Small basis set density functional theory method for cost-efficient, large-scale condensed matter simulations

Abstract

We present an efficient first-principles based method geared toward reliably predicting the structures of solid materials across the Periodic Table. To this end, we use a density functional theory baseline with a compact, near-minimal min+s basis set, yielding low computational costs and memory demands. Since the use of such a small basis set leads to systematic errors in chemical bond lengths, we develop a linear pairwise correction, available for elements Z = 1–86 (excluding the lanthanide series), parameterized for use with the Perdew–Burke–Ernzerhof exchange–correlation functional. We demonstrate the reliability of this corrected approach for equilibrium volumes across the Periodic Table and the transferability to differently coordinated environments and multi-elemental crystals. We examine relative energies, forces, and stresses in geometry optimizations and molecular dynamics simulations.