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QuantumATK News - First-principles Green's-function Method for Surface Calculations
Posted on July 11, 2017
Researchers at Synopsys QuantumATK group in collaboration with Aalto University and University of Iceland have developed a new method for the first-principle simulation of surfaces using QuantumATK.
The successes of atomistic modeling techniques in describing the chemical and physical properties of surfaces are hampered by the fact that the finite-size slab model, which is currently the workhorse of computational surface science, does not provide a realistic representation of a physically semi-infinite surface. In order to overcome this fundamental limitation, researchers at Synopsys QuantumATK Group in collaboration with Aalto University and University of Iceland have developed a state-of-the-art method based on DFT and on the non-equilibrium Green’s function (NEGF) method for the simulation of truly semi-infinite surfaces, which has been implemented in QuantumATK 2017.
In a new paper [1], the method is applied to several surface science problems which are challenging to describe using the slab method, such as:
- The calculation of the work function of transition metals
- The calculation of surface states in noble metals and topological insulators
- The calculation of surface band gaps
- Band alignment in thin-film semiconductor Si|Ge heterostructures
- Electric field on the adsorption of iodine atoms on Pt(111)
For all these systems, the results obtained with the surface Green’s-function method demonstrate the accuracy of the approach and establish the Green’s-function approach to surface calculations as a superior tool compared to more traditional approaches to surface modeling.
Relevant resources
Have a look at the tutorial on how to perform Green’s Function surface calculations.
References:
[1] S. Smidstrup, D. Stradi, J. Wellendorff, P. Khomyakov, U. Vej-Hansen, M-E. Lee, T. Ghosh, E. Jonsson, H. Jonsson and K. Stokbro, "First-principles Green’s-function method for surface calculations: a pseudopotential localized basis set approach", Phys. Rev. B 96, 195309 (2017), arXiv:1707.02141 [cond-mat.mtrl-sci]
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