Effective mass for exponentially decaying tight-binding hopping

For $t(a)=-2E_1{e}^{-a/a_1}$ with $E_1,a_1>0$, a nearest-neighbour cubic tight-binding model has zone-centre band effective massIts logarithmic derivative is $1/a_1-2/a$. The unique minimum occurs at $a=2a_1$ and has value ${\hslash }^2\exp (2)/(16E_1{a}_1^2)$. The explicit $a^2$ in band curvature competes with the exponentially weakening hopping integral. Extrapolation to vanishing atomic separation lies outside the localized-orbital approximation.