A Restriction-Based Configuration Interaction Approach Based on LC-DFTB: An Efficient Method for Field-Induced Charge...

Investigating electron transfer behavior under external electric fields in molecular electronics is crucial for understanding the function of each component and for improving molecular design. Notably, the one-electron transfer is inevitable in molecular wires and switches, for which traditional density functional theory (DFT) and long-range corrected self-consistent-charge density functional tight binding (LC-DFTB) meet significant challenges. Inspired by previous studies on constrained configuration interaction schemes, we present restriction-based configuration interaction (RCI) LC-DFTB, a novel extension of LC-DFTB to deliver an accurate description of one-electron transfer under external electric fields. This approach retains the low cost of LC-DFTB while accurately capturing charge-resonance, localization versus delocalization, and field-induced response in large, structurally complex systems. We demonstrate its performance on a benzene assembly and a polyfluorene, showing that RCI-LC-DFTB efficiently describes the effects of molecular conformation and applied bias on electron localization and transfer. Our method thus provides a robust tool for the design of molecular electronic and organic photovoltaic materials.