What is a .POSCAR file?
POSCAR describes a crystal structure for the VASP physics simulation package.
- Did you know
- POSCAR is the input that tells VASP where every atom in a crystal sits.
- POSCAR lists the lattice vectors, a scaling constant and the position of every atom, in either Cartesian or fractional coordinates.
- The cell is always treated as periodic in three dimensions, so a surface or molecule is modelled by adding a wide vacuum gap.
- What Analyser reads
- Identify and read more scientific, medical and engineering files: R serialized data (RDS/RData), ABIF sequencing traces, VASP/Gaussian/XCrySDen DFT structures, ChemDraw (CDX/CDXML), Axon ABF and NI TDMS instrument data, BrainVision/Neuroscan/EEGLAB EEG, Gmsh/Abaqus/Nastran/ANSYS FEA decks, SPICE netlists, VTK structured/rectilinear grids and oscilloscope waveforms.
- Depth of analysis
- .POSCAR is an identification-grade format: Analyser recognises it from its bytes and decodes the header metadata it carries, rather than opening it in a full viewer. Formats that do get a full viewer are marked "Full" on the formats page.
- Open a .POSCAR file
- Drag a .POSCAR file onto the Analyser home page (or tap to pick one). It is identified entirely in your browser - nothing is uploaded, there is no account, and it works offline once installed.