Examining fundamental and excitation gaps at the thermodynamic limit: A combined (QTP) DFT and coupled cluster study on trans-polyacetylene and polyacene

Abstract

Interest in ab initio property prediction of π-conjugated polymers for technological applications places significant demand on “cost-effective” and conceptual computational methods, particularly effective, one-particle theories. This is particularly relevant in the case of Kohn–Sham Density Functional Theory (KS-DFT) and its new competitors that arise from correlated orbital theory, the latter defining the QTP family of DFT functionals. This study presents large, ab initio equation of motion-coupled cluster calculations using the massively parallel ACESIII to target the fundamental bandgap of two prototypical organic polymers, trans-polyacetylene (tPA) and polyacene (Ac), and provides an assessment of the new quantum theory project (QTP) functionals for this problem. Further results focusing on the 1Ag (1Ag), 1Bu (1B2u), and 3Bu (3B2u) excited states of tPA (Ac) are also presented. By performing calculations on oligomers of increasing size, extrapolations to the thermodynamic limit for the fundamental and all excitation gaps, as well as estimations of the exciton binding energy, are made. Thermodynamic-limit results for a combination of “optimal” and model geometries are presented. Calculated results for excitations that are adequately described using a single-particle model illustrate the benefits of requiring a KS-DFT functional to satisfy the Bartlett ionization potential theorem.

Document Details

Document Type
Pub Defense Publication
Publication Date
May 24, 2022
Source ID
10.1063/5.0086158

Entities

People

  • Ajith Perera
  • Rodney J. Bartlett
  • Zachary W. Windom

Organizations

  • Air Force Office of Scientific Research
  • University of Florida

Tags

Readers

  • Quantum Chemistry
  • Statistical inference.

Technology Areas

  • Microelectronics
  • Quantum Computing
  • Space