skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Assessment of density functional theory based ΔSCF (self-consistent field) and linear response methods for longest wavelength excited states of extended π-conjugated molecular systems

Journal Article · · Journal of Chemical Physics
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4887087· OSTI ID:22308573
 [1];  [2]
  1. Mulliken Center for Theoretical Chemistry, Institut für Physikalische und Theoretische Chemie, Universität Bonn, Beringstr. 4, D-53115 Bonn (Germany)
  2. Institute of Physical and Theoretical Chemistry, Goethe University Frankfurt, Max-von-Laue-Str. 7, D-60438 Frankfurt am Main (Germany)

Computational investigation of the longest wavelength excitations in a series of cyanines and linear n-acenes is undertaken with the use of standard spin-conserving linear response time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT) as well as its spin-flip variant and a ΔSCF method based on the ensemble DFT. The spin-conserving linear response TD-DFT fails to accurately reproduce the lowest excitation energy in these π-conjugated systems by strongly overestimating the excitation energies of cyanines and underestimating the excitation energies of n-acenes. The spin-flip TD-DFT is capable of correcting the underestimation of excitation energies of n-acenes by bringing in the non-dynamic electron correlation into the ground state; however, it does not fully correct for the overestimation of the excitation energies of cyanines, for which the non-dynamic correlation does not seem to play a role. The ensemble DFT method employed in this work is capable of correcting for the effect of missing non-dynamic correlation in the ground state of n-acenes and for the deficient description of differential correlation effects between the ground and excited states of cyanines and yields the excitation energies of both types of extended π-conjugated systems with the accuracy matching high-level ab initio multireference calculations.

OSTI ID:
22308573
Journal Information:
Journal of Chemical Physics, Vol. 141, Issue 2; Other Information: (c) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0021-9606
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English