S.Zh. Karazhanov

Electronic structure and optical properties of ZnX (X=O, S, Se, Te): A density functional study

Electronic band structure and optical properties of zinc monochalcogenides with zinc-blende- and wurtzite-type structures were studied using the ab initio density functional method within the local-density approximation (LDA), generalized-gradient approximation, and

Coulomb correlation effects in zinc monochalcogenides

mathrm{LDA}+U

Electronic structure, structural and optical properties of thermally evaporated CdTe thin films

approaches. Calculations of the optical spectra have been performed for the energy range

Electronic structure and optical properties of ZnSiO3 and Zn2SiO4

0char21{}20phantom{rule{0.3em}{0ex}}mathrm{eV}

Hydrides as materials for semiconductor electronics

, with and without including spin-orbit coupling. Reflectivity, absorption and extinction coefficients, and refractive index have been computed from the imaginary part of the dielectric function using the Kramers-Kronig transformations. A rigid shift of the calculated optical spectra is found to provide a good first approximation to reproduce experimental observations for almost all the zinc monochalcogenide phases considered. By inspection of the calculated and experimentally determined band-gap values for the zinc monochalcogenide series, the band gap of ZnO with zinc-blende structure has been estimated.

CLASSIFICATION OF HYDRIDES ACCORDING TO FEATURES OF BAND STRUCTURE

Electronic structure and band characteristics for zinc monochalcogenides with zinc-blende- and wurtzite-type structures are studied by first-principles density-functional-theory calculations with different approximations. It is shown that the local-density approximation underestimates the band gap and energy splitting between the states at the top of the valence band, misplaces the energy levels of the Zn-3d states, and overestimates the crystal-field-splitting energy. The spin-orbit-coupling energy is found to be overestimated for both variants of ZnO, underestimated for ZnS with wurtzite-type structure, and more or less correct for ZnSe and ZnTe with zinc-blende-type structure. The order of the states at the top of the valence band is found to be anomalous for both variants of ZnO, but is normal for the other zinc monochalcogenides considered. It is shown that the Zn-3d electrons and their interference with the O-2p electrons are responsible for the anomalous order. The effective masses of the electrons...

Phase stability and pressure-induced structural transitions at zero temperature in ZnSiO3 and Zn2SiO4

Abstract Thin films of CdTe were deposited on glass substrates by thermal evaporation. From the XRD measurements it is found that the films are of zinc-blende-type structure. The lattice parameter was determined as a = 6.529 A , which is larger than 6.48xa0A of the powder sample, because the recrystallized lattice of the grown films is subjected to a compressive stress aroused as a result of the lattice mismatch and/or differences in thermal expansion coefficient between the CdTe and the underlying substrate. Transmittance, absorption, extinction and refractive coefficients are measured. Electronic structure, band parameters and optical spectra of CdTe were calculated from ab initio studies within the LDA and LDA+U approximations. It is shown that LDA underestimates the band gap, energy levels of the Cd-4d states, s–d coupling and band dispersion. However, it calculates the spin–orbit coupling correctly. LDA+U did not increase much the band gap value, but it corrected the s–d coupling by shifting the Cd-4d levels towards the experimentally determined location and by splitting the LDA-derived single s peak into two peaks, which originates from admixture of s and d states. It is shown that the s–d coupling plays an important role in absorption and reflectivity constants. The calculated optical spectra fairly agree with experimental data. Independent of wave vector scissors operator is found to be a good first approximation to shift rigidly the band gap of CdTe underestimated by LDA.

Comparative analysis of electronic structure and optical properties of crystalline and amorphous silicon nitrides

The electronic structure and optical properties of orthorhombic, monoclinic, and rhombohedral (corundum type) modifications of ZnSiO3, and of rhombohedral, tetragonal, and cubic (spinel type) modifications of Zn2SiO4 have been studied using ab initio density functional theory calculations. The calculated fundamental band gaps for the different polymorphs and compounds are in the range 2.22–4.18 eV. The lowest conduction band is well dispersive similar to that found for transparent conducting oxides such as ZnO. This band is mainly contributed by Zn 4s electrons. The carrier effective masses were calculated and compared with those for ZnO. The topmost valence band is much less dispersive and contributed by O 2p and Zn 3d electrons. From the analysis of charge density, charges residing in each site, and electron localization function, it is found that ionic bonding is mainly ruling in these compounds. The calculated optical dielectric tensors show that the optical properties of ZnSiO3 and Zn2SiO4 are almost...

Similarity of electronic structure and optical properties of Mg2NiH4 and Si

Systematic studies using density functional theory have shown that some hydrides possess the features of semiconductors. These features include larger fundamental band gap, well dispersed bottom-most conduction band and/or top-most valence band, small electron/hole effective masses and small intrinsic carrier concentration. It is demonstrated that depending upon the composition, hydrides possess a wide range of band gap values and hence they can be regarded as materials for narrow to wide band gap semiconducting applications. The possibility of designing hydride-based p–n junctions, and also their advantages as well as deficiencies compared to existing oxide semiconductors, are discussed. Replacing oxide-based semiconductors by hydrides can help to avoid problems such as formation of an oxide layer, band offsets, large concentration of defect states at the interface between the oxide and semiconductor, etc. Moreover, hydrides can be regarded as an alternative to conventional semiconductors and hence can be used in future-generation electronic devices called “hydride electronics”.

Similarity of optical properties of hydrides and semiconductors for antireflection coatings

Band structure of hydrides has been studied by density functional calculations. From analysis of band structures, it is found that, similar to semiconductors, some hydrides possess open fundamental band gap, and can be classified according to the following three characteristic features. The first is based on the value of the fundamental band gap and, therefore, the hydrides have been classified as narrow or wide band gap materials. The second feature is based on a comparison of the relative location in k space of the bottommost conduction band and topmost valence band (VB). Thus, hydrides can be classified as either direct or indirect band gap materials. The third feature is based on the origin of the topmost valence band and depends on the dominant contribution of s-, p-, and d-electrons to the topmost VB. According to this criterion, hydrides can be classified as type s, p, d or hybridised materials. This classification will be useful in the application of hydrides for the construction and processing of electronic devices within the framework of the recent innovations in ‘hydride electronics’.