Software · Desktop app

Bravais

Interactive 3D crystal-structure visualisation and surface-slab generation. Load a bulk structure, build slabs from any Miller index, place adsorbates, export back to POSCAR for your DFT runs, without leaving a live 3D view of what you're doing.

Version 1.8.0 · macOS (Apple Silicon), Windows (64-bit) and Linux (x86-64)

What it does

Real-time 3D rendering: hardware-accelerated WebGL via Three.js. Rotate, zoom, pick atoms, view along the a / b / c axes.
Surface-slab generator: enter Miller indices (hkl), see every symmetrically inequivalent termination, pick layers and vacuum, export.
Adsorbate placement: drop molecular adsorbates onto surfaces with positional and rotational control.
Supercell, strain, NEB: replicate cells, apply biaxial or uniaxial strain, build complete nudged-elastic-band path directories.
File support: CIF and VASP POSCAR/CONTCAR in and out.
Built-in AI assistant: ask questions about your structure or about crystallography concepts; get answers alongside the 3D view.

Requirements

macOS: 11 Big Sur or later, Apple Silicon (M1 / M2 / M3 / M4). Intel Macs are not yet supported.
Windows: Windows 10 or later (64-bit; x64 or ARM64).
Linux: a recent 64-bit distribution (x86-64). Distributed as a portable AppImage.

Download

Bravais for macOS

Apple Silicon disk image (.dmg)

Version 1.8.0 macOS 11+

Download for macOS

Bravais for Windows

Installer (.exe), x64 and ARM64

Version 1.8.0 Windows 10+

Download for Windows

Bravais for Linux

Portable AppImage, x86-64

Version 1.8.0 64-bit

Download for Linux

First launch on macOS

Bravais is not yet code-signed by Apple, so macOS will refuse to open it on a double-click. The bypass is simple and only needed once.

Open the downloaded .dmg and drag Bravais into your Applications folder.
In Applications, right-click Bravais and choose Open rather than double-clicking.
Click Open in the macOS dialog. Bravais launches.

After this one-time step, you can launch Bravais normally from Launchpad, Spotlight, or the Dock.

First launch on Windows

The installer is not yet code-signed, so Windows SmartScreen shows a warning the first time. This is expected for a new publisher and only appears once.

Run the downloaded .exe.
If a "Windows protected your PC" dialog appears, click More info, then Run anyway.
Follow the installer, then launch Bravais from the Start menu or desktop shortcut.

First launch on Linux

The AppImage is self-contained and needs no installation. You only have to mark it executable once.

Make it executable: chmod +x Bravais-1.8.0.AppImage (or right-click → Properties → Permissions → "Allow executing file as program").
Run it: ./Bravais-1.8.0.AppImage, or double-click it.

If the AppImage doesn't start, install FUSE (sudo apt install libfuse2 on Ubuntu), which some AppImages require.

Licence

Bravais is proprietary software. The bundled End-User Licence Agreement permits free personal, academic, and internal-evaluation use; redistribution, modification, reverse engineering, and commercial use require written permission. For commercial licensing, see contact.