential to obtain good structural parameters; the reliability of less expensive hybrid functional and generalized gradient approximation+U approaches. In particular, we show that even if the band gap is correctly reproduced by hybrid functionals, the band-edge corrections are in disagreement with self-consistent GW results, which have decisive implications for the positioning of the defect levels in the band gap.

Time-dependent density-functional theory for extended systems

For the calculation of neutral excitations, time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) is an exact reformulation of the many-body time-dependent Schrequation, based on knowledge of the density instead of the many-body wavefunction. The density can be determined in an efficient scheme by solving one-particle non-interacting Schr¨ odinger equations—the Kohn-Sham equations. The complication of the problem is hidden in the— unknown—time-dependent exchange and correlation potential that appears in the Kohn-Sham equations and for which it is essential to find good approximations. Many approximations have been suggested and tested for finite systems, where even the very simple adiabatic local-density approximation (ALDA) has often proved to be successful. In the case of solids, ALDA fails to reproduce optical absorption spectra, which are instead well described by solving the Bethe- Salpeter equation of many-body perturbation theory (MBPT). On the other hand, ALDA can lead to excellent results for loss functions (at vanishing and finite momentum transfer). In view of this and thanks to recent successful developments of improved linear-response kernels derived from MBPT, TDDFT is today considered a promising alternative to MBPT for the calculation of electronic spectra, even for solids. After reviewing the fundamentals of TDDFT within linear response, we discuss different approaches and a variety of applications to extended systems. (Some figures in this article are in colour only in the electronic version)

Low-energy silicon allotropes with strong absorption in the visible for photovoltaic applications

We present state-of-the-art first-principle calculations of the electronic and optical properties of silicon allotropes with interesting characteristics for applications in thin-film solar cells. These new phases consist of distorted sp

Time-dependent density functional theory scheme for efficient calculations of dynamic "hyper…polarizabilities

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Effects of electronic and lattice polarization on the band structure of delafossite transparent conductive oxides.

silicon networks and have a lower formation energy than other experimentally produced silicon phases. Some of these structures turned out to have quasi-direct and dipole-allowed band gaps in the range 0.8--1.5\,eV, and to display absorption coefficients comparable with those of chalcopyrites used in thin-film record solar cells.

High-pressure structures of disilane and their superconducting properties.

The authors present an efficient perturbative method to obtain both static and dynamic polarizabilities and hyperpolarizabilities of complex electronic systems. This approach is based on the solution of a frequency-dependent Sternheimer equation, within the formalism of time-dependent density functional theory, and allows the calculation of the response both in resonance and out of resonance. Furthermore, the excellent scaling with the number of atoms opens the way to the investigation of response properties of very large molecular systems. To demonstrate the capabilities of this method, they implemented it in a real-space (basis-set-free) code and applied it to benchmark molecules, namely, CO, H2O, and para-nitroaniline. Their results are in agreement with experimental and previous theoretical studies and fully validate their approach.

Benchmark Many-Body GW and Bethe-Salpeter Calculations for Small Transition Metal Molecules.

We use hybrid functionals and restricted self-consistent GW, state-of-the-art theoretical approaches for quasiparticle band structures, to study the electronic states of delafossite Cu(Al,In)O2, the first p-type and bipolar transparent conductive oxides. We show that a self-consistent GW approximation gives remarkably wider band gaps than all the other approaches used so far. Accounting for polaronic effects in the GW scheme we recover a very nice agreement with experiments. Furthermore, the modifications with respect to the Kohn-Sham bands are strongly k dependent, which makes questionable the common practice of using a scissor operator. Finally, our results support the view that the low energy structures found in optical experiments, and initially attributed to an indirect transition, are due to intrinsic defects in the samples.

Stability and electronic properties of new inorganic perovskites from high-throughput ab initio calculations

A systematic ab initio search for low-enthalpy phases of disilane (Si2H6) at high pressures was performed based on the minima hopping method. We found a novel metallic phase of disilane with Cmcm symmetry, which is enthalpically more favorable than the recently proposed structures of disilane up to 280 GPa, but revealing compositional instability below 190 GPa. The Cmcm phase has a moderate electron-phonon coupling yielding a superconducting transition temperature T(c) of around 20 K at 100 GPa, decreasing to 13 K at 220 GPa. These values are significantly smaller than previously predicted T(c))s for disilane at equivalent pressure. This shows that similar but different crystalline structures of a material can result in dramatically different T(c)s and stresses the need for a systematic search for a crystalline ground state.Through a systematic structural search we found an allotrope of carbon with Cmmm symmetry which we predict to be more stable than graphite for pressures above 10 GPa. This material, which we refer to as Z-carbon, is formed by pure sp(3) bonds and it provides an explanation to several features in experimental x-ray diffraction and Raman spectra of graphite under pressure. The transition from graphite to Z-carbon can occur through simple sliding and buckling of graphene sheets. Our calculations predict that Z-carbon is a transparent wide band-gap semiconductor with a hardness comparable to diamond.

Identification of fullerene-like CdSe nanoparticles from optical spectroscopy calculations

We study the electronic and optical properties of 39 small molecules containing transition metal atoms and 7 others related to quantum-dots for photovoltaics. We explore in particular the merits of the many-body GW formalism, as compared to the ΔSCF approach within density functional theory, in the description of the ionization energy and electronic affinity. Mean average errors of 0.2-0.3 eV with respect to experiment are found when using the PBE0 functional for ΔSCF and as a starting point for GW. The effect of partial self-consistency at the GW level is explored. Further, for optical excitations, the Bethe-Salpeter formalism is found to offer similar accuracy as time-dependent DFT-based methods with the hybrid PBE0 functional, with mean average discrepancies of about 0.3 and 0.2 eV, respectively, as compared to available experimental data. Our calculations validate the accuracy of the parameter-free GW and Bethe-Salpeter formalisms for this class of systems, opening the way to the study of large clusters containing transition metal atoms of interest for photovoltaic applications.