First-principles study of structural, elastic, electronic and optical properties of SrMO3 (M=Ti and Sn)

We present structural, elastic, electronic and optical properties of the perovskites SrMO₃ (M=Ti, and Sn) for different pressure. The computational method is based on the pseudo-potential plane wave method (PP-PW). The exchange-correlation energy is described in the generalized gradient approximation (GGA). The calculated equilibrium lattice parameters are in reasonable agreement with the available experimental data. This work shows that the perovskites SrTiO₃, and SrSnO₃ are mechanically stable and present an indirect band gaps at the Fermi level. Applied pressure does not change the shape of the total valence electronic charge density and most of the electronic charge density is shifted toward O atom. Furthermore, in order to understand the optical properties of SrMO₃, the dielectric function, absorption coefficient, optical reflectivity, refractive index, extinction coefficient and electron energy-loss are calculated for radiation up to 80 eV. The enhancement of pressure decreases the dielectric function and refractive indices of SrTiO₃ and SrSnO₃.     

Physical,optical and electrical properties of calcium bismuth borate glasses

The variation in physical, optical and electrical properties has been investigated as a function of Bi₂O₃ content in 20CaO?·?xBi₂O₃?·?(80???x)B₂O₃ (0?≤?x?≤?60, in mol%) glasses. The samples were prepared by normal melt-quenching process, and the optical absorption and reflection spectra were recorded in the wavelength range of 400–950 nm. The fundamental absorption edge has been identified from the optical absorption spectra. The optical band gap, E _g, for indirect allowed and indirect forbidden transitions has been determined from the available theories and its value lies between 1.80–2.37 eV and 1.08–2.19 eV, respectively. The theoretical fitting of the optical absorption indicates that the present glass system behaves as an indirect gap semiconductor. The origin of the Urbach energy, ΔE, has been associated with the phonon-assisted indirect transitions. The refractive index and optical dielectric constant have been evaluated from the reflection spectra. The density and molar volume are found to depend on the molar concentration of Bi₂O₃. The values of DC electrical conductivity have been measured from 373 to 623 K and the activation energy has been calculated. Theoretical optical basicity has been reported as a function of the Bi₂O₃ content. The variations have been discussed in terms of structural changes.     

First-principles studies of structural,mechanical, electronic,optical properties and pressure-induced phase transition of CuInO2 polymorph

Using the first-principles density-functional theory within the generalized gradient approximation (GGA), we have investigated the structural, elastic, mechanical, electronic, and optical properties and phase transition of CuInO₂. Structural parameters including lattice constants and internal parameter, pressure effects and phase transition pressure were calculated. We have obtained the elastic coefficients, bulk modulus, shear modulus, Young's modulus and Poisson's ratio. We find that two phases of CuInO₂ are indirect band gap semiconductors (F–Γ and H–Γ for 3R and 2H, respectively). Optical properties, including the dielectric function, refractive index, extinction coefficient, reflectivity, absorption coefficient, loss function and optical conductivity have been obtained for radiations of up to 30 eV.     

First-principles study of the structural, elastic, electronic and optical properties of the monoclinic BiScO3

The structural, elastic, electronic and optical properties of the monoclinic BiScO₃ are investigated in the framework of the density functional theory. The calculated structural parameters are in agreement with the experimental values. Moreover, the structural stability of BiScO₃ system has been confirmed by the calculated elastic constants. The band structure, density of states, charge transfers and bond populations are also given. The results indicate that BiScO₃ has a direct band gap of 3.36 eV between the occupied O 2p states and unoccupied Bi 6p states, and its bonding behavior is a combination of covalent and ionic nature. Finally, the absorption spectrum, refractive index, extinction coefficient, reflectivity, energy-loss function and dielectric function of the monoclinic BiScO₃ are calculated. In addition, the variation of the static dielectric constants ε₁(0) as a function of pressure for BiScO₃ is also discussed.     

YFeO3的电子结构和光学性质的第一性原理研究

稀土正铁氧体YFeO₃呈正交钙钛矿结构,其晶体和纳米晶材料在电极材料、 传感器和光催化领域具有重要的应用价值.用平面波赝势方法,采用广义梯度近似、改进的Perdew-Burke-Emzerhof交换-关联势、 实空间超软赝势计算方案,研究了YFeO₃晶体的几何结构、电子结构和光学性质. 计算得到的晶格参量与报道的实验结果一致.通过对能带结构、态密度、介电函数、吸收系数和光电导率的计算和分析, 确定YFeO₃是直接能隙半导体,能隙E_g约为2.22 eV,阐明了YFeO₃晶体和纳米晶具有较好的可见光催化性能.     

First principles study of structural, elastic, electronic and optical properties of the cubic perovskite BaHfO3

First principles study of structural, elastic, electronic and optical properties of the cubic perovskite-type BaHfO₃ has been reported using the pseudo-potential plane wave method within the local density approximation. The calculated equilibrium lattice is in a reasonable agreement with the available experimental data. The elastic constants and their pressure dependence are calculated using the static finite strain technique. A linear pressure dependence of the elastic stiffnesses is found. Band structures show that BaHfO₃ is a direct band gap between the occupied O 2p and unoccupied Hf d states. The variation of the gap versus pressure is well fitted to a quadratic function. Furthermore, in order to understand the optical properties of BaHfO₃, the dielectric function, absorption coefficient, optical reflectivity, refractive index, extinction coefficient, and electron energy loss are calculated for radiation up to 30 eV. We have found that O 2p states and Hf 5d states play a major role in the optical transitions as initial and final states, respectively. This is the first quantitative theoretical prediction of the elastic, electronic and optical properties of BaHfO₃ compound, and it still awaits experimental confirmation.     

Structural,electronic and optical properties of Ca3Bi2: First-principles investigation

In this work by applying first principles calculations structural, electronic and optical properties of Ca₃Bi₂ compound in hexagonal and cubic phases are studied within the framework of the density functional theory using the full potential linearized augmented plane wave (FP-LAPW) approach. According to our study band gap for Ca₃Bi₂ in hexagonal phase are 0.47, 0.96 and 1?eV within the PBE-GGA, EV-GGA and mBJ-GGA, respectively. The corresponding values for cubic phase are 1.24, 2.08 and 2.14?eV, respectively. The effects of hydrostatic pressure on the behavior of the electronic properties such as band gap, valence bandwidths and anti-symmetry gap are investigated. It is found that the hydrostatic pressure increases the band widths of all bands below the Fermi energy while it decreases the band gap and the anti-symmetry gap. In our calculations, the dielectric tensor is derived within the random phase approximation (RPA). The first absorption peak in imaginary part of dielectric function for both phases is located in the energy range 2.0–2.5?eV which are beneficial to practical applications in optoelectronic devices in the visible spectral range. For instance, hexagonal phase of Ca₃Bi₂ with a band gap around 1?eV can be applied for photovoltaic application and cubic phase with a band gap of 2?eV can be used for water splitting application. Moreover, we found the optical spectra of hexagonal phase are anisotropic along E||x and E||z.     

Microstructural and optical investigations of sol-gel derived ferroelectric BaTiO3 nanocrystalline films determined by spectroscopic ellipsometry

Ferroelectric BaTiO₃ nanocrystalline films (BTNFs) with the crystalline sizes of about 30 nm were grown on Pt/Ti/SiO₂/Si substrates by a modified sol-gel method. Spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE) was used to characterize the films in the photon energy range of 1.5-5.0 eV with a five-phase layered model (air/surface rough layer/BaTiO₃/interface layer/Pt). The optical properties in the transparent and absorption regions have been investigated with the Forouhi-Bloomer dispersion relation. With the aid of the structural and dielectric function models, the microstructure and electronic structure of the BTNFs can be readily obtained. It was found that the refractive index reaches the value of 2.20 in the transparent region. Based on the Sellmeier dispersion analysis, the single-oscillator energy is about 4.7 eV for the BTNFs. The long wavelength refractive index n(0) can be estimated to about 2.00 at zero point. The direct optical band gap energy approaches approximately 4.2 eV and Urbach band tail energy is 262±2 and 268±1 meV respectively with increasing crystalline size. A higher band gap observed can be owing to the known quantum confinement effect in the nanocrystalline formation and different fraction of amorphous and crystalline components. The theoretical analysis based on the effective mass approximation theory is well used to explain these experimental data.     

First-principles studies of the electronic structure and optical properties of AgBO<Subscript>3</Subscript> (B=Nb,Ta) in the paraelectric phase

The electronic energy-band structure, density of states (DOS), and optical properties of AgBO₃ in the paraelectric cubic phase have been studied by using density functional theory within the local density approximation for exchange-correlation for the first time. The band structure shows a band gap of 1.533 eV (AgNbO₃)and 1.537 eV (AgTaO₃)at (M-⌈)point in the Brillouin zone. The optical spectra of AgBO₃ in the photon energy range up to 30 eV are investigated under the scissor approximation. The real and imaginary parts of the dielectric function and — thus the optical constants such as reflectivity, absorption coefficient, electron energy-loss function, refractive index, and extinction coefficient — are calculated. We have also made some comparisons with related experimental and theoretical data that is available.      

Structural, electronic and optical properties of orthorhombic distorted perovskite TbMnO3

This paper calculates the structural parameters, electronic and optical properties of orthorhombic distorted perovskite-type TbMnO3 by first principles using density functional theory within the generalised gradient approximation. The calculated equilibrium lattice constants are in a reasonable agreement with theoretical and experimental data. The energy band structure, density of states and partial density of states of elements are obtained. Band structures show that TbMnO3 is an indirect band gap between the O 2p states and Mn 3d states, and the band gap is of 0.48 eV agreeing with experimental result. Furthermore, the optical properties, including the dielectric function, absorption coefficient, optical reflectivity, refractive index and energy loss spectrum are calculated and analysed, showing that the TbMnO3 is a promising dielectric material.     

Electronic excitations and luminescence of SrMgF4 single crystals

The electronic and crystal structures of SrMgF₄ single crystals grown by the Bridgman method have been investigated. The undoped SrMgF₄ single crystals have been studied using low-temperature (T = 10 K) time-resolved fluorescence optical and vacuum ultraviolet spectroscopy under selective excitation by synchrotron radiation (3.7–36.0 eV). Based on the measured reflectivity spectra and calculated spectra of the optical constants, the following parameters of the electronic structure have been determined for the first time: the minimum energy of interband transitions E _g = 12.55 eV, the position of the first exciton peak E _n = 1 = 11.37 eV, the position of the maximum of the “exciton” luminescence excitation band at 10.7 eV, and the position of the fundamental absorption edge at 10.3 eV. It has been found that photoluminescence excitation occurs predominantly in the region of the low-energy fundamental absorption edge of the crystal and that, at energies above E _g , the energy transfer from the matrix to luminescence centers is inefficient. The exciton migration is the main excitation channel of photoluminescence bands at 2.6–3.3 and 3.3–4.2 eV. The direct photoexcitation is characteristic of photoluminescence from defects at 1.8–2.6 and 4.2–5.5 eV.     

Luminescence of LaBr3: Ce,Hf crystals under photon excitation in the ultraviolet,vacuum ultraviolet,and X-ray ranges

This study has been carried out using synchrotron radiation, time-resolved luminescence ultraviolet and vacuum ultraviolet spectroscopy, optical absorption spectroscopy, and thermal activation spectroscopy. It has been found that, in scintillation spectrometric crystals LaBr₃: Ce,Hf characterized by a low hygroscopicity, along with Ce³⁺ centers in regular lattice sites, there are Ce³⁺ centers located in the vicinity of the defects of the crystal structure. It has also been found that the studied crystals exhibit photoluminescence (PL) of new point defects responsible for a broad band at wavelengths of 500–600 nm in the PL spectra. The minimum energy of interband transitions in LaBr₃ is estimated as E _g ～ 6.2 eV. The effect of multiplication of electronic excitations has been observed in the range of PL excitation energies higher than 13 eV (more than 2E _g ). Thermal activation studies have revealed channels of electronic excitation energy transfer to Ce³⁺ impurity centers.     

Optical spectra and energy band structure of AgAsS2 crystals

Ground and excited states of three exciton series are observed in the region of fundamental absorption edge of AgAsS₂ crystals. The contours of exciton reflection spectra are calculated and the main parameters of excitons and energy bands are determined in the center of Brillouin zone. The optical reflection spectra are investigated at 30 K in E∥c and E⊥c polarizations in AgAsS₂ crystals in the region of 2-6 eV. The optical functions are calculated from the reflection spectra and a scheme of electronic transitions responsible for peculiarities of reflection spectra deep into the absorption band is proposed.     

Dielectric and optical properties of C60 material studied by ellipsometry and quantitative IR and UV/VIS spectroscopy

Optical properties in the spectral range from 0.06 to 5.5 eV of fullerite films on different substrates, C₆₀ powder, and dissolved fullerene material are investigated by spectroscopic ellipsometry and optical transmission and reflection measurements. Depolarization effects are taken into account during determination of the dielectric function of fullerite films by ellipsometry. The optical gap for C₆₀ films is found to be 1.63 eV. Three optical absorption bands are observed at 2.69, 3.53, and 4.49 eV.The dielectric function in the infrared shows the four characteristic infrared vibrational modes. The interference pattern seen in UV/VIS reflection measurements are used for high-precision thickness determination of the films. The Clausius-Mossotti formula is successfully applied to reproduce the experimental optical data measured in C₆₀/dichlormethane solutions. Deviations between theory and experiments provide interesting information about the intermolecular interaction of the C₆₀ molecules. A tentative interpretation of the measured absorption bands is presented.     

First-principles study on the electronic and optical properties of BiFeO3

The structural, electronic, and optical properties of multiferroic bismuth ferrite (BiFeO₃) are investigated using density functional theory within generalized gradient approximation (GGA). The calculated lattice parameters are in good agreement with the experimental data. The electronic structure shows that BiFeO₃ has an indirect (very close to direct) band gap of 1.06 eV. The complex dielectric function, absorption spectra, refractive index, extinction coefficient, energy-loss spectrum and reflectivity are calculated, and the results are compared with the available experimental data. Finally, the optical properties of BiFeO₃ are discussed based on the band structure calculations.     

Electronic and optical properties of Full-Heusler alloy Fe3?xMnxSi

The electronic and optical properties of the nonstoicheiometric Heusler alloys Fe_3−x Mn _x Si with (x = 0,0.75,1,1.25,2) have been studied by the first principles study in the framework of the density functional theory (DFT). Optical properties including the dielectric function, refractive index, energy-loss spectra, absorption spectra, optical conductivity and reflectivity were also calculated. Results show that the electronic structure of Fe_3−x Mn _x Si alloys have half-metallic property for (x = 0.75,1,1.25). The real part of dielectric function has two main peaks in high energies. From absorption spectra it can be seen that absorption curves in low energy are broadened with respect to higher energies. The refractive index has a nonlinear dispersion in the energy range of 45–55 eV. The energy of plasmon peaks obtained from electron energy loss function (ELF) are about 25 eV.     

Giant red shift of the absorption spectra due to nonstoichiometry in GdCoO<Subscript>3–δ</Subscript>

The GdCoO_3–δ perovskite is a semiconductor with the energy gap E _g ≈ 0.5 eV from electrical transport measurements. It reveals unusual optical absorption spectra without transparency window expected for semiconductors. Instead we have measured the narrow transmittance peak at the photon energy ε₀ = 0.087 eV. To reconcile the transport and optical data we have studied the effect of oxygen vacancies on the electronic structure of the GdCoO_3–δ. We have found that oxygen vacancies result in the in-gap states inside the charge-transfer energy gap of the GdCoO₃. It is a multielectron effect due to strong electron correlations forming the electronic structure of the GdCoO_3–δ. These in-gap states decrease the transparency window and result in a narrow absorption minimum. The predicted temperature dependence of the absorption spectra has been confirmed by our measurements.     

Structural,electronic, optical,elastic and thermal properties of ZnXAs<Subscript>2</Subscript> (X = Si and Ge) chalcopyrite semiconductors

We report first principles calculations of solid state properties of ZnSiAs₂ and ZnGeAs₂ chalcopyrite semiconductors. The structural properties are calculated using a Full Potential Linearized Augmented Plane Wave method (FP-LAPW) of the Density Functional Theory (DFT). A Generalized Gradient Approximation (GGA) scheme proposed by Wu and Cohen (WC) has been chosen to calculate electronic and optical properties. Optical features such as dielectric functions, refractive indices, extinction coefficient, optical reflectivity, absorption coefficients and optical conductivities were calculated for photon energies up to 30 eV. The elastic constants at equilibrium in tetragonal structure are also determined. Temperature effect on the volume, thermal expansion, heat capacity, Debye temperature, entropy, Grüneisen parameter and bulk modulus were calculated employing the quasi-harmonic Debye model at different temperatures and pressures and the silent results were interpreted. Finally using semi-empirical relation, we determined the hardness of the materials which attributed to different covalent bonding strengths.     

Optical,photoelectric and electric properties of single-crystalline Sb2Se3

Measurements of absorption coefficient in the region of the absorption edge, of spectral distribution of photoconductivity and dependence of electrical conductivity upon temperature on Sb₂Se₃ single crystals are given. The absorption of light was proved to correspond to indirect forbidden transitions. The value of optical gapE _g ^opt =(1·11±0·02) eV forE a andE c was determined. From photoconductivity and conductivity measurements the values of the gaps areE _g ^opt =1·11 eV andE _g ^el =1·04 eV. The anisotropy of the electrical conductivity parallel and perpendicular to the cleavage plane is 2·2.