FermiSurfer: Fermi-surface viewer providing multiple representation schemes

Abstract

FermiSurfer is a newly developed Fermi-surface viewer designed to facilitate the understanding of the physical properties of metals. It can display the Fermi surfaces of a material, color plots of arbitrary k-dependent quantities, the Fermi surface at arbitrary cross sections (Fermi lines), cross- or parallel-eye three-dimensional stereogram views, nodal lines, extremal orbits, and highlight the occupied or empty side of the Fermi surface. In addition, various first-principles software packages can produce input for FermiSurfer. This paper explains how to use FermiSurfer and demonstrates its usefulness by investigating the origin of the anisotropic superconductivity of YNi2B2C. Program summaryProgram Title: FermiSurferProgram Files doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.17632/36992zhpvk.1Licensing provisions: MITProgramming language: CNature of problem: The anisotropy of quantities on Fermi surfaces (the character of orbitals, etc.) strongly affects electronic properties, such as superconductivity or thermoelectricity, in metals. Observing the anisotropy, however, remains difficult. Thus, a graphical tool that can elucidate how quantities vary over complicated Fermi surfaces is highly desirable.Solution method: FermiSurfer uses the tetrahedron method to compute Fermi surfaces. The French-curve interpolation is used to display smooth Fermi surfaces.Additional comments including restrictions and unusual features : The parallel- and cross-eye stereograms are available to enhance the visibility of complicated Fermi surfaces. This program works on any operating system, such as Linux, UNIX, macOS, and Windows, in which OpenGL library is installed.