Hyperfine Coupling Constants in Local Exact Two-Component Theory

We present a highly efficient implementation of the electron-nucleus hyperfine coupling matrix within one-electron exact two-component (X2C) theory. The complete derivative of the X2C Hamiltonian is formed, i.e. the derivatives of the unitary decoupling transformation are considered. This requires solution of the response and Sylvester equations, consequently increasing the computational costs. Therefore, we apply the diagonal local approximation to the unitary decoupling transformation (DLU). The finite nucleus model is employed for both the scalar potential and the vector potential. Two-electron picture-change effects are modeled with the (modified) screened-nuclear spin--orbit approach. Our implementation is fully integral direct and OpenMP-parallelized. An extensive benchmark study regarding the Hamiltonian, the basis set, and the density functional approximation is carried out for a set of 12--17 transition-metal compounds. The error introduced by DLU is negligible and the DLU-X2C Hamiltonian accurately reproduces its four-component ``fully'' relativistic parent results. Functionals with a large amount of Hartree--Fock exchange such as CAM-QTP-02 and omega-B97X-D are generally favorable. The pure density functional r2SCAN performs remarkably and even outperforms the common hybrid functionals TPSSh and CAM-B3LYP. Fully uncontracted basis sets or contracted quadruple-zeta bases are required for accurate results. The capability of our implementation is demonstrated for [Pt(C6Cl5)4]- with more than 4700 primitive basis functions and four rare-earth single molecule magnets: [La(OAr*)3]-, [Lu(NR2)3]-, [Lu(OAr*)3]-, and [TbPc2]-. Here, the spin--orbit DLU-X2C Hamiltonian results in an excellent agreement with the experimental findings of all Pt, La, Lu, and Tb molecules.

Hyperfine Coupling Constants in Local Exact Two-Component Theory

We present a highly efficient implementation of the electron-nucleus hyperfine coupling matrix within one-electron exact two-component (X2C) theory. The complete derivative of the X2C Hamiltonian is formed, i.e. the derivatives of the unitary decoupling transformation are considered. This requires solution of the response and Sylvester equations, consequently increasing the computational costs. Therefore, we apply the diagonal local approximation to the unitary decoupling transformation (DLU). The finite nucleus model is employed for both the scalar potential and the vector potential. Two-electron picture-change effects are modeled with the (modified) screened-nuclear spin--orbit approach. Our implementation is fully integral direct and OpenMP-parallelized. An extensive benchmark study regarding the Hamiltonian, the basis set, and the density functional approximation is carried out for a set of 12--17 transition-metal compounds. The error introduced by DLU is negligible and the DLU-X2C Hamiltonian accurately reproduces its four-component ``fully'' relativistic parent results. Functionals with a large amount of Hartree--Fock exchange such as CAM-QTP-02 and omega-B97X-D are generally favorable. The pure density functional r2SCAN performs remarkably and even outperforms the common hybrid functionals TPSSh and CAM-B3LYP. Fully uncontracted basis sets or contracted quadruple-zeta bases are required for accurate results. The capability of our implementation is demonstrated for [Pt(C6Cl5)4]- with more than 4700 primitive basis functions and four rare-earth single molecule magnets: [La(OAr*)3]-, [Lu(NR2)3]-, [Lu(OAr*)3]-, and [TbPc2]-. Here, the spin--orbit DLU-X2C Hamiltonian results in an excellent agreement with the experimental findings of all Pt, La, Lu, and Tb molecules.

Observation of nuclear-spin Seebeck effect

Thermoelectric effects have been applied to power generators and temperature sensors that convert waste heat into electricity. The effects, however, have been limited to electrons to occur, and inevitably disappear at low temperatures due to electronic entropy quenching. Here, we report thermoelectric generation caused by nuclear spins in a solid: nuclear-spin Seebeck effect. The sample is a magnetically ordered material MnCO3 having a large nuclear spin (I = 5/2) of 55Mn nuclei and strong hyperfine coupling, with a Pt contact. In the system, we observe low-temperature thermoelectric signals down to 100 mK due to nuclear-spin excitation. Our theoretical calculation in which interfacial Korringa process is taken into consideration quantitatively reproduces the results. The nuclear thermoelectric effect demonstrated here offers a way for exploring thermoelectric science and technologies at ultralow temperatures.

Simulation and Theory of Classical Spin Hopping on a Lattice

The behavior of spin for incoherently hopping carriers is critical to understand in a variety of systems such as organic semiconductors, amorphous semiconductors, and muon-implanted materials. This work specifically examined the spin relaxation of hopping spin/charge carriers through a cubic lattice in the presence of varying degrees of energy disorder when the carrier spin is treated classically and random spin rotations are suffered during the hopping process (to mimic spin–orbit coupling effects) instead of during the wait time period (which would be more appropriate for hyperfine coupling). The problem was studied under a variety of different assumptions regarding the hopping rates and the random local fields. In some cases, analytic solutions for the spin relaxation rate were obtained. In all the models, we found that exponentially distributed energy disorder led to a drastic reduction in spin polarization losses that fell nonexponentially.