COOP crystal orbital overlap structure

COOP (crystal orbital overlap population) a plot analogous to population analysis for band-structure calculations... 

Ultimately, the treatment of electronic structure in extended systems is no more complicated (nor is it less so) than in discrete molecules. The bridge to local chemical action advocated here is through decompositions of the DOS and the crystal orbital overlap population (COOP) curves. These deal with the fundamental questions Where are the electrons Where can I find the bonds ... 

Fig. 2.19 Semiempirical (extended Huckel theory) band structure, density-of-states, and crystal orbital overlap population for a one-dimensional chain of hydrogen atoms spaced at 2.0 A. Due to a Gaussian smoothing, DOS and COOP plots appear slightly...

The formation of C-C chemical bonds in a variety of solids, including some refractory dicarbides, has been considered by Li and Hoffman (1989) and Wijeyesekera and Hoffman (1984) based on EHT (extended Huckel theory) calculations. To our knowledge, these works are the only ones where the band analogues of bond populations, the so-called crystal orbital overlap populations (COOPs) have been calculated for refractory compounds. The most noticeable result is that, in spite of the evident crudeness of the nonself-consistent semiempirical EHT method, the calculations allow us to understand the nature of the phase transition from cubic to hexagonal structure which occurs in the ZrC, NbC, MoC,... series as the VEC increases. The increase of metal-to-metal bonding when going from cubic (NaCl-type) to hexagonal (WC-type) becomes evident. 

---