Norm-Conserving 5f-in-Core Pseudopotentials and Gaussian Basis Sets Optimized for Tri- and Tetra-Valent Actinides (An = Pa-Lr).

Abstract

Relativistic pseudopotentials (PPs) and basis sets are the workhorses for modeling heavy elements of lanthanides and actinides. The norm-conserving Goedecker-Teter-Hutter (GTH) PP is advantageous for modeling lanthanide and actinide compounds and condensed systems because of its transferability and accuracy. In this work, we develop a set of well-benchmarked GTH-type 5f-in-core PPs with scalar-relativistic effects together with associated Gaussian basis sets for the most commonly encountered trivalent and tetravalent actinides [An(III), An(IV); An = Pa-Lr]. The 5f-in-core GTH PPs are constructed by placing 5f-subconfiguration 5fⁿ of An(III) and 5f^n-1 of An(IV) (n = 2-14) into the atomic core in the core-valence separation. The formalism of 5f-in-core GTH PPs circumvents the computational difficulty arising from the 5f open valence shell. The different performances of 5f-in-core GTH PPs for trivalent and tetravalent actinides are further analyzed from the chemical bonding features of actinides. We anticipate that the optimized 5f-in-core GTH PPs and Gaussian basis sets can be used to accelerate the costly first-principles modeling of structure-complicated actinide compounds and condensed-phase actinide systems.