The University of Florida

Department of Materials Science and Engineering

EMA6804 Computational Materials Science Engineering (3 Credits)

Spring, 2008

MAE 126

Tuesdays and Thursdays 2nd and 3rd periods

 

Goal:                                  To train students in the application of common quantum mechanical software packages to the study of problems in materials science. This includes learning about the theoretical underpinnings of the methods used in the software packages and how to best apply these methods to the computational study of materials. The particular software packages that will be emphasized are GAUSSIAN and VASP.

 

Instructor:                        Dr. S. B. Sinnott                               TA:     Mr. Pankaj Nerikar

Office: 154 Rhines Hall                                Office: 267 Rhines Hall

Phone: 846-3778                                          Phone: 846-3767

Email: ssinn@mse.ufl.edu                             Email: pankaj.nerikar@gmail.com

 

Sinnott Office Hours:   TBD

 

Texts:                                 1. “Essentials of Computational Chemistry: Theories and Models”, 2nd Edition, Christopher J. Cramer, Wiley, 2004

                                         

  2. “Electronic Structure: Basic Theory and Practical Methods”, Richard M. Martin, Cambridge, 2005.

 

Computer accounts:           Students will have access to a computer cluster on which they will run programs discussed in the class.

 

Prerequisites:                    1. EMA 6313 or equivalent broad and fundamental knowledge of the structure and properties of materials

                                           2. Some experience programming in C/C++, FORTRAN, or another language suitable for scientific programming

Topics:                              

1. Introduction and background

2. Molecular orbital theory (semi-empirical, Hartree-Fock, with correlation) and optical properties of materials

3. Excited electronic states and optical properties of materials

4. Hybrid quantal/classical methods

5. Density functional theory (pseudopotentials, plane waves) and their application to ceramics, metals and polymers

6. Semi-empirical methods (tight-binding, localized orbitals, other approaches) and their application to ceramics, metals and polymers

7. Quantum MD

                                         

Grading:                            Projects and Group Reports              60%      primarily computational

Individual Oral Presentation              20%      20 minute presentation

Written report                                  20%      10 page paper

 

Final letter grade will be determined by the instructor.


Schedule for the Semester

 

Tues., Jan. 8, 3rd period:                          Introduction to the course

Thur., Jan. 10, 2nd and 3rd periods:           Energy and molecular mechanics

 

Tues., Jan. 15, 3rd period:                        TA will familiarize everyone with the cluster and Gaussian

Thurs., Jan. 17, 2nd and 3rd periods:          Geometry optimization, MD, and MC

 

Tues., Jan. 22, 2nd and 3rd periods:           Geometry optimization, MD, and MC

Thurs., Jan. 24, 2nd and 3rd periods:          Molecular orbital theory, HW 1 due

 

Tues., Jan. 29, 2nd and 3rd periods:           Molecular orbital theory

Thurs., Jan. 31, 2nd and 3rd periods:          Lab with the TA in class on Gaussian

 

Tues., Feb. 5, 2nd and 3rd periods:            Semi-empirical MO theory and ab initio HF MO theory

Thurs., Feb. 7, 2nd and 3rd periods:           Ab initio HF MO theory

 

Tues., Feb. 12, 2nd and 3rd periods:          Electron correlation in MO theory

Thurs., Feb. 14, 2nd and 3rd periods:         Electron correlation in MO theory, HW 2 due

 

Tues., Feb. 19, 2nd and 3rd periods:           DFT + KS theory + XC functionals

Thurs., Feb. 21, 2nd and 3rd periods          Lab with the TA in class on VASP

 

Tues., Feb. 26                                        No class, Dr. Sinnott in Australia

Thurs., Feb. 28                                       No class, Dr. Sinnott in Australia

 

Tues., March 4                                       No class, Dr. Sinnott in Australia

Thurs., March 6 , 2nd and 3rd periods        Group presentations

 

Tues., March 11                                     No class, Spring Break

Thurs., March 13                                    No class, Spring Break

 

Tues., March 18, 2nd and 3rd periods         DFT + KS theory + XC functionals

Thurs., March 20                                    No class, CMSN meeting in Arizona

 

Tues., March 25                                     No class, Spring MRS meeting

Thurs., March 27                                    No class, Spring MRS meeting

 

Tues., April 1, 2nd and 3rd periods            DFT + KS theory + XC functionals, HW 3 due

Thurs., April 3, 2nd and 3rd periods           Pseudopotentials + plane waves

 

Tues., April 8, 2nd and 3rd periods            Pseudopotentials + plane waves

Thurs., April 10, 2nd and 3rd periods         Quantum MD and excited states

 

Tues., April 15, 2nd and 3rd periods          Tight-binding + other semi-empirical methods, HW 4 due

Thurs., April 17, 2nd and 3rd periods         Final individual presentations

 

Tues., April 22, 2nd and 3rd periods          Final individual presentations