Entwicklung und Anwendung explizit korrelierter Wellenfunktionsmodelle

Die Arbeit befasst sich mit der Ab-Initio-Berechnung von molekularen Eigenschaften, beispielsweise Dipolmomenten oder Strukturen, mithilfe von explizit korrelierter Störungstheorie. Hierzu erfolgt die Herleitung, Implementierung und Analyse der Genauigkeit von analytischen Gradienten für die Methode RI-MP2-F12. Mit diesem Ansatz können Energien und Eigenschaften am Basissatzlimit berechnet werden, so dass der Fehler durch Überlagerung von Basissätzen (BSSE) drastisch reduziert wird

Entwicklung und Anwendung explizit korrelierter Wellenfunktionsmodelle

Die Arbeit befasst sich mit der Ab-Initio-Berechnung von molekularen Eigenschaften, beispielsweise Dipolmomenten oder Strukturen, mithilfe von explizit korrelierter Störungstheorie. Hierzu erfolgt die Herleitung, Implementierung und Analyse der Genauigkeit von analytischen Gradienten für die Methode RI-MP2-F12. Mit diesem Ansatz können Energien und Eigenschaften am Basissatzlimit berechnet werden, so dass der Fehler durch Überlagerung von Basissätzen (BSSE) drastisch reduziert wird

Numerically accurate linear response-properties in the configuration-interaction singles (CIS) approximation

In the present work, we report an efficient implementation of configuration interaction singles (CIS) excitation energies and oscillator strengths using the multi-resolution analysis (MRA) framework to address the basis-set convergence of excited state computations. In MRA (ground-state) orbitals, excited states are constructed adaptively guaranteeing an overall precision. Thus not only valence but also, in particular, low-lying Rydberg states can be computed with consistent quality at the basis set limit a priori, or without special treatments, which is demonstrated using a small test set of organic molecules, basis sets, and states. We find that the new implementation of MRA-CIS excitation energy calculations is competitive with conventional LCAO calculations when the basis-set limit of medium-sized molecules is sought, which requires large, diffuse basis sets. This becomes particularly important if accurate calculations of molecular electronic absorption spectra with respect to basis-set incompleteness are required, in which both valence as well as Rydberg excitations can contribute to the molecule's UV/VIS fingerprint

Molecular properties via a subsystem density functional theory formulation: A common framework for electronic embedding

In this article, we present a consistent derivation of a density functional theory (DFT) based embedding method which encompasses wave-function theory-in-DFT (WFT-in-DFT) and the DFT-based subsystem formulation of response theory (DFT-in-DFT) by Neugebauer [J. Neugebauer, J. Chem. Phys. 131, 084104 (2009)10.1063/1.3212883] as special cases. This formulation, which is based on the time-averaged quasi-energy formalism, makes use of the variation Lagrangian techniques to allow the use of non-variational (in particular: coupled cluster) wave-function-based methods. We show how, in the time-independent limit, we naturally obtain expressions for the ground-state DFT-in-DFT and WFT-in-DFT embedding via a local potential. We furthermore provide working equations for the special case in which coupled cluster theory is used to obtain the density and excitation energies of the active subsystem. A sample application is given to demonstrate the method. © 2012 American Institute of Physics

Understanding excited state properties of host materials in OLEDs: simulation of absorption spectrum of amorphous 4,4-bis(carbazol-9-yl)-2,2-biphenyl (CBP)

4,4-Bis(carbazol-9-yl)-2,2-biphenyl (CBP) is widely used as a host material in phosphorescent organic light-emitting diodes (PhOLEDs). In the present study, we simulate the absorption spectra of CBP in gas and condensed phases, respectively, using the efficient time-dependent long-range corrected tight-binding density functional theory (TD-LC-DFTB). The accuracy of the condensed-phase absorption spectra computed using the structures obtained from classical molecular dynamics (MD) and quantum mechanical/molecular mechanical (QM/MM) simulations is examined by comparison with the experimental absorption spectrum. It is found that the TD-LC-DFTB gas-phase spectrum is in good agreement with the GW-BSE spectrum, indicating TD-LC-DFTB is an accurate and robust method in calculating the excitation energies of CBP. For the condensed-phase spectrum, we find that the electrostatic embedding has a minor influence on the excitation energy. Computing accurate absorption spectra is a particular challenge since static and dynamic disorders have to be taken into account. The static disorder results from the molecular packing in the material, which leads to molecule deformations. Since these structural changes sensitively impact the excitation energies of the individual molecules, a proper representation of this static disorder indicates that a reasonable structural model of the material has been generated. The good agreement between computed and experimental absorption spectra is therefore an indicator for the structural model developed. Concerning dynamic disorder, we find that molecular changes occur on long timescales in the ns-regime, which requires the use of fast computation approaches to reach convergence. The structural models derived in this work are the basis for future studies of charge and exciton transfer in CBP and related materials, also concerning the degradation mechanisms of CBP-based PhOLEDs

Geometry dependence of excitonic couplings and the consequences for configuration-space sampling

Excitonic coupling plays a key role for the understanding of excitonic energy transport (EET) in, for example, organic photovoltaics. However, the calculation of realistic systems is often beyond the applicability range of accurate wavefunction methods so that lower-scaling semi-empirical methods are used to model EET events. In the present work, the distance and angle dependence of excitonic couplings of dimers of selected organic molecules are evaluated for the semi-empirical long-range corrected density functional based tight binding (LC-DFTB) method and spin opposite scaled second order approximate coupled cluster singles and doubles (SOS-CC2). While semi-empirically scaled methods can lead to slightly increased deviations for excitation energies, the excitonic couplings and their dependence on the dimer geometry are reproduced. LC-DFTB yields a similar accuracy range as density-functional theory (DFT) employing the ωB97X functional while the computation time is reduced by several orders of magnitude. The dependence of the exchange contributions to the excitonic couplings on the dimer geometry is analyzed assessing the calculation of Coulombic excitonic couplings from monomer local excited states only, which reduces the computational effort significantly. The present work is a necessary first step toward the simulation of excitonic energy transport using semi-empirical methods

Correction: Benchmark and performance of long-range corrected time-dependent density functional tight binding (LC-TD-DFTB) on rhodopsins and light-harvesting complexes

Correction for ‘Benchmark and performance of long-range corrected time-dependent density functional tight binding (LC-TD-DFTB) on rhodopsins and light-harvesting complexes’ by Beatrix M. Bold et al., Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2020, 22, 10500–10518, https://doi.org/10.1039/C9CP05753F. The authors have recognised two errors in the data for the published version of this article. The first one concerns the reported QM/MM calculations on the Fenna–Matthews–Olson (FMO) complex, and the second error affects all Coulomb couplings presented. In brief, the most important changes are: (i) the ZINDO site energies for the individual pigments are closer to each other and the ZINDO site energy fluctuations are smaller; (ii) the couplings are smaller and now in better agreement with reference data; and (iii) as a consequence, the exciton splitting is decreased. These errors do not change the conclusions of the study but only lead to small corrections of the reported results, as detailed below

Benchmark and performance of long-range corrected time-dependent density functional tight binding (LC-TD-DFTB) on rhodopsins and light-harvesting complexes

The chromophores of rhodopsins (Rh) and light-harvesting (LH) complexes still represent a major challenge for a quantum chemical description due to their size and complex electronic structure. Since gradient corrected and hybrid density functional approaches have been shown to fail for these systems, only range-separated functionals seem to be a promising alternative to the more time consuming post-Hartree–Fock approaches. For extended sampling of optical properties, however, even more approximate approaches are required. Recently, a long-range corrected (LC) functional has been implemented into the efficient density functional tight binding (DFTB) method, allowing to sample the excited states properties of chromophores embedded into proteins using quantum mechanical/molecular mechanical (QM/MM) with the time-dependent (TD) DFTB approach. In the present study, we assess the accuracy of LC-TD-DFT and LC-TD-DFTB for rhodopsins (bacteriorhodopsin (bR) and pharaonis phoborhodopsin (ppR)) and LH complexes (light-harvesting complex II (LH2) and Fenna–Matthews–Olson (FMO) complex). This benchmark study shows the improved description of the color tuning parameters compared to standard DFT functionals. In general, LC-TD-DFTB can exhibit a similar performance as the corresponding LC functionals, allowing a reliable description of excited states properties at significantly reduced cost. The two chromophores investigated here pose complementary challenges: while huge sensitivity to external field perturbation (color tuning) and charge transfer excitations are characteristic for the retinal chromophore, the multi-chromophoric character of the LH complexes emphasizes a correct description of inter-chromophore couplings, giving less importance to color tuning. None of the investigated functionals masters both systems simultaneously with satisfactory accuracy. LC-TD-DFTB, at the current stage, although showing a systematic improvement compared to TD-DFTB cannot be recommended for studying color tuning in retinal proteins, similar to some of the LC-DFT functionals, because the response to external fields is still too weak. For sampling of LH-spectra, however, LC-TD-DFTB is a viable tool, allowing to efficiently sample absorption energies, as shown for three different LH complexes. As the calculations indicate, geometry optimization may overestimate the importance of local minima, which may be averaged over when using trajectories. Fast quantum chemical approaches therefore may allow for a direct sampling of spectra in the near future

Entwicklung und Anwendung explizit korrelierter Wellenfunktionsmodelle

Die Arbeit befasst sich mit der Ab-Initio-Berechnung von molekularen Eigenschaften, beispielsweise Dipolmomenten oder Strukturen, mithilfe von explizit korrelierter Störungstheorie. Hierzu erfolgt die Herleitung, Implementierung und Analyse der Genauigkeit von analytischen Gradienten für die Methode RI-MP2-F12. Mit diesem Ansatz können Energien und Eigenschaften am Basissatzlimit berechnet werden, so dass der Fehler durch Überlagerung von Basissätzen (BSSE) drastisch reduziert wird