Hybrid Complex Polarization Propagator/Molecular Mechanics Method for Heterogeneous Environments

Environment Effects on X-Ray Absorption Spectra With Quantum Embedded Real-Time Time-Dependent Density Functional Theory Approaches

In this work we implement the real-time time-dependent block-orthogonalized Manby-Miller embedding (rt-BOMME) approach alongside our previously developed real-time frozen density embedding time-dependent density functional theory (rt-TDDFT-in-DFT FDE) code, and investigate these methods' performance in reproducing X-ray absorption spectra (XAS) obtained with standard rt-TDDFT simulations, for model systems comprised of solvated fluoride and chloride ions ([X@( H 2 O ) 8 - , X = F, Cl). We observe that for ground-state quantities such as core orbital energies, the BOMME approach shows significantly better agreement with supermolecular results than FDE for the strongly interacting fluoride system, while for chloride the two embedding approaches show more similar results. For the excited states, we see that while FDE (constrained not to have the environment densities relaxed in the ground state) is in good agreement with the reference calculations for the region around the K and L1 edges, and is capable of reproducing the splitting of the 1s1 (n + 1)p1 final states (n + 1 being the lowest virtual p orbital of the halides), it by and large fails to properly reproduce the 1s1 (n + 2)p1 states and misses the electronic states arising from excitation to orbitals with important contributions from the solvent. The BOMME results, on the other hand, provide a faithful qualitative representation of the spectra in all energy regions considered, though its intrinsic approximation of employing a lower-accuracy exchange-correlation functional for the environment induces non-negligible shifts in peak positions for the excitations from the halide to the environment. Our results thus confirm that QM/QM embedding approaches are viable alternatives to standard real-time simulations of X-ray absorption spectra of species in complex or confined environments.

From flat to tilted: gradual interfaces in organic thin film growth

We investigate domain formation and local morphology of thin films of α-sexithiophene (α-6T) on Au(100) beyond monolayer coverage by combining high resolution scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) experiments with electronic structure theory calculations and computational structure search. We report a layerwise growth of highly-ordered enantiopure domains. For the second and third layer, we show that the molecular orbitals of individual α-6T molecules can be well resolved by STM, providing access to detailed information on the molecular orientation. We find that already in the second layer the molecules abandon the flat adsorption structure of the monolayer and adopt a tilted conformation. Although the observed tilted arrangement resembles the orientation of α-6T in the bulk, the observed morphology does not yet correspond to a well-defined surface of the α-6T bulk structure. A similar behavior is found for the third layer indicating a growth mechanism where the bulk structure is gradually adopted over several layers.

Optical absorption and magnetic circular dichroism spectra of thiouracils: a quantum mechanical study in solution

The excited electronic states of thiouracils, the analogues of uracil where the carbonyl oxygens are substituted by sulphur atoms, have been investigated by computing the magnetic circular dichroism (MCD) and one-photon absorption (OPA) spectra at the TD-DFT level of theory.

Real-Time Description of the Electronic Dynamics for a Molecule Close to a Plasmonic Nanoparticle

The optical properties of molecules close to plasmonic nanostructures greatly differ from their isolated molecule counterparts. To theoretically investigate such systems from a quantum-chemistry perspective, one has to take into account that the plasmonic nanostructure (e.g., a metal nanoparticle-NP) is often too large to be treated atomistically. Therefore, a multiscale description, where the molecule is treated by an ab initio approach and the metal NP by a lower level description, is needed. Here we present an extension of one such multiscale model [Corni, S.; Tomasi, J. J. Chem. Phys.2001, 114, 3739], originally inspired by the polarizable continuum model, to a real-time description of the electronic dynamics of the molecule and of the NP. In particular, we adopt a time-dependent configuration interaction (TD CI) approach for the molecule, the metal NP is described as a continuous dielectric of complex shape characterized by a Drude-Lorentz dielectric function, and the molecule-NP electromagnetic coupling is treated by an equation-of-motion (EOM) extension of the quasi-static boundary element method (BEM). The model includes the effects of both the mutual molecule-NP time-dependent polarization and the modification of the probing electromagnetic field due to the plasmonic resonances of the NP. Finally, such an approach is applied to the investigation of the light absorption of a model chromophore, LiCN, in the presence of a metal-NP of complex shape.