[QE-users] phonon linewidth calculation

Lorenzo Paulatto lorenzo.paulatto at cnrs.fr
Tue Jun 10 09:12:54 CEST 2025


I notice now that you have a ridiculous E_Fermi shift of 550 Ry, is your 
material by any chance an insulator, but you are using 
occupation='smearing'? If you have a gap, you must use 
occupation='fixed' in phonon. If you want to have magnetization, you 
will have to specify in pw input the total magnetization.

hth

On 09/06/2025 11:05, Ivan Dario Arellano Ramirez wrote:
> Dear Lorenzo,
>
> I tried the settings you suggested:
>
> nmix_ph=10
>  alpha_mix=.25
>
> and conv_thr =  1.0d-12 for scf calculation
>
> however, the phonon calculation using ph.x still fails to converge.
>
> I then increased the nmix_ph up to 20 and decreased the alpha_mix up 
> to .1 but the issue persists.
>
> El sáb, 7 jun 2025 a las 7:14, Lorenzo Paulatto 
> (<lorenzo.paulatto at cnrs.fr>) escribió:
>
>     Hhelo,
>
>     increase nmix_ph and reduce alpha_mix, in a difficult case
>     recently I have used:
>
>     nmix_ph=10
>      alpha_mix=.25
>
>     Also, the convergence of the scf process in pw.x should be
>     tighter, something like
>         conv_thr =  1.0d-12
>
>     Because the total energy is variational, but the phonons are not,
>     they converge much slower with this threshold.
>
>     hth
>
>
>
>     On 06/06/2025 21:48, Ivan Dario Arellano Ramirez wrote:
>>     I QE users
>>
>>     I want to calculate the phonon linewidth for InN. I am following
>>     two tutorials. However, in both cases, I encounter the same
>>     issue: no convergence when using the ph.x module.
>>
>>     Pert. #  1: Fermi energy shift (Ry) =  -5.5393E+02     0.0000E+00
>>
>>           iter # 150 total cpu time : 13815.8 secs av.it
>>     <http://av.it>.:   5.3
>>           thresh= 4.679E-04 alpha_mix =  0.700 |ddv_scf|^2 =  4.318E-06
>>
>>          End of self-consistent calculation
>>
>>          No convergence has been achieved
>>
>>
>>     This is an overview of the two approaches I followed:
>>
>>     1) perform very dense scf calculation with la2F=.true. in
>>     &systems (Likely, I am exceeding the maximum of 40000 k points)
>>     2) normal scf on coarser k-mesh
>>     3) phonon calculation using ph.x
>>     4) Inverse Fourier transform of dynamical matrix and the phonon
>>     linewidth using q2r.x
>>     5) Fourier transform to obtain dynamical matrix and the phonon
>>     linewidth using matdyn.x
>>
>>     The other tutorial proposed an initial scf calculation followed
>>     by an nscf calculation with la2F=.true. the rest of steps are the
>>     same.
>>
>>     Here are all the inputs.
>>
>>     Any suggestions or insights would be greatly appreciated.
>>
>>
>>     1) very dense k-mesh scf
>>
>>     &control
>>         calculation = 'scf'
>>         restart_mode='from_scratch',
>>         prefix='inn_ep',
>>         tstress = .true.
>>         tprnfor = .true.
>>         pseudo_dir = '/home/pps/pbe.0.3.1/PSEUDOPOTENTIALS/',
>>         outdir='./tmp'
>>         verbosity = 'high'
>>         etot_conv_thr = 1.d-6
>>         forc_conv_thr = 1.d-5
>>     /
>>     &system
>>         ibrav = 0,
>>         nat=  4,
>>         ntyp= 2,
>>         ecutwfc = 90,
>>         ecutrho = 900,
>>         occupations='smearing',
>>         smearing='m-v',
>>         degauss=0.02,
>>         la2F = .true.
>>     /
>>     &electrons
>>         conv_thr =  1.0d-8
>>         electron_maxstep = 200,
>>         mixing_mode = 'plain'
>>         mixing_beta = 0.3D0
>>         diagonalization  = 'david'
>>      /
>>     ATOMIC_SPECIES
>>     In   114.818    In.pbe-dn-rrkjus_psl.1.0.0.UPF
>>     N   14.007      N.pbe-n-rrkjus_psl.1.0.0.UPF
>>     CELL_PARAMETERS angstrom
>>        1.793358573  -3.106188164   0.000000000
>>        1.793358573   3.106188164   0.000000000
>>        0.000000000   0.000000000   5.799337066
>>
>>     ATOMIC_POSITIONS crystal
>>     In            0.3333330000        0.6666670000 -0.0019331848
>>     In            0.6666670000        0.3333330000  0.4980668152
>>     N             0.3333330000        0.6666670000  0.3767331848
>>     N             0.6666670000        0.3333330000  0.8767331848
>>     K_POINTS automatic
>>     45 45 36 0 0 0
>>
>>     2) normal scf
>>
>>     &control
>>         calculation = 'scf'
>>         restart_mode='from_scratch',
>>         prefix='inn_ep',
>>         tstress = .true.
>>         tprnfor = .true.
>>         pseudo_dir = '/home/pps/pbe.0.3.1/PSEUDOPOTENTIALS/',
>>         outdir='./tmp'
>>         verbosity = 'high'
>>         etot_conv_thr = 1.d-6
>>         forc_conv_thr = 1.d-5
>>     /
>>     &system
>>         ibrav = 0,
>>         nat=  4,
>>         ntyp= 2,
>>         ecutwfc = 90,
>>         ecutrho = 900,
>>         occupations='smearing',
>>         smearing='m-v',
>>         degauss=0.02,
>>     /
>>     &electrons
>>         conv_thr =  1.0d-8
>>         electron_maxstep = 200,
>>         mixing_mode = 'plain'
>>         mixing_beta = 0.3D0
>>         diagonalization  = 'david'
>>      /
>>     ATOMIC_SPECIES
>>     In   114.818    In.pbe-dn-rrkjus_psl.1.0.0.UPF
>>     N   14.007      N.pbe-n-rrkjus_psl.1.0.0.UPF
>>     CELL_PARAMETERS angstrom
>>        1.793358573  -3.106188164   0.000000000
>>        1.793358573   3.106188164   0.000000000
>>        0.000000000   0.000000000   5.799337066
>>
>>     ATOMIC_POSITIONS crystal
>>     In            0.3333330000        0.6666670000 -0.0019331848
>>     In            0.6666670000        0.3333330000  0.4980668152
>>     N             0.3333330000        0.6666670000  0.3767331848
>>     N             0.6666670000        0.3333330000  0.8767331848
>>     K_POINTS automatic
>>     15 15 12 0 0 0
>>
>>     3) phonon calculation
>>
>>     Phonons of InN at G!=0
>>     &inputph
>>      tr2_ph = 1.0d-14,
>>      ldisp = .true.,
>>      prefix = 'inn_ep',
>>      recover = .true.
>>      fildyn = 'inn-ph.dyn',
>>      fildvscf = 'inndv'
>>      nq1 = 5,
>>      nq2 = 5,
>>      nq3 = 3,
>>      electron_phonon = 'interpolated'
>>      el_ph_nsigma = 10
>>      el_ph_sigma = 0.02
>>      amass(1) = 114.818,
>>      amass(2) = 14.007,
>>      outdir =  './tmp'
>>      /
>>
>>      4) Inverse Fourier Transform
>>
>>     &INPUT
>>      fildyn = 'inn-ph.dyn',
>>      zasr = 'crystal',
>>      flfrc =  'inn-ph.fc',
>>      la2F = .true.
>>      /
>>
>>     5) Fourier Transform
>>
>>     &input
>>      asr = 'crystal',
>>      flfrc = 'inn-ph.fc',
>>      flfrq = 'inn.band.freq'
>>      flvec = 'inn.band.modes'
>>      amass(1) = 114.818,
>>      amass(2) = 14.007,
>>      q_in_band_form = .true.
>>      la2F = .true.
>>      /
>>     8
>>        0.0000000000     0.0000000000     0.0000000000  40  ! Gamma
>>        0.5000000000     0.0000000000     0.0000000000  25  ! M
>>        0.3333333333     0.3333333333     0.0000000000  40  ! K
>>        0.0000000000     0.0000000000     0.0000000000  25  ! Gamma
>>        0.0000000000     0.0000000000     0.5000000000  40  ! A
>>        0.5000000000     0.0000000000     0.5000000000  25  ! L
>>        0.3333333333     0.3333333333     0.5000000000  40  ! H
>>        0.0000000000     0.0000000000     0.5000000000  1 ! A
>>
>>
>>     Best regards,
>>
>>     -- 
>>
>>     Iván Darío Arellano Ramírez
>>
>>     Profesor Titular Programa de Ingeniería Física
>>
>>     Director Grupo de Investigación en Modelado y Simulación
>>     Computacional
>>
>>     Universidad Tecnológica de Pereira
>>
>>
>>     El contenido de este mensaje y sus anexos son únicamente para el
>>     uso del destinatario y pueden contener información  clasificada o
>>     reservada. Si usted no es el destinatario intencional, absténgase
>>     de cualquier uso, difusión, distribución o copia de esta
>>     comunicación.
>>
>>     _______________________________________________________________________________
>>     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 <http://www.max-centre.eu>)
>>     users mailing listusers at lists.quantum-espresso.org
>>     https://lists.quantum-espresso.org/mailman/listinfo/users
>     -- 
>     Dr. Lorenzo Paulatto
>     IR IMPMC - CNRS UMR 7590 / Sorbonne Université / MNHN
>     phone: +33 (0)1 442 79822 / telegram: lpaulatto
>     http://www.impmc.upmc.fr/~paulatto/ - https://anharmonic.github.io/
>     23-24/423 B115, 4 place Jussieu 75252 Paris CX 05
>     _______________________________________________________________________________
>     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
>     <http://www.max-centre.eu>)
>     users mailing list users at lists.quantum-espresso.org
>     https://lists.quantum-espresso.org/mailman/listinfo/users
>
>
>
> -- 
>
> Iván Darío Arellano Ramírez
>
> Profesor Titular Programa de Ingeniería Física
>
> Director Grupo de Investigación en Modelado y Simulación Computacional
>
> Universidad Tecnológica de Pereira
>
>
> El contenido de este mensaje y sus anexos son únicamente para el uso 
> del destinatario y pueden contener información  clasificada o 
> reservada. Si usted no es el destinatario intencional, absténgase de 
> cualquier uso, difusión, distribución o copia de esta comunicación.
>
> _______________________________________________________________________________
> 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)
> users mailing listusers at lists.quantum-espresso.org
> https://lists.quantum-espresso.org/mailman/listinfo/users
-- 
Dr. Lorenzo Paulatto
IR IMPMC - CNRS UMR 7590 / Sorbonne Université / MNHN
phone: +33 (0)1 442 79822 / telegram: lpaulatto
http://www.impmc.upmc.fr/~paulatto/ - https://anharmonic.github.io/
23-24/423 B115, 4 place Jussieu 75252 Paris CX 05
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