Visualization/export of SF-TDDFT orbitals

Dear QChem developers and users,

I am running an SF-TDDFT (spin-flip TDDFT) calculation on an organic molecule (gas phase). As stated in the manual, SF-TDDFT does not support formatted checkpoint or cube file generation, and the only available orbital output appears to be via Molden / .mo files.

The calculation runs smoothly and produces:

  • sf_no.mo, sfnto.mo, sf*_ndo.mo files;
  • a .plots directory containing the sa_nto_nto.mo file.

However, I am unable to visualize or post-process these orbitals with common programs (IQmol, Avogadro, Multiwfn).

In particular, when loading the Molden file generated by Q-Chem into Multiwfn, I obtain the following error:

Loading various information of the wavefunction
Loading basis set definition…
The highest angular moment basis functions is D
All basis functions are Cartesian type
Loading orbitals…
forrtl: severe (24): end-of-file during read, unit -5, file Internal List-Directed Read

The $rem section used is:

$rem
method lrc-wpbe
omega 200
lrc_dft true
basis def2-SVP
unrestricted true
cis_n_roots 15
spin_flip true
cis_singlets true
cis_triplets true
state_analysis true
rpa false
cis_ampl_print 1
print_orbitals 5000
molden_format true
$end

The Molden file is partially read correctly (geometry and basis are detected) if I rename the files from .mo to .molden, but orbital data cannot be parsed by Multiwfn or other viewers.

My questions are:

  1. Is visualization or external post-processing of SF-TDDFT orbitals
    (NOs / NTOs / response orbitals) officially supported in Q-Chem?
  2. If so, is there a recommended workflow or keyword combination?

Thank you very much for your time and help.

Best regards,
Arianna
University of Parma

What version of Q-Chem are you running? With the latest (v.6.4), I was able to successfully generate a Molden-formatted file (and load it into Molden to look at orbitals) using your $rem section.