Unfolding method for first-principles LCAO electronic structure calculations

Unfolding the band structure of a supercell to a normal cell enables us to investigate how symmetry breakers such as surfaces and impurities perturb the band structure of the normal cell. We generalize the unfolding method, originally developed based on Wannier functions, to the linear combination of atomic orbitals (LCAO) method, and present a general formula to calculate the unfolded spectral weight. The LCAO basis set is ideal for the unfolding method because the basis functions allocated to each atomic species are invariant regardless of the existence of surface and impurity. The unfolded spectral weight is well defined by the property of the LCAO basis functions. In exchange for the property, the non-orthogonality of the LCAO basis functions has to be taken into account. We show how the non-orthogonality can be properly incorporated in the general formula. As an illustration of the method, we calculate the dispersive quantized spectral weight of a ZrB2 slab and show strong spectral broadening in the out-of-plane direction, demonstrating the usefulness of the unfolding method.