Optical properties and electronic structure of BiTeCl and BiTeBr compounds

Optical properties of BiTeCl and BiTeBr compounds with a strong Rashba spin–orbit coupling are studied in the 0.08–5.0 eV range using the optical ellipsometry method. Fundamental characteristics of the electronic structure are obtained. Similarly to BiTeI, spectra of the imaginary part of dielectric permittivity constant ε₂(E) in the energy interval between the plasma edge and the threshold of an intense interband absorption (0.7 eV in BiTeCl and 0.6 eV in BiTeBr) display a fine structure of electronic transitions at 0.25 and 0.55 eV in BiTeCl and 0.20 and 0.50 eV in BiTeBr. These features are assigned to electronic transitions between the bulk conduction zones split by the Rashba spin–orbit interaction. The parameters of the electronic structure of BiTeCl and BiTeBr are compared with the BiTeI compound that was studied earlier. In the BiTeCl–BiTeBr–BiTeI row, the absorption edge and main features of the fundamental absorption exhibit a shift to low energies.