super cell k points e-structure

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mverstra
Posts: 655
Joined: Wed Aug 19, 2009 12:01 pm

super cell k points e-structure

Post by mverstra » Tue Mar 16, 2010 1:09 am

Hello Jedo,

1) you are going to get band folding: by making the cell 2x larger the reciprocal space gets 2x smaller, and the bands are folded back in. You will get the same bands as before at the same absolute cartesian k-point but will also get bands folded back onto the same k-point by translation in the new small reciprocal unit cell. This is well described in classical solid-state textbooks (Ashcroft Mermin chap 9).
band structure for free electrons pi/a = 0.5<br />The k values are absolue (bohr-1) so we can compare with the larger unit cell case.
band structure for free electrons pi/a = 0.5
The k values are absolue (bohr-1) so we can compare with the larger unit cell case.

band structure for free electrons in a 2x larger unit cell.<br />a' = 2a so now the Brillouin Zone only extends to 0.25 bohr-1.<br />In relative coordinates, this is still 1/2 G, but G is shorter
band structure for free electrons in a 2x larger unit cell.
a' = 2a so now the Brillouin Zone only extends to 0.25 bohr-1.
In relative coordinates, this is still 1/2 G, but G is shorter

The bands (magenta and cyan) from neighboring supercell Brillouin Zones have to be folded back
The bands (magenta and cyan) from neighboring supercell Brillouin Zones have to be folded back

2) Further, as your new reciprocal lattice vectors are smaller, you should not reduce the fractional coordinates of the vectors. To get the same path in k-space you need to augment the fractional k-point coordinates so that the absolute position is still the same.

Or, just pop over to Richard Martin's. If anyone can explain it to you, he can.

Matthieu

Hi there,

I'm trying to plot the e-band structure of 2*2*2 silicon cell and confirm that it is the same as the primitive cell. However, I am not getting the same thing. Can anyone help me to find what I'm doing wrong?
I made the lattice constant twice as big, left the rprim the same, and put 16 atoms in the cell.
For k points, I reduced the k point fractional coordinates by 1/2 as shown below.
Is this how you plot it? or am I doing something totally wrong?
Thanks for the help!!



kptbounds2 0.25 0.0 0.0 # L point
0.0 0.0 0.0 # Gamma point
0.0 0.25 0.25 # X point
0.5 0.5 0.5 # Gamma point in another cell.
tolwfr2 1.0d-20
enunit2 1 # Will output the eigenenergies in eV


#Definition of the unit cell
acell 3*20.434 # This is equivalent to 10.217 10.217 10.217
rprim 0.0 0.5 0.5 # FCC primitive vectors (to be scaled by acell)
0.5 0.0 0.5
0.5 0.5 0.0

#Definition of the atom types
ntypat 1 # There is only one type of atom
znucl 14 # The keyword "znucl" refers to the atomic number of the
# possible type(s) of atom. The pseudopotential(s)
# mentioned in the "files" file must correspond
# to the type(s) of atom. Here, the only type is Silicon.


#Definition of the atoms
natom 16 # There are two atoms
typat 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 # They both are of type 1, that is, Silicon.
xred # This keyword indicate that the location of the atoms
# will follow, one triplet of number for each atom
0 0 0
0 0.5 0
0 0 0.5
0.5 0 0
0.125 0.125 0.125
0.125 0.625 0.125
0.125 0.125 0.625
0.5 0.5 0
0.5 0 0.5
0 0.5 0.5
0.625 0.125 0.625
0.625 0.625 0.125
0.625 0.125 0.125
0.5 0.5 0.5
0.125 0.625 0.625
0.625 0.625 0.625


--
================================
Jedo Kim,
Heat Transfer Physics Laboratory
2350 Hayward, 2186 GG Brown Bldg.
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2143
Email: jedokim@umich.edu, jdzbox@hotmail.com
Tel: 734-764-3487 (o); 734-276-8370 (cell)
================================
Matthieu Verstraete
University of Liege, Belgium

ilinho
Posts: 1
Joined: Fri Sep 09, 2011 6:09 am

Re: super cell k points e-structure

Post by ilinho » Fri Sep 09, 2011 6:31 am

Hi!

Excuse me!
For the explanation of the folding for the e-structure,
it is illustrated clearly in one-dimensional case.
Is it still valid for any direction along (or not along) the (non-orthogonal) basis k-vector
in the three-dimensional reciprocal space?
...
It occurred the similar issue to me.
Alternatively, I used a cubic supercell with 8 atom positioned at xred
0.25 0.25 0.25
0 0 0
0.75 0.75 0.25
0.5 0.5 0
0.75 0.25 0.75
0.5 0 0.5
0.25 0.75 0.75
0 0.5 0.5
I try to explain the data by unfolding the e-structure,
and it seems not to be straightforward.
...
#setup of abinit:
#Definition of the unit cell
acell 3*10.217
rprim 1.0 0.0 0.0
0.0 1.0 0.0
0.0 0.0 1.0
chkprim 0
#Definition of the atoms
natom 8
typat 8*1
xred
0.00 0.00 0.00
0.25 0.25 0.25
0.75 0.75 0.25
0.50 0.50 0.00
0.75 0.25 0.75
0.50 0.00 0.50
0.25 0.75 0.75
0.00 0.50 0.50

Much thank if someone can help to solve it.

====================================
I-Lin Ho
Email: sunta.ho@gmail.com
====================================

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