CASTEP computational code

The electric-structure-calculation presented here is performed using the CASTEP computer code, which is based on density functional theory, aided by the CERIUS2 graphical front-end. The wave functions are expended in a plane wave basis set, and the effective potential of ions is described by ultrasoft pseudo potential. 

The pseudopotential density-functional technique is used to calculate total energies, forces on atoms and stress tensors as described in Ref. 13 and implemented in the computer code CASTEP. CASTEP uses a plane-wave basis set to expand wave-functions and a preconditioned conjugate gradient scheme to solve the density-functional theory (DFT) equations iteratively. Brillouin zone integration is carried out via the special points scheme by Monkhorst and Pack. The nonlocal pseudopotentials in Kleynman-Bylander form were optimized in order to achieve the best convergence with respect to the basis set size. 5... 

The main purpose of quantum-chemical modeling in materials simulation is to obtain necessary input data for the subsequent calculations of thermodynamic and kinetic parameters required for the next steps of multiscale techniques. Quantum-chemical calculations can also be used to predict various physical and chemical properties of the material in hand (the growing film in our case). Under quantum-chemical, we mean here both molecular and solid-state techniques, which are now implemented in numerous computer codes (such as Gaussian [25], GAMESS [26], or NWCHEM [27] for molecular applications and VASP [28], CASTEP [29], or ABINIT [30] for solid-state applications). 

Although the preferred method of calculating a spectrum is to perform an ab initio calculation on an extended solid, extracting frequencies and displacements across the Brillouin zone, on a fine A-grid, this approach can be computationally very expensive. In plane wave codes like CASTEP [18], CPMD [19], TWSCF [20], VASP [21], ABINIT [22], and some others, the number of plane waves that are taken into consideration, the selected correlation fimctional and the choice of pseudopotential will all have an impact on the quality of the calculations. Some codes (e.g. ABINIT) alleviate the problem by permitting frozen phonon calculations at the symmetry zone boundary, i.e. (0,0,0), (l/2,0,0), (l/2,l/2,0) and (l/2,l/2,l/2) and so determine the dynamical matrix at these points. The code then interpolates values of the d3mamical matrix for all the points within the Brillouin zone and uses these to calculate the solution to the vibrational problem inside the zone. 

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