Performance of various density-functional approximations for cohesive properties of 64 bulk solids

in New Journal of Physics (2018), 20

Accurate and careful benchmarking of different density-functional approximations (DFAs) represents an important source of information for understanding DFAs and how to improve them. In this work we have ... [more ▼]

Accurate and careful benchmarking of different density-functional approximations (DFAs) represents an important source of information for understanding DFAs and how to improve them. In this work we have studied the lattice constants, cohesive energies, and bulk moduli of 64 solids using six functionals, representing the local, semi-local, and hybrid DFAs on the first four rungs of Jacob’s ladder. The set of solids considered consists of ionic crystals, semiconductors, metals, and transition metal carbides and nitrides. To minimize numerical errors and to avoid making further approximations, the full-potential, all-electron FHI-aims code has been employed, and all the reported cohesive properties include contributions from zero-point vibrations. Our assessment demonstrates that current DFAs can predict cohesive properties with mean absolute relative errors of 0.6% for the lattice constant and6%for both the cohesive energy and the bulk modulus over the whole database of 64 solids. For semiconducting and insulating solids, the recently proposed SCAN meta-GGA functional represents a substantial improvement over the other functionals. However, when considering the different types of solids in the set, all of the employed functionals exhibit some variance in their performance. There are clear trends and relationships in the deviations of the cohesive properties, pointing to the need to consider, for example, long-range van der Waals (vdW) interactions. This point is also demonstrated by consistent improvements in predictions for cohesive properties of semiconductors when augmentingGGAand hybrid functionals with a screened Tkatchenko– Scheffler vdW energy term. [less ▲]

Structure and energetics of benzene adsorbed on transition-metal surfaces: density-functional theory with van der Waals interactions including collective substrate response

in NEW JOURNAL OF PHYSICS (2013), 15

The adsorption of benzene on metal surfaces is an important benchmark system for hybrid inorganic/organic interfaces. The reliable determination of the interface geometry and binding energy presents a ... [more ▼]

The adsorption of benzene on metal surfaces is an important benchmark system for hybrid inorganic/organic interfaces. The reliable determination of the interface geometry and binding energy presents a significant challenge for both theory and experiment. Using the Perdew-Burke-Ernzerhof (PBE), PBE+vdW (van der Waals) and the recently developed PBE+vdW(surf) (density-functional theory with vdW interactions that include the collective electronic response of the substrate) methods, we calculated the structures and energetics for benzene on transition-metal surfaces: Cu, Ag, Au, Pd, Pt, Rh and Ir. Our calculations demonstrate that vdW interactions increase the binding energy by more than 0.70 eV for physisorbed systems (Cu, Ag and Au) and by an even larger amount for strongly bound systems (Pd, Pt, Rh and Ir). The collective response of the substrate electrons captured via the vdW(surf) method plays a significant role for most substrates shortening the equilibrium distance by 0.25 angstrom for Cu and decreasing the binding energy by 0.27 eV for Rh. The reliability of our results is assessed by comparison with calculations using the random-phase approximation including renormalized single excitations and the experimental data from temperature-programmed desorption microcalorimetry measurements and low-energy electron diffraction. [less ▲]