Efficient Modelling of Anharmonicity and Quantum Effects in PdCuH$_2$ with Machine Learning Potentials

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Hauptverfasser: Belli, Francesco, Zurek, Eva
Format: Preprint
Veröffentlicht: 2024
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author Belli, Francesco
Zurek, Eva
author_facet Belli, Francesco
Zurek, Eva
contents Quantum nuclear effects and anharmonicity impact a wide range of functional materials and their properties. One of the most powerful techniques to model these effects is the Stochastic Self-Consistent Harmonic Approximation (SSCHA). Unfortunately, the SSCHA is extremely computationally expensive, prohibiting its routine use. We propose a protocol that pairs machine learning interatomic potentials, which can be tailored for the system at hand via active learning, with the SSCHA. Our method leverages an upscaling procedure that allows for the treatment of supercells of up to thousands of atoms with practically minimal computational effort. The protocol is applied to PdCuH$_x$ ($x = 0-2$) compounds, chosen because previous experimental studies have reported superconducting critical temperatures, $T_\text{c}$s, as high as 17~K at ambient pressures in an unknown hydrogenated PdCu phase. We identify a $P4/mmm$ PdCuH$_2$ structure, which is shown to be dynamically stable only upon the inclusion of quantum fluctuations, as being a key contributor to the measured superconductivity. For this system, our methodology is able to reduce the computational expense for the SSCHA calculations by $\sim$96\%. The proposed protocol opens the door towards the routine inclusion of quantum nuclear motion and anharmonicity in materials discovery.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2406_13178
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Efficient Modelling of Anharmonicity and Quantum Effects in PdCuH$_2$ with Machine Learning Potentials
Belli, Francesco
Zurek, Eva
Superconductivity
82Dxx
J.2
Quantum nuclear effects and anharmonicity impact a wide range of functional materials and their properties. One of the most powerful techniques to model these effects is the Stochastic Self-Consistent Harmonic Approximation (SSCHA). Unfortunately, the SSCHA is extremely computationally expensive, prohibiting its routine use. We propose a protocol that pairs machine learning interatomic potentials, which can be tailored for the system at hand via active learning, with the SSCHA. Our method leverages an upscaling procedure that allows for the treatment of supercells of up to thousands of atoms with practically minimal computational effort. The protocol is applied to PdCuH$_x$ ($x = 0-2$) compounds, chosen because previous experimental studies have reported superconducting critical temperatures, $T_\text{c}$s, as high as 17~K at ambient pressures in an unknown hydrogenated PdCu phase. We identify a $P4/mmm$ PdCuH$_2$ structure, which is shown to be dynamically stable only upon the inclusion of quantum fluctuations, as being a key contributor to the measured superconductivity. For this system, our methodology is able to reduce the computational expense for the SSCHA calculations by $\sim$96\%. The proposed protocol opens the door towards the routine inclusion of quantum nuclear motion and anharmonicity in materials discovery.
title Efficient Modelling of Anharmonicity and Quantum Effects in PdCuH$_2$ with Machine Learning Potentials
topic Superconductivity
82Dxx
J.2
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2406.13178