arXiv subjects

Alexander Humeniuk

Publications and source records attributed to Alexander Humeniuk.

7 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2021

Effect of Varying the TD-lc-DFTB Range-Separation Parameter on Charge and Energy Transfer in a Model Pentacene/Buckminsterfullerene Heterojunction

Density-functional tight binding (DFTB) has become a popular form of approximate density-functional theory (DFT) based upon a minimal valence basis set and neglect of all but two center integrals. We report the results of our tests of a recent long-range correction (lc) for time-dependent (TD) lc-DFTB by carrying out TD-lc-DFTB fewest switches surface hopping (FSSH) calculations of energy and charge transfer times using the relatively new DFTBaby program. An advantage of this method is the ability to run enough trajectories to get meaningful ensemble averages. Our interest in the present work is less in determining exact energy and charge transfer rates than in understanding how the results of these calculations vary with the value of the range-separation parameter (Rlc = 1/μ) for a model organic solar cell heterojunction consisting of a van der Waals complex P/F made up of single pentacene (P) molecule together with a single buckminsterfullerene (F) molecule. The default value of Rlc = 3.03 a0 is found to be much too small as neither energy nor charge transfer is observed until Rlc ~ 10 a0. Tests at a single geometry show that best agreement with high-quality ab-initio spectra is obtained in the limit of no lc (i.e., very large Rlc.) A plot of energy and charge transfer rates as a function of Rlc is provided which suggests that a value of Rlc ~ 15 a0 yields the typical literature charge transfer time of about 100 fs. However, energy and charge transfer times become as high as ~ 300 fs for Rlc ~ 25 a0. A closer examination of the charge transfer process P*/F to P+/F- shows that the initial electron transfer is accompanied by a partial delocalization of the P hole onto F which then relocalizes back onto P, consistent with a polaron-like picture in which the nuclei relax to stabilize the resultant redistribution of charges.

physics.chem-ph↗

arXiv2019

Assessment of simple and intuitive semiempirical approximations for non-adiabatic coupling vectors in the frame of (LC)-TDDFTB

In this study, two different simple and intuitive semiempirical schemes for computing approximate non-adiabatic coupling vectors (NACVs) between the ground and excited electronic states are presented. The first approximation makes use of Mulliken transition charges, while the second is based on derivative coupling vectors between localized molecular orbitals. Both approximations lend themselves easily to implementation within a whole spectrum of semiempirical quantum-chemical semiempirical methods. Here we present the implementation within the tight-binding DFT and benchmark its performance against analytical TD-DFT NAC vectors for a range of planar fluorescent chromophores at the Franck-Condon point. The pattern of the atomic NAC vectors is often reproduced, but the relative magnitude and total length of the NAC vector are often in serious error. Although quantitative predictions are not possible, these simple and intuitive approximations allow to explain, in a qualitative way, trends in the electronic coupling in extended molecular systems and complex materials. In this context, we investigate how the non-adiabatic coupling depends on the delocalization length of an excitation in chromophoric oligomers based on a simple model. Finally, we make general qualitative predictions on the size dependence of the fluorescence quantum yields in extended molecular systems, and illustrate those on the example of triply fused porphyrin tapes with increasing length.

physics.chem-ph↗

arXiv2018

Davydov-Type Excitonic Effects on the Absorption Spectra of Parallel-Stacked and Herringbone Aggregates of Pentacene: Time-Dependent Density-Functional Theory and Time-Dependent Density-Functional Tight Binding

Exciton formation leads to J-bands in solid pentacene. Describing these exciton bands represents a challenge for both time-dependent (TD) density-functional theory (DFT) and for its semiempirical analogue, namely for TD density-functional tight binding (DFTB) for three reasons (i) solid pentacene and pentacene aggregates are bound only by van der Waals forces which are notoriously difficult to describe with DFT and DFTB, (ii) the proper description of the long-range coupling between molecules, needed to describe Davydov splitting, is not easy to include in TD-DFT with traditional functionals and in TD-DFTB, and (iii) mixing may occur between local and charge transfer excitons, which may, in turn, require special functionals. We assess how far TD-DFT and TD-DFTB have progressed towards a correct description of this type of exciton by including both a dispersion correction for the ground state and a range-separated hybrid functional for the excited state. Analytic results for parallel-stacked ethylene are derived which go beyond Kasha's exciton model in that we are able to make a clear distinction between charge transfer and energy transfer excitons. This is further confirmed when it is shown that range-separated hybrids have a markedly greater effect on charge-transfer excitons than on energy-transfer excitons in the case of parallel-stacked pentacenes. TD-DFT calculations with the CAM-B3LYP functional and TD-lc-DFT calculations lead to negligeable excitonic corrections for the herringbone crystal structure, possibly because of an overcorrection of charge-transfer effects. In this case, TD-DFT calculations with the B3LYP functional or TD-DFTB calculations parameterized to B3LYP give the best results for excitonic corrections for the herringbone crystal structure as judged from comparison with experimental spectra and with Bethe-Salpeter equation calculations from the literature.

physics.chem-ph↗

arXiv2017

DFTBaby: A software package for non-adiabatic molecular dynamics simulations based on long-range corrected tight-binding TD-DFT(B)

A software package, called DFTBaby, is published, which provides the electronic structure needed for running non-adiabatic molecular dynamics simulations at the level of charge-consistent tight-binding DFT. A long-range correction is incorporated to avoid spurious charge transfer states. Excited state energies, their analytic gradients and scalar non-adiabatic couplings are computed using tight-binding TD-DFT. These quantities are fed into a molecular dynamics code, which integrates Newton's equations of motion for the nuclei together with the electronic Schrödinger equation. Non-adiabatic effects are included by surface hopping. As an example, the program is applied to the optimization of excited states and non-adiabatic dynamics of polyfluorene. The python and Fortran source code is available at http://www.dftbaby.chemie.uni-wuerzburg.de/.

physics.chem-ph↗

arXiv2016

Fully quantum non-adiabatic dynamics in electronic-nuclear coherent state basis

Direct dynamics methods using Gaussian wavepackets have to rely only on local properties, such as gradients and hessians at the center of the wavepacket, so as to be compatible with the usual quantum chemistry methods. Matrix elements of the potential energy surfaces between wavepackets therefore usually have to be approximated. It is shown, that if a modified form of valence bond theory is used instead of the usual MO-based theories, the matrix elements can be obtained exactly. This is so because the molecular Hamiltonian only contains the Coulomb potential, for which matrix elements between different basis functions (consisting of Gaussian nuclear and electronic orbitals) are all well-known. In valence bond theory the self-consistent field calculation can be avoided so that the matrix elements are analytical functions of the nuclear coordinates. A method for simulating non-adiabatic quantum dynamics is sketched, where coherent state trajectories are propagated "on the fly" on adiabatic potential energy surfaces without making approximations to the matrix elements responsible for the coupling between trajectories.

physics.chem-ph↗

arXiv2016

Non-Adiabatic Dynamics around a Conical Intersection with Surface-Hopping Coupled Coherent States

An extension of the CCS-method [Chem. Phys. 2004, 304, p. 103-120] for simulating non-adiabatic dynamics with quantum effects of the nuclei is put forward. The time-dependent Schrödinger equation for the motion of the nuclei is solved in a moving basis set. The basis set is guided by classical trajectories, which can hop stochastically between different electronic potential energy surfaces. The non-adiabatic transitions are modelled by a modified version of Tully's fewest switches algorithm. The trajectories consist of Gaussians in the phase space of the nuclei (coherent states) combined with amplitudes for an electronic wave function. The time-dependent matrix elements between different coherent states determine the amplitude of each trajectory in the total multistate wave function; the diagonal matrix elements determine the hopping probabilities and gradients. In this way, both intereference effects and non-adiabatic transitions can be described in a very compact fashion, leading to the exact solution if convergence with respect to the number of trajectories is achieved and the potential energy surfaces are known globally. The method is tested on a 2D model for a conical intersection [J. Chem. Phys., 1996, 104, p. 5517], where a nuclear wavepacket encircles the point of degeneracy between two potential energy surfaces and intereferes with itself. These intereference effects are absent in classical trajectory-based molecular dynamics but can be fully incorporated if trajectories are replaced by surface hopping coupled coherent states.

physics.chem-ph↗

arXiv2015

Long-range correction for tight-binding TD-DFT

We present two improvements to the tight-binding approximation of time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFTB): Firstly, we add an exact Hartree-Fock exchange term, which is switched on at large distances, to the ground state Hamiltonian and similarly to the coupling matrix that enters the linear response equations for the calculation excited electronic states. We show that the excitation energies of charge transfer states are improved relative to the standard approach without the long-range correction by testing the method on a set of molecules from the database in J. Chem. Phys. (2008),128,044118. that are known to exhibit problematic charge transfer states. The degree of spatial overlap between occupied and virtual orbitals indicates where TD-DFTB and lc-TD-DFTB can be expected to produce large errors. Secondly, we improve the calculation of oscillator strengths. The transition dipoles are obtained from Slater Koster files for the dipole matrix elements between valence orbitals. In particular excitations localized on a single atom, which appear dark when using Mulliken transition charges, in this way acquire a more realistic oscillator strength. These extensions pave the way for using long-range corrected TD-DFTB (lc-TD-DFTB) to describe the electronic structure of large chromophoric polymers, where uncorrected TD-DFTB fails to describe the high degree of conjugation and produces spurious low-lying charge transfer states.

physics.chem-ph↗