Density-functional errors in ionization potential with increasing system size
This work investigates the effects of molecular size on the accuracy of density-functional ionization potentials for a set of 28 hydrocarbons, including series of alkanes, alkenes, and oligoacenes. As the system size increases, delocalization error introduces a systematic underestimation of the ionization potential, which is rationalized by considering the fractional-charge behavior of the electronic energies. The computation of the ionization potential with many density-functional approximations is not size-extensive due to excessive delocalization of the incipient positive charge. While inclusion of exact exchange reduces the observed errors, system-specific tuning of long-range corrected functionals does not generally improve accuracy. These results emphasize that good performance of a functional for small molecules is not necessarily transferable to larger systems.
- OSTI ID:
- 22415762
- Journal Information:
- Journal of Chemical Physics, Vol. 142, Issue 18; Other Information: (c) 2015 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0021-9606
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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