The VASP Manual

• Absolute beginners should start with the Getting started section and preferably work through the VASP workshop material that can be found in that particular section.

• The Howto's can be viewed as sort of a FAQ list of questions "How do I perform ... calculations with VASP".

• Similar information may be had from the VASP example calculations.

• Users looking for information on particular input parameters/files should follow the links in the Input section, or directly go to: The list of INCAR tags and related articles.

Installation and validation

How to install VASP and validate your installation by means of the VASP test suite and benchmarks.

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Getting started

Over the years we have held several entry level VASP workshops. The lecture notes and examples of these workshops are a very convenient place to start if you are a beginner and might also be usefull if you are not. Below we have listed a few of the most suitable:

• VASP workshop, Vienna, Austria (2003):

lecture notes and examples from the handson sessions

• VASP workshop at the Institut des Matériaux Jean Rouxel (IMN), Nantes, France (2012):

Lecture notes and guide to the Handson sessions, and example calculations.

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Howto's

Below you find links to pages that present clearcut procedures describing how to do specific calculations:

• GW calculations

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Input

As a minimal setup, VASP requires the user to prepare the following input files:

INCAR, KPOINTS, POSCAR, and POTCAR.

If present (in the directory were the calculation runs) the following output files of previous runs may be read as restart information:

CHGCAR and/or WAVECAR.

Some specific features of VASP require additional output files from previous runs to be present:

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Output

The main output file of VASP is the OUTCAR file.

The OSZICAR file ...

CHGCAR	WAVECAR	CHG	WAVEDER
CONTCAR	XDATCAR	EIGENVAL	IBZKPT
DOSCAR	PROCAR	PROOUT	PCDAT
ELFCAR	PARCHG	LOCPOT	TMPCAR
vasprun.xml	Wxxxx.tmp	WFULLxxxx.tmp

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Examples

Have a look at the ever growing list of example calculations.

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Visualisation and Postprocessing

Here we can link to postprocessing programs and script, visualization tools, etc etc.

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Further reading and additional documentation

Here we should place links to lectures and presentations and articles that concern VASP.

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Support

If you have questions or run into trouble, please have a look and/or post a question at the VASP forum.

Requests for support from the VASP group are to be directed WITHOUT EXCEPTION to the official VASP email address: vasp.materialphysik@univie.ac.at.

Please note: we offer support on a courtesy base only, not as a contractual service.

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