A numerically efficient yet highly accurate implementation of the crystal orbital Hamilton population (COHP) scheme for plane-wave calculations is presented. It is based on the projector-augmented wave (PAW) formalism in combination with norm-conserving pseudopotentials and allows to extract chemical interactions between atoms from band-structure calculations even for large and complex systems. The potential of the present COHP implementation is demonstrated by an in-depth analysis of the intensively investigated metal-insulator transition in atomic-scale indium wires self-assembled on the Si(111) surface. Thereby bond formation between In atoms of adjacent zigzag chains is found to be instrumental for the phase change. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Keywords: bonding; crystal orbital Hamilton population; density functional theory; indium nanowires; phase transition.
© 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.