Working Paper
Authors
- Arturo Sauza-de la Vega
University of Chicago & Chicago Center for Theoretical Chemistry & Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering & James Franck Institute ,
- Riddhish Pandharkar University of Chicago & Chicago Center for Theoretical Chemistry & Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering & James Franck Institute ,
- Gautam D. Stroscio University of Chicago & Chicago Center for Theoretical Chemistry & Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering & James Franck Institute ,
- Arup Sarkar University of Chicago & Chicago Center for Theoretical Chemistry & Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering & James Franck Institute ,
- Donald G. Truhlar University of Minnesota & Chemical Theory Center & Minnesota Supercomputing Institute ,
- Laura Gagliardi University of Chicago & Chicago Center for Theoretical Chemistry & Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering & James Franck Institute
Abstract
Pseudo-tetrahedral organometallic complexes containing chromium(IV) and aryl ligands have been experimentally identified as promising molecular qubit candidates. Here we present a computational protocol based on multiconfiguration pair-density functional theory for computing singlet-triplet gaps and zero-field splitting (ZFS) parameters in Cr(IV) aryl complexes. Notably, complete active space second-order perturbation theory (CASPT2) and hybrid multiconfiguration pair-density functional theory
(HMC-PDFT) perform better than Kohn-Sham density functional theory for singlet-triplet gaps. Despite the very small values of the ZFS parameters, all the examined multiconfigurational methods performed qualitatively well. CASPT2 and HMC-PDFT performed particularly well for predicting the trend in the ratio of the rhombic and axial ZFS parameters, |E/D|. We have also investigated the dependence and sensitivity of the calculated ZFS parameters on the active space and the procedure for geometry optimization. The methodologies outlined here will guide future prediction of ZFS parameters in molecular qubit candidates.
Content

Supplementary material

Multiconfiguration Pair-Density Functional Theory for Chromium(IV) Molecular Qubits
In this supplementary material, we include a detailed description of DFT, and CASSCF/NEVPT2 calculations performed with Orca code.