[QE-users] SCF calculation with SOC fails to converge

amrendrak at rrcat.gov.in amrendrak at rrcat.gov.in
Wed Dec 3 13:51:36 CET 2025



Dear Aolei,

I could see  etot_conv_thr = 1e-7 , this is too strict criteria for 
total energy convergence, you can check with lower values etot_conv_thr 
= 1e-4 or etot_conv_thr = 1e-5. I could see in output file that

The initial density is read from file :
      ./soc/in2se3.save/charge-density

so charge density is read from the file only and that is okay.

with regards

amrendra

On 2025-12-03 17:48, 猛猛 wrote:

> Dear Aolei:
> In my perspective, if you want to continue to do the scf calculations 
> by reading the previous data, you need to change the "restart_mode" . 
> The "restart_mode" you set is 'from_scratch' which means performing a 
> new calculation without reading the previous data. Instead, 'restart' 
> is the option that you want to continue the scf calculation.
> 
> So, in my opinion, when finishing the non-SOC scf calculation, you need 
> to change 'from_scratch' to 'restart'. Then the QE will continue to do 
> the scf calculation by reading the non-SOC scf's result.
> 
> You can also check the manual in Quantum Espresso website. In the Input 
> File Description, it tells:
> 
> 'restart'
> From previous interrupted run. Use this switch only if you want to 
> continue, using the same number of processors and parallelization,  an 
> interrupted calculation. Do not use to start a new one, or to  perform 
> a non-scf calculations. Works only if the calculation was cleanly 
> stopped using variable max_seconds, or by user request with an "exit 
> file" (i.e.: create a file "prefix".EXIT, in directory "outdir"; see 
> variables prefix, outdir). The default for  startingwfc and startingpot 
> is set to 'file'.
> 
> Since I'm also the beginner of QE, I cannot guarantee that whether my 
> suggestion is correct or helpful. Please take them as a reference.
> 
> Best wishes,
> 
> MM
> 
> ---- Replied Message ----
> 
> From
> Wang, Aolei via users<users at lists.quantum-espresso.org>
> 
> Date
> 12/3/2025 19:55
> 
> To
> users at lists.quantum-espresso.org<users at lists.quantum-espresso.org>
> 
> Subject
> [QE-users] SCF calculation with SOC fails to converge
> 
> Dear all, I am currently performing an SCF calculation with SOC for a 
> 2D In₂Se₃ system, but I am encountering convergence issues. First, I 
> successfully performed a non-SOC SCF calculation that converged 
> properly. Then, for the SOC calculation, I used startingpot='file' to 
> read the charge density from the previous calculation. However, the SOC 
> SCF fails to converge.
> 
> Here are some details about my setup: QE version: 7.5; The system is 
> metallic, so I used smearing='mv' with degauss=0.02; Due to the dipole 
> moment in the system, I included the relevant electric field 
> parameters; Pseudopotentials: ONCV fully-relativistic version.
> 
> Could you please help me identify what might be causing this 
> convergence issue? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
> 
> Below is the input file for the SOC run:
> 
> &CONTROL
> 
> calculation = 'scf'
> 
> prefix = 'in2se3'
> 
> restart_mode = 'from_scratch'
> 
> outdir = './soc'
> 
> pseudo_dir = './pseudo'
> 
> verbosity = 'high'
> 
> etot_conv_thr = 1e-7
> 
> forc_conv_thr = 1e-4
> 
> tefield = .true.
> 
> dipfield = .true.
> 
> /
> 
> &SYSTEM
> 
> ibrav = 0
> 
> nat = 10
> 
> ntyp = 2
> 
> nbnd = 160
> 
> ecutwfc = 70
> 
> ecutrho = 400
> 
> occupations = 'smearing'
> 
> smearing = 'mv'
> 
> degauss = 0.02
> 
> noncolin = .true.
> 
> lspinorb = .true.
> 
> vdw_corr = 'dft-d3'
> 
> edir = 3
> 
> emaxpos = 0.95
> 
> eopreg = 0.05
> 
> eamp = 0.0
> 
> /
> 
> &ELECTRONS
> 
> electron_maxstep = 100
> 
> conv_thr = 1e-5
> 
> diagonalization = 'david'
> 
> mixing_mode = 'local-TF'
> 
> mixing_beta = 0.1
> 
> mixing_ndim = 12
> 
> startingpot = 'file'
> 
> startingwfc = 'atomic+random'
> 
> /
> 
> ATOMIC_SPECIES
> 
> In 114.818   In_PBE_FR.SG15v1.2.UPF
> 
> Se 78.971    Se_PBE_FR.SG15v1.2.UPF
> 
> K_POINTS { automatic }
> 
> 12   12   1   0.000000   0.000000   0.000000
> 
> CELL_PARAMETERS (angstrom)
> 
> 4.085499    0.0000000000    0.0000000000
> 
> 2.0427495    3.5381459211359205    0.0000000000
> 
> 0.0000000000    0.0000000000   40.0000000000
> 
> ATOMIC_POSITIONS (crystal)
> 
> In               0.3333263268        0.3333296582        0.3219938051
> 
> In               0.6666658723        0.6666698966        0.4272754855
> 
> In               0.3333356888        0.3333320384        0.5674363654
> 
> In               0.0000045743        0.0000004570        0.6728520187
> 
> Se              -0.0000069198       -0.0000034614        0.2909006171
> 
> Se               0.3333302669        0.3333357327        0.3854509284
> 
> Se              -0.0000006411        0.0000028903        0.4604813408
> 
> Se               0.6666690540        0.6666654851        0.5365419061
> 
> Se               0.3333380834        0.3333335986        0.6309004416
> 
> Se               0.6666710277        0.6666670377        0.7061670915
> 
> Thank you in advance for your time and assistance.
> 
> Best regards,
> 
> Aolei Wang
> 
> Research Scholar
> 
> Department of Physics & Astronomy
> 
> California State University, Northridge
> _______________________________________________________________________________
> The Quantum ESPRESSO Foundation stands in solidarity with all civilians 
> worldwide who are victims of terrorism, military aggression, and 
> indiscriminate warfare.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Quantum ESPRESSO is supported by MaX (www.max-centre.eu [1])
> users mailing list users at lists.quantum-espresso.org
> https://lists.quantum-espresso.org/mailman/listinfo/users



Links:
------
[1] http://www.max-centre.eu
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.quantum-espresso.org/pipermail/users/attachments/20251203/da7df5c2/attachment.html>


More information about the users mailing list