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Ghiringhelli, Luca M.

Publications and source records attributed to Ghiringhelli, Luca M..

Roadmap on data-centric materials science

Science is and always has been based on data, but the terms ‘data-centric’ and the ‘4th paradigm’ of materials research indicate a radical change in how information is retrieved, handled and research is performed. It signifies a transformative shift towards managing vast data collections, digital repositories, and innovative data analytics methods. The integration of artificial intelligence and its subset machine learning, has become pivotal in addressing all these challenges. This Roadmap on Data-Centric Materials Science explores fundamental concepts and methodologies, illustrating diverse applications in electronic-structure theory, soft matter theory, microstructure research, and experimental techniques like photoemission, atom probe tomography, and electron microscopy. While the roadmap delves into specific areas within the broad interdisciplinary field of materials science, the provided examples elucidate key concepts applicable to a wider range of topics. The discussed instances offer insights into addressing the multifaceted challenges encountered in contemporary materials research.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Finding predictive models for singlet fission by machine learning

Singlet fission (SF), the conversion of one singlet exciton into two triplet excitons, could significantly enhance solar cell efficiency. Molecular crystals that undergo SF are scarce. Computational exploration may accelerate the discovery of SF materials. However, many-body perturbation theory (MBPT) calculations of the excitonic properties of molecular crystals are impractical for large-scale materials screening. We use the sure-independence-screening-and-sparsifying-operator (SISSO) machine-learning algorithm to generate computationally efficient models that can predict the MBPT thermodynamic driving force for SF for a dataset of 101 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH101). SISSO generates models by iteratively combining physical primary features. The best models are selected by linear regression with cross-validation. The SISSO models successfully predict the SF driving force with errors below 0.2 eV. Based on the cost, accuracy, and classification performance of SISSO models, we propose a hierarchical materials screening workflow. Three potential SF candidates are found in the PAH101 set.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

New tolerance factor to predict the stability of perovskite oxides and halides

Predicting the stability of the perovskite structure remains a long-standing challenge for the discovery of new functional materials for many applications including photovoltaics and electrocatalysts. We developed an accurate, physically interpretable, and one-dimensional tolerance factor, τ, that correctly predicts 92% of compounds as perovskite or nonperovskite for an experimental dataset of 576 ABX 3 materials (X = O 2– , F – , Cl – , Br – , I – ) using a novel data analytics approach based on SISSO (sure independence screening and sparsifying operator). τ is shown to generalize outside the training set for 1034 experimentally realized single and double perovskites (91% accuracy) and is applied to identify 23,314 new double perovskites ( A 2 BB'X 6 ) ranked by their probability of being stable as perovskite. Furthermore, this work guides experimentalists and theorists toward which perovskites are most likely to be successfully synthesized and demonstrates an approach to descriptor identification that can be extended to arbitrary applications beyond perovskite stability predictions.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

GAtor: A First-Principles Genetic Algorithm for Molecular Crystal Structure Prediction

We present the implementation of GAtor, a massively parallel, first-principles genetic algorithm (GA) for molecular crystal structure prediction. GAtor is written in Python and currently interfaces with the FHI-aims code to perform local optimizations and energy evaluations using dispersion-inclusive density functional theory (DFT). GAtor offers a variety of fitness evaluation, selection, crossover, and mutation schemes. Breeding operators designed specifically for molecular crystals provide a balance between exploration and exploitation. Evolutionary niching is implemented in GAtor by using machine learning to cluster the dynamically updated population by structural similarity and then employing a cluster-based fitness function. Evolutionary niching promotes uniform sampling of the potential energy surface by evolving several subpopulations, which helps overcome initial pool biases and selection biases (genetic drift). The various settings offered by GAtor increase the likelihood of locating numerous low-energy minima, including those located in disconnected, hard to reach regions of the potential energy landscape. The best structures generated are re-relaxed and re ranked using a hierarchy of increasingly accurate DFT functionals and dispersion methods. GAtor is applied to a chemically diverse set of four past blind test targets, characterized by different types of intermolecular interactions. Furthermore, the experimentally observed structures and other low-energy structures are found for all four targets. In particular, for Target II, 5-cyano-3-hydroxythiophene, the top ranked putative crystal structure is a Z' = 2 structure with PT symmetry and a scaffold packing motif, which has not been reported previously.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Report on the sixth blind test of organic crystal structure prediction methods

The sixth blind test of organic crystal structure prediction (CSP) methods has been held, with five target systems: a small nearly rigid molecule, a polymorphic former drug candidate, a chloride salt hydrate, a co-crystal and a bulky flexible molecule. This blind test has seen substantial growth in the number of participants, with the broad range of prediction methods giving a unique insight into the state of the art in the field. Significant progress has been seen in treating flexible molecules, usage of hierarchical approaches to ranking structures, the application of density-functional approximations, and the establishment of new workflows and `best practices' for performing CSP calculations. All of the targets, apart from a single potentially disordered Z ' = 2 polymorph of the drug candidate, were predicted by at least one submission. Despite many remaining challenges, it is clear that CSP methods are becoming more applicable to a wider range of real systems, including salts, hydrates and larger flexible molecules. The results also highlight the potential for CSP calculations to complement and augment experimental studies of organic solid forms.

Chemistry↗