QuantumATK Forum

QuantumATK => General Questions and Answers => Topic started by: jjhskang on April 9, 2011, 04:05

Title: total Charge is not conserved in two probe SCF calculation
Post by: jjhskang on April 9, 2011, 04:05
Hi!

I am making two probe calculations using atk2008.10.

In one of them, I find that the SCF calculation at zero bias gives
 
 q =  412.42189 e  Etot = -2064.51856  ...... at the end of the convergence iteration.

However, the total # of electrons in the scattering region should be 413, and some electrons disappeared.
What is the problem here and how can I solve this problem?


Title: Re: total Charge is not conserved in two probe SCF calculation
Post by: jjhskang on April 9, 2011, 04:14
(1) Is it because I have not included all the poles in the calculation?
I used the default value of  integral_lower_bound, i.e., 3eV.
 
(2) I believe that I have inlcuded farely large number of atoms in the scattering region in order to ensure completel screening in the scattering.

Hi!

I am making two probe calculations using atk2008.10.

In one of them, I find that the SCF calculation at zero bias gives
 
 q =  412.42189 e  Etot = -2064.51856  ...... at the end of the convergence iteration.

However, the total # of electrons in the scattering region should be 413, and some electrons disappeared.
What is the problem here and how can I solve this problem?



Title: Re: total Charge is not conserved in two probe SCF calculation
Post by: Anders Blom on April 9, 2011, 12:19
The two-probe calculation in ATK is carried out under open boundary conditions. That means, that charge is not conserved in the central region, and this allows for finite-bias non-equilibrium calculations.
Title: Re: total Charge is not conserved in two probe SCF calculation
Post by: kaypu on April 14, 2011, 17:42
the lost of the charge can be considered as the alignment of the Fermi energy,
alignment means the Fermi energy of the electrode and the scattering area, is that right?
Title: Re: total Charge is not conserved in two probe SCF calculation
Post by: Anders Blom on April 14, 2011, 21:31
Basically, yes.

Do note however that since the electron distribution in the central region by definition is not in equilibrium, there is not, strictly speaking, any well-defined Fermi level in this region. It's position-dependent, to lowest order perhaps similar to a linear ramp between the applied biases, but formally it cannot be defined.