AFLOWπ: A minimalist approach to high-throughput ab initio calculations including the generation of tight-binding hamiltonians

Tight-binding models provide a conceptually transparent and computationally efficient method to represent the electronic properties of materials. With AFLOW pi we introduce a framework for high-throughput first principles calculations that automatically generates tight-binding hamiltonians without any additional input. Several additional features are included in AFLOW pi with the intent to simplify the self consistent calculation of Hubbard U corrections, the calculations of phonon dispersions, elastic properties, complex dielectric constants, and electronic transport coefficients. As examples we show how to compute the optical properties of layered nitrides in the AMN(2) family, and the elastic and vibrational properties of binary halides with CsCI and NaCl structure. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.