Keywords

Summary of all keywords

DispersionCorrection
Type

Multiple Choice

Default value

None

Options

[None, Auto, UFF, ULG, D2, D3-BJ, D4]

GUI name

Dispersion

Description

This key is used to specify an empirical dispersion model. Please refer to the DFTB documentation for details on the different methods. By default no dispersion correction will be applied. Setting this to auto applies the dispersion correction recommended in the DFTB parameter set’s metainfo file. Note that the D3-BJ dispersion correction is enabled by default when using the GFN1-xTB model Hamiltonian, but can be disabled manually by setting this keyword to None.

KSpace
Type

Block

Description

Options for the k-space integration (i.e. the grid used to sample the Brillouin zone).

Quality
Type

Multiple Choice

Default value

Normal

Options

[GammaOnly, Basic, Normal, Good, VeryGood, Excellent]

GUI name

K-space

Description

Select the quality of the K-space grid used to sample the Brillouin Zone. If ‘GammaOnly’, only one point (the gamma point) will be used. For the other options, the actual number of K points generated depends on the size of the unit cell. The larger the real space cell, the fewer K points will be generated. The CPU-time and accuracy strongly depend on this option.

Regular
Type

Block

Description

Options for the regular k-space integration grid.

NumberOfPoints
Type

Integer List

Description

Use a regular grid with the specified number of k-points along each reciprocal lattice vector. For 1D periodic systems you should specify only one number, for 2D systems two numbers, and for 3D systems three numbers.

Symmetric
Type

Block

Description

Options for the symmetric k-space integration grid.

KInteg
Type

Integer

GUI name

Accuracy

Description

Specify the accuracy for the Symmetric method. 1: absolutely minimal (only the G-point is used) 2: linear tetrahedron method, coarsest spacing 3: quadratic tetrahedron method, coarsest spacing 4,6,… (even): linear tetrahedron method 5,7…. (odd): quadratic method The tetrahedron method is usually by far inferior.

Type
Type

Multiple Choice

Default value

Regular

Options

[Regular, Symmetric]

GUI name

K-space grid type

Description

The type of k-space integration grid used to sample the Brillouin zone (BZ) used. ‘Regular’: simple regular grid. ‘Symmetric’: symmetric grid for the irreducible wedge of the first BZ (useful when high-symmetry points in the BZ are needed to capture the correct physics of the system, graphene being a notable example).

Model
Type

Multiple Choice

Default value

GFN1-xTB

Options

[DFTB, SCC-DFTB, DFTB3, GFN1-xTB, NonSCC-GFN1-xTB]

Description

Selects the Hamiltonian used in the DFTB calculation: - DFTB/DFTB0/DFTB1 for classic DFTB without a self-consistent charge cycle - SCC-DFTB/DFTB2 with a self-consistency loop for the Mulliken charges - DFTB3 for additional third-order contributions. - GFN1-xTB for Grimme’s extended tight-binding model in the GFN1 version. - NonSCC-GFN1-xTB for a less accurate but faster version of GFN1-xTB without a self-consistency cycle The choice has to be supported by the selected parameter set.

Occupation
Type

Block

Description

Configures the details of how the molecular orbitals are occupied with electrons.

KT
Type

Float

Unit

Hartree

Description

(KT) Boltmann constant times temperature, used for electronic temperature with strategy is auto. The default value is the default value for Temperature*3.166815423e-6. This key and Temperature are mutually exlusive.

NumBoltz
Type

Integer

Default value

10

Description

The electronic temperature is done with a Riemann Stieltjes numerical integration, between zero and one occupation. This defines the number of points to be used.

Strategy
Type

Multiple Choice

Default value

Auto

Options

[Auto, Aufbau, Fermi]

GUI name

Occupation

Description

This optional key allows to specify the fill strategy to use for the molecular orbitals. Can either be ‘Aufbau’ for simply filling the energetically lowest orbitals, or ‘Fermi’ for a smeared out Fermi-Dirac occupation. By default the occupation strategy is determined automatically, based on the other settings (such as the number of unpaired electrons).

Temperature
Type

Float

Default value

300.0

Unit

Kelvin

GUI name

Fermi temperature

Description

The Fermi temperature used for the Fermi-Dirac distribution. Ignored in case of aufbau occupations.

Periodic
Type

Block

Description

Block that sets various details of the calculation only relevant for periodic systems.

BZPath
Type

Block

Description

If [BandStructure%Automatic] is disabled, DFTB will compute the band structure for the user-defined path in the [BZPath] block. You should define the vertices of your path in fractional coordinates (with respect to the reciprocal lattice vectors) in the [Path] sub-block. If you want to make a jump in your path, you need to specify a new [Path] sub-block.

Path
Type

Non-standard block

Recurring

True

Description

A section of a k space path.

BandStructure
Type

Block

Description

Options for band structure plotting. This has no effect on the calculated energy. [Warning: The band structure is only computed in case of k-space sampling, i.e. it is not computed for Gamma-only calculations (see: Periodic%KSpace).]

Automatic
Type

Bool

Default value

Yes

GUI name

Automatic generate path

Description

Generate and use the standard path through the Brillouin zone. If not, use the user defined path (set via Custom path in the GUI, or with the Periodic%BZPath keyword in the run script).

DeltaK
Type

Float

Default value

0.1

Unit

1/Bohr

GUI name

Interpolation delta-K

Description

Step size in reciprocal space for band structure interpolation. Using a smaller number will produce smoother band curves at an increased computational time.

Enabled
Type

Bool

Default value

Yes

GUI name

Calculate band structure

Description

Whether or not to calculate the band structure.

FatBands
Type

Bool

Default value

Yes

GUI name

Calculate fatbands

Description

Control the computation of the fat bands (only when the bandstructure is calculated). The fat bands are the periodic equivalent of the Mulliken population analysis. The definition of the fat bands can be found in the Band Documentation.

UseSymmetry
Type

Bool

Default value

Yes

Description

If set, only the irreducible wedge of the Wigner-Seitz cell is sampled. If not, the whole (inversion-unique) Wigner-Seitz cell is sampled.

DOS
Type

Block

Description

The subkeys of [DOS] allow to customize the calculation of the density of states.

EMax
Type

Float

Default value

0.75

Unit

Hartree

Description

Upper end of the energy interval in which the density of states is calculated.

EMin
Type

Float

Default value

-0.75

Unit

Hartree

Description

Lower end of the energy interval in which the density of states is calculated.

Enabled
Type

Bool

Default value

Yes

GUI name

Calculate DOS

Description

Whether or not to calculate the DOS. Note that the DOS will always be calculated when also the band structure is calculated.

NSteps
Type

Integer

Default value

300

Description

The number of energy intervals between [EMin] and [EMax] for which the density of states is calculated.

EffectiveMass
Type

Block

Description

In a semi-conductor, the mobility of electrons and holes is related to the curvature of the bands at the top of the valence band and the bottom of the conduction band. With the effective mass option, this curvature is obtained by numerical differentiation. The estimation is done with the specified step size, and twice the specified step size, and both results are printed to give a hint on the accuracy. By far the most convenient way to use this key is without specifying any options.

Enabled
Type

Bool

Default value

No

GUI name

Effective mass

Description

In a semi-conductor, the mobility of electrons and holes is related to the curvature of the bands at the top of the valence band and the bottom of the conduction band. With the effective mass option, this curvature is obtained by numerical differentiation. The estimation is done with the specified step size, and twice the specified step size, and both results are printed to give a hint on the accuracy. By far the most convenient way to use this key is without specifying any options.

KPointCoord
Type

Float List

Unit

1/Bohr

Recurring

True

GUI name

At K-point

Description

Coordinate of the k-points for which you would like to compute the effective mass.

NumAbove
Type

Integer

Default value

1

GUI name

Include N bands above

Description

Number of bands to take into account above the Fermi level.

NumBelow
Type

Integer

Default value

1

GUI name

Include N bands below

Description

Number of bands to take into account below the Fermi level.

StepSize
Type

Float

Default value

0.001

Description

Size of the step taken in reciprocal space to perform the numerical differentiation

Properties
Type

Block

Description

DFTB can calculate various properties of the simulated system. This block configures which properties will be calculated.

Excitations
Type

Block

Description

Contains all options related to the calculation of excited states, either as simple single orbitals transitions or from a TD-DFTB calculation.

SingleOrbTrans
Type

Block

Description

The simplest approximation to the true excitations are the single orbital transitions (sometimes called Kohn-Sham transitions), that is transitions where a single electron is excited from an occupied Kohn-Sham orbital into a virtual orbital. The calculation of these transitions is configured in this section. Note that the SingleOrbTrans section is optional even though the single orbital transitions are also needed for TD-DFTB calculations. If the section is not present all single orbital transitions will still be calculated and used in a subsequent TD-DFTB calculation, but no output will be produced.

Enabled
Type

Bool

Default value

No

GUI name

Single orbital transisitions: Calculate

Description

Calculate the single orbital transitions.

Filter
Type

Block

Description

This section allows to remove single orbital transitions based on certain criteria. All filters are disabled by default.

OSMin
Type

Float

GUI name

Minimum oscillator strength

Description

Removes single orbital transitions with an oscillator strength smaller than this threshold. A typical value to start (if used at all) would be 1.0e-3.

dEMax
Type

Float

Unit

Hartree

Description

Removes single orbital transitions with an orbital energy difference larger than this threshold.

dEMin
Type

Float

Unit

Hartree

Description

Removes single orbital transitions with an orbital energy difference smaller than this threshold.

PrintLowest
Type

Integer

Default value

10

Description

The number of single orbital transitions that are printed to the screen and written to disk. If not a TD-DFTB calculation, the default is to print the 10 lowest single orbital transitions. In case of a TD-DFTB calculation it is assumed that the single orbital transitions are only used as an input for TD-DFTB and nothing will be printed unless PrintLowest is specified explicitly.

TDDFTB
Type

Block

Description

Calculations with time-dependent DFTB can be configured in the TDDFTB section and should in general give better results than the raw single orbital transitions. TD-DFTB calculates the excitations in the basis of the single orbital transitions, whose calculation is configured in the SingleOrbTrans section. Using a filter in SingleOrbTrans can therefore be used to reduce the size of the basis for TD-DFTB. One possible application of this is to accelerate the calculation of electronic absorption spectra by removing single orbital transitions with small oscillator strengths from the basis. Note that the entire TDDFTB section is optional. If no TDDFTB section is found, the behavior depends on the existence of the SingleOrbTrans section: If no SingleOrbTrans section is found (the Excitations section is completely empty then) a TD-DFTB calculation with default parameters will be performed. If only the SingleOrbTrans section is present no TD-DFTB calculation will be done.

Calc
Type

Multiple Choice

Default value

None

Options

[None, Singlet, Triplet]

GUI name

Type of excitations

Description

Specifies the multiplicity of the excitations to be calculated.

DavidsonConfig
Type

Block

Description

This section contains a number of keywords that can be used to override various internals of the Davidson eigensolver. The default values should generally be fine.

ATCharges
Type

Multiple Choice

Default value

Precalc

Options

[Precalc, OnTheFly]

GUI name

Transition charges

Description

Select whether the atomic transition charges are precalculated in advance or reevaluated during the iterations of the Davidson solver. Precalculating the charges will improve the performance, but requires additional storage. The default is to precalculate the atomic transition charges, but the precalculation may be disabled if not not enough memory is available.

SafetyMargin
Type

Integer

Default value

4

Description

The number of eigenvectors the Davidson method will calculate in addition to the ones requested by the user. With the Davidson eigensolver it is generally a good idea to calculate a few more eigenvectors than needed, as depending on the initial guess for the eigenvectors it can happen that the found ones are not exactly the lowest ones. This problem is especially prominent if one wants to calculate only a small number of excitations for a symmetric molecule, where the initial guesses for the eigenvectors might have the wrong symmetry. Note that the additionally calculated excitations will neither be written to the result file nor be visible in the output.

Tolerance
Type

Float

Default value

1e-09

Description

Convergence criterion for the norm of the residual.

Diagonalization
Type

Multiple Choice

Default value

Auto

Options

[Auto, Davidson, Exact]

GUI name

Method

Description

Select the method used to solve the TD-DFTB eigenvalue equation. The most straightforward procedure is a direct diagonalization of the matrix from which the excitation energies and oscillator strengths are obtained. Since the matrix grows quickly with system size (number of used single orbital transitions squared), this option is possible only for small molecules. The alternative is the iterative Davidson method, which finds a few of the lowest excitations within an error tolerance without ever storing the full matrix. The default is to make this decision automatically based on the system size and the requested number of excitations.

Lowest
Type

Integer

Default value

10

GUI name

Number of excitations

Description

Specifies the number of excitations that are calculated. Note that in case of the exact diagonalization all excitations are calculated, but only the lowest ones are printed to screen and written to the output file. Also note that if limited both by number and by energy, (lowest and upto), DFTB will always use whatever results in the smaller number of calculated excitations.

Print
Type

String

Description

Specifies whether to print details on the contribution of the individual single orbital transitions to the calculated excitations.

ScaleKernel
Type

Float

Default value

1.0

Unit

None

Description

Set the scaling parameter of the response kernel. A scaling approach can be used to identify plasmons in molecules. While single-particle excitations are only slightly affected by scaling of the response kernel, plasmonic excitations are sensitive to variations in the scaling parameter. Default no scaling is used (scaling parameter = 1.0)

UpTo
Type

Float

Unit

Hartree

GUI name

Excitations up to

Description

Set the maximum excitation energy. Attempts to calculate all excitations up to a given energy by calculating a number of excitations equal to the number of single orbital transitions in this window. This is only approximately correct, so one should always add some safety margin. Note that if limited both by number and by energy, (lowest and upto), DFTB will always use whatever results in the smaller number of calculated excitations.

TDDFTBGradients
Type

Block

Description

This block configures the calculation of analytical gradients for the TD-DFTB excitation energies, which allows the optimization of excited state geometries and the calculation of vibrational frequencies in excited states (see J. Comput. Chem., 28: 2589-2601). If the gradients are calculated, they will automatically be used for geometry optimizations or vibrational frequency calculations, if the corresponding Task is selected and only 1 excitation is selected. Vibrationally resolved UV/Vis spectroscopy (Franck-Condon Factors) can be calculated in combination with the FCF program or using the Vibrational Analysis Tools in AMS. See the ADF documentation on Vibrationally resolved electronic spectra or the AMS documentation for the Vibrational Analysis Tools.

Eigenfollow
Type

Bool

Default value

No

GUI name

Follow initial excitation

Description

If this option is set, DFTB uses the transition density in atomic orbital basis to follow the initially selected excited state during a geometry optimization. This is useful if excited state potential energy surfaces cross each other and you want to follow the surface you started on.

Excitation
Type

Integer List

GUI name

Excitation number

Description

Select which excited states to calculate the gradients for. Gradients can only be calculated for an excited states that has been calculated using TD-DFTB. Make sure that enough excitations are calculated.

Fragments
Type

Block

Description

Fragment files

Analysis
Type

Bool

Default value

Yes

GUI name

Fragment analysis

Description

Mulliken population analysis in terms of fragment orbitals.

EMax
Type

Float

Default value

0.25

Unit

Hartree

Description

Upper end of the energy interval for which the orbitals are analyzed.

Emin
Type

Float

Default value

-0.75

Unit

Hartree

Description

Lower end of the energy interval for which the orbitals are analyzed.

File
Type

String

Recurring

True

Description

Path (either absolute or relative) of fragment file

TIDegeneracyThreshold
Type

Float

Default value

0.1

Unit

eV

Description

If the orbital energy of the fragment MO is within this threshold with fragment HOMO or LUMO energy, then this fragment MO is included in the calculation of the transfer integrals. Relevant in case there is (near) degeneracy.

TransferIntegrals
Type

Bool

Default value

No

GUI name

Charge transfer integrals

Description

Calculate the charge transfer integrals, spatial overlap integrals and site energies. Charge transfer integrals can be used in models that calculate transport properties.

NBOInput
Type

Bool

Default value

No

Description

Whether or not an input file for the NBO program is written to disk as nboInput.FILE47. The input file follows the FILE47 format as described in the NBO6 manual available on nbo6.chem.wisc.edu. By default, only the calculation of the natural bond orbitals and the natural localized molecular orbitals is enabled, but the nboInput.FILE47 file can be edited by hand to enable other analysis models. Please refer to the NBO6 manual for details.

RESPONSE
Type

Block

Description

Linear response module to compute electric (complex) polarizabilities

Frequencies
Type

Float List

Default value

[0.0]

Unit

eV

Description

List of frequencies of incident light

LifeTime
Type

Float

Unit

Hartree

Description

Phenomenological damping

Solver
Type

Block

Description

Solver details for CPKS

Algorithm
Type

Multiple Choice

Default value

EXACT

Options

[EXACT, ITER]

Description

Choice of solver for CPKS

Debug
Type

Bool

Default value

No

Description

Print technical information from solver

NumIt
Type

Integer

Default value

100

Description

Maximum number of iterations (ITER solver only)

RMSE
Type

Float

Default value

1e-06

Description

Threshold for convergence (ITER solver only)

QMFQ
Type

Block

Description

Block input key for QM/FQ(FMu).

AtomType
Type

Block

Recurring

True

Description

Definition of atomic types in MM environment

Alpha
Type

Float

Description

Polarizability of FQFMU atom

Charge
Type

Float

Description

MM fixed charge (non-polarizable only)

Chi
Type

Float

Description

Electronegativity of FQ atom

Eta
Type

Float

Description

Chemical Hardness of FQ atom

Symbol
Type

String

Description

Symbol associated with atom type

Coords
Type

Non-standard block

Description

Coordinates and fragment information (FQ only)

Forcefield
Type

Multiple Choice

Default value

FQ

Options

[FQ, FQFMU, NOPOL]

Description

Version of the FQ family of polarizable forcefields

Frozen
Type

Bool

Default value

No

Description

Expert option. Do not introduce polarization effect in response calculations.

Kernel
Type

Multiple Choice

Default value

OHNO

Options

[OHNO, COUL, GAUS]

Description

Expert option. KERNEL can be used to choose the functional form of the charge-charge interaction kernel between MM atoms. Recommended is to use the default OHNO. The COUL screening is the standard Coulomb interaction 1/r. The OHNO choice introduce the Ohno functional (see [K. Ohno, Theoret. Chim. Acta 2, 219 (1964)]), which depends on a parameter n that is set equal to 2. Finally, the GAUS screening models each FQ charge by means of a spherical Gaussian-type distribution, and the interaction kernel is obtained accordingly. For QM/FQFMU only GAUS SCREEN is implemented.

MolCharge
Type

Float

Default value

0.0

Description

Total charge of each fragment (FQ only)

Repulsion
Type

Block

Description

Configures various details of the repulsive potential.

ResourcesDir
Type

String

Description

The directory containing the parameter files. The path can be absolute or relative. Relative paths starting with ./ are considered relative to the directory in which the calculation is started, otherwise they are considered relative to $AMSRESOURCES/DFTB. This key is required for the Slater-Koster based DFTB models, but optional for xTB.

SCC
Type

Block

Description

This optional section configures various details of the self-consistent charge cycle. If the model Hamiltonian does not need a self-consistent solution (e.g. plain DFTB0), none of this information is used and the entire section will be ignored.

AdaptiveMixing
Type

Bool

Default value

Yes

Description

Change the mixing parameter based on the monitored energy. A significant increase of energy will strongly reduce the mixing. Then it will slowly grow back to the SCC%Mixing value.

AlwaysClaimConvergence
Type

Bool

Default value

No

Description

Even if the SCC does not converge, claim convergence.

Converge
Type

Block

Description

Controls the convergence criteria of the SCC cycle.

Charge
Type

Float

Default value

1e-08

GUI name

Charge convergence

Description

The maximum change in atomic charges between subsequent SCC iterations. If the charges change less, the SCC cycle is considered converged.

Norm
Type

Multiple Choice

Default value

L-Infinity

Options

[L2, L-Infinity]

Description

The LInfinity norm is the more stringent choice. The L2 norm is directly what is optimized by the DIIS procedure, it is scaled by the extra constant factor 2/sqrt(nAtoms).

DIIS
Type

Block

Description

Parameters influencing the DIIS self-consistency method

Enabled
Type

Bool

Default value

Yes

Description

If not enabled simple mixing without DIIS acceleration will be used.

MaxSamples
Type

Integer

Default value

20

Description

Specifies the maximum number of samples considered during the direct inversion of iteration of subspace (DIIS) extrapolation of the atomic charges during the SCC iterations. A smaller number of samples potentially leads to a more aggressive convergence acceleration, while a larger number often guarantees a more stable iteration. Due to often occurring linear dependencies within the set of sample vectors, the maximum number of samples is reached only in very rare cases.

MaximumCoefficient
Type

Float

Default value

10.0

Description

When the diis expansion coefficients exceed this threshold, the solution is rejected. The vector space is too crowded. The oldest vector is discarded, and the expansion is re-evaluated.

MinSamples
Type

Integer

Default value

-1

Description

When bigger than one, this affects the shrinking of the DIIS space on linear depence. It will not reduce to a smaller space than MinSamples unless there is extreme dependency.

MixingFactor
Type

Float

Default value

0.15

Description

The parameter used to mix the DIIS linear combination of previously sampled atomic charge vectors with an analogous linear combination of charge vectors resulting from population analysis combination. It can assume real values between 0 and 1.

HXDamping
Type

Bool

Description

This option activates the DFTB3 style damping for H-X bonds. Note that this is always enabled if the DFTB%Model key is set to DFTB3. Not used with xTB.

InheritMixFromPreviousResult
Type

Bool

Default value

No

Description

For some run types, such as GeometryOptimization, a previous result is available. By using the charges from the previous geometry a better initial guess for the SCC procedure may be obtained. Also the last mix factor from the previous result can be loaded, possibly speeding up the SCC.

Iterations
Type

Integer

Default value

500

Description

Allows to specify the maximum number of SCC iterations. The default should suffice for most standard calculations. Convergence issues may arise due to the use of the Aufbau occupations for systems with small HOMO-LUMO gaps. In this case the use of a Fermi broadening strategy may improve convergence. Choosing a smaller mixing parameter (see DFTB%SCC%Mixing) may also help with convergence issues: it often provides a more stable but slower way to converge the SCC cycle.

Method
Type

Multiple Choice

Default value

MultiStepper

Options

[DIIS, MultiStepper]

Description

The DIIS option is the old method. The MultiStepper is much more flexible and is controlled by the SCFMultiSolver block

MinimumAdaptiveMixingFactor
Type

Float

Default value

0.003

Description

In case of AdaptiveMixing the lower bound for the MixingFactor.

MultiStepperPresetPath
Type

String

Default value

DFTB/default2023.inc

Description

Name of file containing a SCFMultiStepper key block. This will be used if no Explicit SCFMultiStepper block is in the input, and Method=MultiStepper. If the path is not absolute, it is relative to $AMSHOME/data/presets/multi_stepper’

OrbitalDependent
Type

Bool

Description

Activates or disables orbital resolved calculations. If this key is absent the recommended settings from the parameter file’s metainfo.

SCFMultiStepper
Type

Block

Description

To solve the self-consistent problem multiple steppers can be tried during stints using the ones that give the best progress.

AlwaysChangeStepper
Type

Bool

Default value

No

Description

When the progress is fine there is no reason to change the stepper. In practice this is always set to true, because also the Stepper%ExpectedSlope can be used to achieve similar behavior.

ErrorGrowthAbortFactor
Type

Float

Default value

1000.0

Description

Abort stint when the error grows too much, compared to the error at the start of the stint.

FractionalStepFactor
Type

Float

Default value

-1.0

Description

Multiply the step by this factor. If smaller than zero this is not used.

MinStintCyclesForAbort
Type

Integer

Default value

0

Description

Look at ErrorGrowthAbortFactor only when a number of steps has been completed since the start of the stint. A value of 0 means always.

Stepper
Type

Block

Recurring

True

Description

??

AbortSlope
Type

Float

Default value

100.0

Description

If the slope (at the end of a stint) is larger than this: abort the stepper

DIISStepper
Type

Block

Description

DIIS stepper

EDIISAlpha
Type

Float

Default value

0.01

Description

The extra energy vector is weighed by this factor. .

MaxCoefficient
Type

Float

Default value

20.0

Description

The largest allowed value of the expansion coefficients. If exceed the number of vectors is reduces until the criterion is met.

MaxVectors
Type

Integer

Default value

10

Description

Maximum number of previous densities to be used (size of the history).

MinVectors
Type

Integer

Default value

-1

Description

Try to prevent to make nVectors shrink below this value, by allowing for significantly larger coefficents.

Mix
Type

Float

Default value

0.2

Description

Also known as greed. It determines the amount of output density to be used. May be changed by the MixAdapter.

ErrorGrowthAbortFactor
Type

Float

Default value

-1.0

Description

Abort stint when the error grows too much, compared to the error at the start of the stint. Overides global ErrorGrowthAbortFactor when set to a value > 0

ExpectedSlope
Type

Float

Default value

-100.0

Description

If the slope of the total SCF is better than this keep on going.

FractionalStepFactor
Type

Float

Default value

-1.0

Description

Multiply the step by this factor. If smaller than zero this is not used.

MaxInitialError
Type

Float

Description

Only use the stepper when error is smaller than this.

MaxIterationNumber
Type

Integer

Default value

-1

Description

Stepper will only be active for iterations smaller than this number. (Negative value means: Ignore this option)

MaxStintNumber
Type

Integer

Default value

-1

Description

Stepper will only be active for stints smaller than this number. (Negative value means: Ignore this option)

MinInitialError
Type

Float

Description

Only use the stepper when error is larger than this.

MinIterationNumber
Type

Integer

Default value

-1

Description

Stepper will only be active for iterations larger than this number.

MinStintCyclesForAbort
Type

Integer

Default value

0

Description

Look at ErrorGrowthAbortFactor only when a number of steps has been completed since the start of the stint. A value of 0 means always. Overides global value.

MinStintNumber
Type

Integer

Default value

-1

Description

Stepper will only be active for stints larger than this number.

MixAdapter
Type

Block

Description

Generic mix adapter

ErrorGrowthPanicFactor
Type

Float

Default value

10.0

Description

When the error increases more than this factor, this mix is reduced a lot.

GrowthFactor
Type

Float

Default value

1.1

Description

When the mix is considered too low it is multiplied by this factor. Otherwise it is divided by it.

MaxMix
Type

Float

Default value

0.3

Description

Do not grow the mix above this value.

MinMix
Type

Float

Default value

0.1

Description

Do not shrink the mix below this value.

NTrialMixFactors
Type

Integer

Default value

3

Description

Only used with Type=Trial. Must be an odd number.

TrialMode
Type

Multiple Choice

Default value

CurrentMixCentered

Options

[CurrentMixCentered, FullRange]

Description

How are the NTrialMixFactors chosen?

Type
Type

Multiple Choice

Default value

Error

Options

[Error, Energy, UnpredictedStep, Trial]

Description

Adapt the mix factor based on the observed progress (slope).

MixStepper
Type

Block

Description

Simple mixing stepper, only using the previous (in/out) denstity.

Mix
Type

Float

Default value

0.1

Description

???.

MultiSecantStepper
Type

Block

Description

Multi secant stepper.

MaxCoefficient
Type

Float

Default value

20.0

Description

???.

MaxVectors
Type

Integer

Default value

10

Description

???.

Mix
Type

Float

Default value

0.2

Description

???.

Variant
Type

Multiple Choice

Default value

MSB2

Options

[MSB1, MSB2, MSR1, MSR1s]

Description

There are several version of the Multi secant method.

StintLength
Type

Integer

Description

Override global StintLength.

StintLength
Type

Integer

Default value

10

Description

A stepper is active during a number of SCF cycles, called a stint.

UsePreviousStintForErrorGrowthAbort
Type

Bool

Default value

No

Description

The error is normally checked against the first error of the stint. With this option that will be the one from the previous stint, if performed with the same stepper.

Unrestricted
Type

Bool

Default value

No

Description

Enables spin unrestricted calculations. Only collinear spin polarization is supported, see Theor Chem Acc (2016) 135: 232, for details. Must be supported by the chosen parameter set. Not yet compatible with DFTB3, k-space sampling periodic calculations or the xTB models.

Solvation
Type

Block

Description

Generalized Born solvation model with Solvent Accessible Surface Area (GBSA).

GSolvState
Type

Multiple Choice

Default value

Gas1MSolvent1M

Options

[Gas1BarSolvent, Gas1MSolvent1M, Gas1BarSolvent1M]

Description

Reference state for solvation free energy shift.

Solvent
Type

Multiple Choice

Default value

None

Options

[None, Acetone, Acetonitrile, CHCl3, CS2, DMSO, Ether, H2O, Methanol, THF, Toluene]

Description

Solvent used in the GBSA implicit solvation model.

SurfaceGrid
Type

Multiple Choice

Default value

230

Options

[230, 974, 2030, 5810]

Description

Number of angular grid points for the construction of the solvent accessible surface area. Usually the default number of grid point suffices, but in case of suspicious behaviors you can increase the number of points.

Temperature
Type

Float

Default value

298.15

Unit

Kelvin

Description

The temperature used when calculating the solvation free energy shift. Only used for ‘Gas1BarSolvent’ and ‘Gas1BarSolvent1M’ GSolvState options.

UseGSASA
Type

Bool

Default value

Yes

GUI name

Solvation Free Energy

Description

Include shift term and G(SASA) terms in the energy and gradient.

StoreMatrices
Type

Bool

Default value

No

Description

Determines whether the Hamiltonian and overlap matrices are stored in the binary result file.

StoreOrbitals
Type

Bool

Default value

Yes

Description

Determines whether the orbitial coefficients are stored in the binary result file. They are needed for displaying orbitals and densities in amsview.

Technical
Type

Block

Description

This optional section is about technical aspects of the program that should not concern the normal user.

AnalyticalStressTensor
Type

Bool

Default value

Yes

Description

Whether to compute the stress tensor analytically. Note: This can only be used together with Ewald summation as it will give (slightly) wrong results with Madelung screening.

EwaldSummation
Type

Block

Description

Configures the details of the Ewald summation of the Coulomb interaction.

CellRangeFactor
Type

Float

Default value

2.0

Description

Smaller values will make the Ewald summation less accurate but faster.

Enabled
Type

Bool

Default value

Yes

Description

Whether to use Ewald summation for the long-range part of the Coulomb interaction. Otherwise screening is used.

Tolerance
Type

Float

Default value

1e-10

Description

Larger values will make the Ewald summation less accurate but faster.

MatricesViaFullMaxSize
Type

Integer

Default value

2047

Description

Matrices smaller than this size are constructed via a full matrix. This is faster, but uses more memory in the construction.

Parallel
Type

Block

Description

Calculation of the orbitals in several k-points is trivially parallel.

nCoresPerGroup
Type

Integer

Description

Number of cores in each working group.

nGroups
Type

Integer

Description

Total number of processor groups. This is the number of tasks that will be executed in parallel.

nNodesPerGroup
Type

Integer

GUI name

Cores per task

Description

Number of nodes in each group. This option should only be used on homogeneous compute clusters, where all used compute nodes have the same number of processor cores.

ReuseKSpaceConfig
Type

Bool

Default value

Yes

Description

Keep the number of k-points constant during a lattice optimization. Otherwise the PES might display jumps, because the number of points depends on the lattice vector sizes. If this option is on it will always use the number of k-points that was used from a previous result.

Screening
Type

Block

Description

For SCC-DFTB in periodic systems the Coulomb interaction can (instead of using Ewald summation) be screened with a Fermi-Dirac like function defined as S(r)=1/(exp((r-r_madel)/d_madel)+1). This section allows to change some details of the screening procedure. Note that Coulomb screening is only used if the Ewald summation is disabled.

dMadel
Type

Float

Unit

Bohr

Description

Sets the smoothness of the screening function. The default is 1/10 of [rMadel].

rMadel
Type

Float

Unit

Bohr

Description

Sets the range of the screening function. The default is 2x the norm of the longest lattice vector.

UseGeneralizedDiagonalization
Type

Bool

Default value

Yes

Description

Whether or not to use generalized diagonalization. Does not affect the results, but might be faster or slower.

UnpairedElectrons
Type

Integer

Default value

0

GUI name

Spin polarization

Description

This specifies the number of unpaired electrons (not the multiplicity!). This number will then be used in the orbital-filling strategy. Has to be compatible with the total number of electrons, meaning it must be an even number if the total number of electrons is even and odd if the total number is odd. Must be an integer value. Note that this does not activate spin polarization, it only affects the filling of the orbitals.

XTBConfig
Type

Block

Description

This block allows for minor tweaking.

SlaterRadialThreshold
Type

Float

Default value

1e-05

Description

Threshold determining the range of the basis functions. Using a larger threshold will speed up the calculation, but will also make the results less accurate.

useXBTerm
Type

Bool

Default value

No

Description

Whether to use the Halogen bonding (XB) term. This is not advised as it has a non-continuous PES.