arXiv subjects

Asier Zabalo

Publications and source records attributed to Asier Zabalo.

8 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Spin-orbit coupling renormalization of the natural optical activity of Pb5Ge3O11 from first-principles

We present a first-principles study of the natural optical activity of the gyroelectric Pb$_5$Ge$_3$O$_{11}$ crystal, explicitly accounting for spin-orbit coupling (SOC) effects. We derive a new analytical expression for the gyration coefficients within the recent framework of long-wavelength density-functional perturbation theory [Phys. Rev. Lett. \textbf{131}, 086902 (2023)], which significantly improves computational efficiency by reducing the number of required response functions and includes spin-orbit coupling effects. We use this implementation to investigate the evolution of Pb$_5$Ge$_3$O$_{11}$'s optical rotation across the ferroelectric double-well, from the paraelectric $P\bar{6}$ phase to the ferroelectric $P3$ phase. Our results demonstrate that, in addition to the substantial renormalization of the double-well energy, spin-orbit coupling contributions play an equally crucial role in the natural optical activity, largely through purely electronic contributions, while SOC-induced structural relaxation effects are minor.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2025

Abinit 2025: New Capabilities for the Predictive Modeling of Solids and Nanomaterials

Abinit is a widely used scientific software package implementing density functional theory and many related functionalities for excited states and response properties. This paper presents the novel features and capabilities, both technical and scientific, which have been implemented over the past 5 years. This evolution occurred in the context of evolving hardware platforms, high-throughput calculation campaigns, and the growing use of machine learning to predict properties based on databases of first principles results. We present new methodologies for ground states with constrained charge, spin or temperature; for density functional perturbation theory extensions to flexoelectricity and polarons; and for excited states in many-body frameworks including GW, dynamical mean field theory, and coupled cluster. Technical advances have extended abinit high-performance execution to graphical processing units and intensive parallelism. Second principles methods build effective models on top of first principles results to scale up in length and time scales. Finally, workflows have been developed in different community frameworks to automate \abinit calculations and enable users to simulate hundreds or thousands of materials in controlled and reproducible conditions.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2025

Static Born charges and quantum capacitance in metals and doped semiconductors

Born dynamical charges ($\textbf{Z}^\text{dyn}$) play a key role in the lattice dynamics of most crystals, including both insulators and metals in the nonadiabatic ("clean") regime. Very recently, the so-called static Born charges, $\textbf{Z}^\text{stat}$, were introduced [G. Marchese, et al., Nat. Phys. $\mathbf{20}$, 88 (2024)] as a means to modeling the long-wavelength behavior of polar phonons in overdamped ("dirty") metals. Here we present a method to calculate $\textbf{Z}^\text{stat}$ directly at the zone center, by applying the $2n+1$ theorem to the long-wavelength expansion of the charge response to a phonon. Furthermore, we relate $\textbf{Z}^\text{stat}$ to the charge response to a uniform strain perturbation via an exact sum rule, where the quantum capacitance of the material plays a crucial role. We showcase our findings via extensive numerical tests on simple metals aluminum and copper, polar metal LiOsO$_3$, and doped semiconductor SrTiO$_3$. Based on our results, we critically discuss the physical significance of $\textbf{Z}^\text{stat}$ in light of their dependence on the choice of the electrostatic reference, and on the length scale that is assumed in the definition of the macroscopic potentials.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2024

Topological interfacial states in ferroelectric domain walls of two-dimensional bismuth

Using machine learning methods, we explore different types of domain walls in the recently unveiled single-element ferroelectric, the bismuth monolayer [Nature 617, 67 (2023)]. Remarkably, our investigation reveals that the charged domain wall configuration exhibits lower energy compared to the uncharged domain wall structure. We also demonstrate that the experimentally discovered tail-to-tail domain wall maintains topological interfacial states caused by the change in the Z_2 number between ferroelectric and paraelectric states. Interestingly, due to the intrinsic built-in electric fields in asymmetry DW configurations, we find that the energy of topological interfacial states splits, resulting in an accidental band crossing at the Fermi level. Our study suggests that domain walls in two-dimensional bismuth hold potential as a promising platform for the development of ferroelectric domain wall devices.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2024

Ensemble Density-Functional Perturbation Theory: Spatial Dispersion in Metals

We present a first-principles methodology, within the context of linear-response theory, that greatly facilitates the perturbative study of physical properties of metallic crystals. Our approach builds on ensemble density-functional theory [Phys. Rev. Lett. 79, 1337 (1997)] to write the adiabatic second-order energy as an unconstrained variational functional of both the wave functions and their occupancies. Thereby, it enables the application of standard tools of density-functional perturbation theory (most notably, the "$2n+1$" theorem) in metals, opening the way to an efficient and accurate calculation of their nonlinear and spatially dispersive responses. We apply our methodology to phonons and strain gradients and demonstrate the accuracy of our implementation by computing the spatial dispersion coefficients of zone-center optical phonons and the flexoelectric force-response tensor of selected metal structures.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2023

Natural optical activity from density-functional perturbation theory

We present an accurate and computationally efficient first-principles methodology to calculate the natural optical activity. Our approach is based on the long-wave density-functional perturbation theory and includes self-consistent field (SCF) terms naturally in the formalism, which are found to be of crucial importance. The final result is expressed exclusively in terms of response functions to uniform field perturbations and avoids troublesome summations over empty states. Our strategy is validated by computing the natural optical activity tensor in representative chiral crystals (trigonal Se, $α$-HgS and $α$-SiO$_2$) and molecules (C$_4$H$_4$O$_2$), finding excellent agreement with experiment and previous theoretical calculations.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2021

Rotational $g$ factors and Lorentz forces of molecules and solids from density-functional perturbation theory

Applied magnetic fields can couple to atomic displacements via generalized Lorentz forces, which are commonly expressed as gyromagnetic $g$ factors. We develop an efficient first-principles methodology based on density-functional perturbation theory to calculate this effect in both molecules and solids to linear order in the applied field. Our methodology is based on two linear-response quantities: the macroscopic polarization response to an atomic displacement (i.e., Born effective charge tensor), and the antisymmetric part of its first real-space moment (the symmetric part corresponding to the dynamical quadrupole tensor). The latter quantity is calculated via an analytical expansion of the current induced by a long-wavelength phonon perturbation, and compared to numerical derivatives of finite-wavevector calculations. We validate our methodology in finite systems by computing the gyromagnetic $g$ factor of several simple molecules, demonstrating excellent agreement with experiment and previous density-functional theory and quantum chemistry calculations. In addition, we demonstrate the utility of our method in extended systems by computing the energy splitting of the low-frequency transverse-optical phonon mode of cubic SrTiO$_3$ in the presence of a magnetic field.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2020

Switching a polar metal via strain gradients

Although rare, spontaneous breakdown of inversion symmetry sometimes occurs in a material which is metallic: these are commonly known as polar metals or ferroelectric metals. Their 'polarization', however, cannot be switched via an electric field, which limits the experimental control over band topology. Here we shall investigate, via first-principles theory, flexoelectricity as a possible way around this obstacle with the well known polar metal LiOsO$_3$. The flexocoupling coefficients are computed for this metal with high accuracy with a completely new approach based on real-space sums of the inter-atomic force constants. A Landau-Ginzburg-Devonshire-type first-principles Hamiltonian is built and a critical bending radius to switch the material is estimated, whose order of magnitude is comparable to that of BaTiO$_3$.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗