One-hundred-three compound band-structure benchmark of post-self-consistent spin-orbit coupling treatments in density functional theory

We quantify the accuracy of different non-self-consistent and self-consistent spin-orbit coupling (SOC) treatments in Kohn-Sham and hybrid density functional theory by providing a band-structure benchmark set for the valence and low-lying conduction energy bands of 103 inorganic compounds, covering chemical elements up to polonium. Reference energy band structures for the PBE density functional are obtained using the full-potential (linearized) augmented plane wave code wien2k, employing its self-consistent treatment of SOC including Dirac-type p1/2 orbitals in the basis set. We use this benchmark set to benchmark a computationally simpler, non-self-consistent all-electron treatment of SOC based on scalar-relativistic orbitals and numeric atom-centered orbital basis functions. For elements up to Z≈50, both treatments agree virtually exactly. For the heaviest elements considered (Tl, Pb, Bi, Po), the band-structure changes due to SOC are captured with a relative deviation of 11% or less. For different density functionals (PBE versus the hybrid HSE06), we show that the effect of spin-orbit coupling is usually similar but can be dissimilar if the qualitative features of the predicted underlying scalar-relativistic band structures do not agree. All band structures considered in this work are available online via the NOMAD repository to aid in future benchmark studies and methods development.

Duke Scholars

Author Volker Blum Thomas Lord Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materia ...