Accurate and efficient computation of the Kohn-Sham orbital kinetic energy density in the full-potential linearized augmented plane wave method

Abstract

The Kohn-Sham orbital kinetic energy density $\tau_\sigma(\vec{r}) = \sum_{i} w_{i\sigma} \big|\nabla \psi_{i\sigma}(\vec{r}) \big|^2$ is one fundamental quantity for constructing meta-generalized gradient approximations (meta-GGA) for use by density functional theory. We present a computational scheme of $\tau_\sigma(\vec{r})$ for full-potential linearized augmented plane wave method. Our scheme is highly accurate and efficient and easy to implement to existing computer code. To illustrate its performance, we construct the Becke-Johnson meta-GGA exchange potentials for Be, Ne, Mg, Ar, Ca, Zn, Kr, Cd atoms which are in very good agreement with the original results. For bulk solids, we construct the Tran-Blaha modified Becke-Johnson potential (mBJ) and confirm its capability to calculate band gaps, with the reported bad convergence of the mBJ potential being substantially improved. The present computational scheme of $\tau_\sigma(\vec{r})$ should also be valuable for developing other meta-GGA's in FLAPW as well as in similar methods utilizing atom centered basis functions.