Combined DFT and wave function theory approach to excited states of lanthanide luminescent materials: A case study of LaF3:Ce3+

Lanthanide luminescent materials play key roles in modern society, but their first-principles treatment remains a great challenge due to complex manifold of electronic excited states and the difficulty in performing excited state structural relaxations that is necessary to model luminescent properties. Herein, we propose a practical approach that combines embedded cluster model (ECM) based multi-configurational wave function theory (WFT) and occupancy constrained density-functional theory plus the Hubbard U correction (OC-DFT + U) to treat lanthanide doped luminescent materials, using LaF3:Ce3+, a typical scintillator with low symmetry, as a case study. We show that the combined approach yields accurate absorption energies with an error on the order of 200 cm(-1), but the emission energies are significantly underestimated, the origin of which is further clarified by vibrationally resolved absorption and emission spectra calculation. This work demonstrates the possibility of combining ECM-based wave function theory and periodic DFT into a comprehensive computational scheme for lanthanide luminescent materials and highlights the limitations of the current implementation of OC-DFT + U for excited state structural optimization.

Automated summary

Lanthanide luminescent materials pose a challenge for first-principles treatment due to their complex manifold of excited states and the difficulty in performing structural relaxations. In this study, a combined computational scheme using embedded cluster model and density-functional theory is proposed to accurately model these materials. The results show accurate absorption energies but underestimated emission energies.