An accurate alternative to hybrid functionals for germanium: DFT+$α$

Fuente: arXiv
Gespeichert in:
Bibliographische Detailangaben
Hauptverfasser: Abdurrazaq, Abdulgaffar, Lot, Ruggero, Jay, Antoine, Herrero-Saboya, Gabriela, Richard, Nicolas, Martin-Samos, Layla, Hémeryck, Anne, de Gironcoli, Stefano
Format: Preprint
Veröffentlicht: 2025
Schlagworte:
Online-Zugang:
Tags: Tag hinzufügen
Keine Tags, Fügen Sie den ersten Tag hinzu!
_version_ 1866914190206173184
author Abdurrazaq, Abdulgaffar
Lot, Ruggero
Jay, Antoine
Herrero-Saboya, Gabriela
Richard, Nicolas
Martin-Samos, Layla
Hémeryck, Anne
de Gironcoli, Stefano
author_facet Abdurrazaq, Abdulgaffar
Lot, Ruggero
Jay, Antoine
Herrero-Saboya, Gabriela
Richard, Nicolas
Martin-Samos, Layla
Hémeryck, Anne
de Gironcoli, Stefano
contents The accuracy of bulk property predictions in density functional theory (DFT) calculations depends on the choice of exchange-correlation functional. While the Perdew-Burke-Ernzerhof (PBE) functional systematically overestimates lattice parameters and strongly underestimates electronic band gaps, hybrid functionals such as Heyd-Scuseria-Ernzerhof (HSE) offer better overall agreement across a broad range of materials. Using germanium as a critical test case, we challenge the ability of both functionals to capture semiconductor properties. Although HSE improves PBE's gap error, it fails to reproduce germanium's correct $Γ$-L indirect and $Γ$-$Γ$ band gaps simultaneously. Noting that the PBE underestimated energy separation between the 4p valence-band maximum and 4s conduction-band minimum causes unphysical $sp$ mixing, we propose DFT+$α$, a semi-empirical correction scheme applied selectively to 4s-like orbitals. For germanium, DFT+$α$ restores the proper ordering and orbital character of the band edges and yields accurate lattice constant, bulk modulus, elastic constants and phonon frequencies at a fraction of hybrid-functional computational cost.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2512_08857
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle An accurate alternative to hybrid functionals for germanium: DFT+$α$
Abdurrazaq, Abdulgaffar
Lot, Ruggero
Jay, Antoine
Herrero-Saboya, Gabriela
Richard, Nicolas
Martin-Samos, Layla
Hémeryck, Anne
de Gironcoli, Stefano
Materials Science
The accuracy of bulk property predictions in density functional theory (DFT) calculations depends on the choice of exchange-correlation functional. While the Perdew-Burke-Ernzerhof (PBE) functional systematically overestimates lattice parameters and strongly underestimates electronic band gaps, hybrid functionals such as Heyd-Scuseria-Ernzerhof (HSE) offer better overall agreement across a broad range of materials. Using germanium as a critical test case, we challenge the ability of both functionals to capture semiconductor properties. Although HSE improves PBE's gap error, it fails to reproduce germanium's correct $Γ$-L indirect and $Γ$-$Γ$ band gaps simultaneously. Noting that the PBE underestimated energy separation between the 4p valence-band maximum and 4s conduction-band minimum causes unphysical $sp$ mixing, we propose DFT+$α$, a semi-empirical correction scheme applied selectively to 4s-like orbitals. For germanium, DFT+$α$ restores the proper ordering and orbital character of the band edges and yields accurate lattice constant, bulk modulus, elastic constants and phonon frequencies at a fraction of hybrid-functional computational cost.
title An accurate alternative to hybrid functionals for germanium: DFT+$α$
topic Materials Science
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2512.08857