First-principles calculations on structural, elastic, electronic, optical and thermal properties of CsPbCl3 perovskite

The structural, elastic, electronic, optical and thermal properties of the semiconductor perovskite CsPbCl₃ were investigated using the pseudo-potential plane wave (PP-PW) scheme in the frame of generalized gradient approximation (GGA) and local density approximation (LDA). The computed lattice constant agrees reasonably with experimental and theoretical ones. The CsPbCl₃ crystal behaves as ductile material. The valence bands are separated from the conduction bands by a direct band gap R-R. We distinguished hybridization between Pb-p states and Cl-p states in the valence bonding region. Under compression at P=30 GPa, this material will have a metallic character. The thermal effect on the lattice constant, bulk modulus, Debye temperature and heat capacity C_V was predicted using the quasi-harmonic Debye model. To the author's knowledge, most of the studied properties are reported for the first time.