Ga$_2$O$_3$ and (Al$_x$Ga$_{1-x}$)$_2$O$_3$ alloys are promising materials for solar-blind UV photodetectors and high-power transistors. Basic key parameters in the device design, such as band gap variation with alloy composition and band offset between Ga$_2$O$_3$ and (Al$_x$Ga$_{1-x}$)$_2$O$_3$, are yet to be established. Using density functional theory with the HSE hybrid functional, we compute formation enthalpies, band gaps, and band edge positions of (Al$_x$Ga$_{1-x}$)$_2$O$_3$ alloys in the monoclinic ($β$) and corundum ($α$) phases. We find the formation enthlapies of (Al$_x$Ga$_{1-x}$)$_2$O$_3$ alloys are significantly lower than of (In$_x$Ga$_{1-x}$)$_2$O$_3$, and that (Al$_x$Ga$_{1-x}$)$_2$O$_3$ with $x$=0.5 can be considered as an ordered compound AlGaO$_3$ in the monoclinic phase, with Al occupying the octahedral sites and Ga occupying the tetrahedral sites. The direct band gaps of the alloys range from 4.69 to 7.03 eV for $β$-(Al$_x$Ga$_{1-x}$)$_2$O$_3$ and from 5.26 to 8.56 eV for $α$-(Al$_x$Ga$_{1-x}$)$_2$O$_3$. Most of the band offset of the (Al$_x$Ga$_{1-x}$)$_2$O$_3$ alloy arises from the discontinuity in the conduction band. Our results are used to explain the available experimental data, and consequences for designing modulation-doped field effect transistors (MODFETs) based on (Al$_x$Ga$_{1-x}$)$_2$O$_3$/Ga$_2$O$_3$ are discussed.
Starting with empirical tight-binding band structures, the branch-point (BP) energies and resulting valence band offsets (VBOs) for the zincblende phase of InN, GaN and AlN are calculated from their k-averaged midgap energy. Furthermore, the directional dependence of the BPs of GaN and AlN is discussed using the Green's function method of Tersoff. We then show how to obtain the BPs for binary semiconductor alloys within a band-diagonal representation of the coherent potential approximation (CPA) and apply this method to cubic AlGaN alloys. The resulting band offsets show good agreement to avai…
We report the calculated fundamental band gaps of \emph{wurtzite} ternary alloys Zn$_{1-x}$M$_x$O (M=Mg, Cd) and the band offsets of the ZnO/Zn$_{1-x}$M$_x$O heterojunctions, these II-VI materials are important for electronics and optoelectronics. Our calculation is based on density functional theory within the linear muffin-tin orbital (LMTO) approach where the modified Becke-Johnson (MBJ) semi-local exchange is used to accurately produce the band gaps, and the coherent potential approximation (CPA) is applied to deal with configurational average for the ternary alloys. The combined LMTO-MBJ-…
The unprecedented wide bandgap tunability (~1 eV) of Al$_x$In$_{1-x}$As$_y$Sb$_{1-y}$ latticed-matched to GaSb enables the fabrication of photodetectors over a wide range from near-infrared to mid-infrared. In this paper, the valence band-offsets in AlxIn1-xAsySb1-y with different Al compositions are analyzed by tight-binding calculations and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) measurements. The observed weak variation in valence band offsets is consistent with the lack of any minigaps in the valence band, compared to the conduction band.
We demonstrate the accuracy of the hybrid functional HSE06 for computing band offsets of semiconductor alloy heterostructures. The highlight of this study is the computation of conduction band offsets with a reliability that has eluded standard density functional theory. A high-quality special quasirandom structure models an infinite random pseudobinary alloy for constructing heterostructures along the (001) growth direction. Our excellent results for a variety of heterostructures establish HSE06's relevance to band engineering of high-performance electrical and optoelectronic devices.
Based on first-principles calculations, we show that the maximum reachable concentration $x$ in the (Ga$_{1-x}$In$_x$)$_2$O$_3$ alloy in the low-$x$ regime (i.e. In solubility in $β$-Ga$_2$O$_3$) is around 10%. We then calculate the band alignment at the (100) interface between $β$-Ga$_2$O$_3$ and (Ga$_{1-x}$In$_x$)$_2$O$_3$ at 12%, the nearest computationally treatable concentration. The alignment is strongly strain-dependent: it is of type-B staggered when the alloy is epitaxial on Ga$_2$O$_3$, and type-A straddling in a free-standing superlattice. Our results suggest a limited range of appl…
We have studied the In$_{x}$Ga$_{1-x}$As/In$_{y}$Al$_{1-y}$As (001) interface using first-principles ab-initio pseudopotential calculations, focusing on the effects of alloy composition and strain state on the electronic properties. In particular we estimate a valence band offset (VBO) of 0.11 eV (InGaAs higher), including spin-orbit and self-energy corrections, for a strain-compensated configuration with homogenous composition $x=y=0.75$ on a lattice-matched substrate. Unintentional composition fluctuations which are typically limited to a few percent and different short-range order effects g…
A semi-empirical formalism based on the second moment tight binding approach, considering two bands is presented for deriving interatomic potentials for magnetic d-band materials and transition metal alloys. It incorporates an empirical local exchange interaction, which accounts for magnetic effects without increasing the computing time required for force evaluation. The consequences of applying a two-band picture to transition metal alloys and transition metal impurities is examined, which combined with evidence from {\it ab initio calculations} leads to some surprisingly simplifying conclusi…
The natural and true band profiles at heterojunctions formed by hexagonal Si$_x$Ge$_{1-x}$ alloys are investigated by a variety of methods: density functional theory for atomic geometries, approximate quasiparticle treatments for electronic structures, different band edge alignment procedures, and construction of various hexagonal unit cells to model alloys and heterojunctions. We demonstrate that the natural band offsets are rather unaffected by the choice to align the vacuum level or the branch point energy, as well as by the use of a hybrid or the Tran-Blaha functional. At interfaces betwee…
Upward band gap bowing and negative mixing enthalpy in multi-component cubic halide perovskite alloys
Renewable and Sustainable Energy Institute, University of Colorado（科罗拉多大学可再生能源与可持续能源研究所）；Department of Materials Engineering, São Carlos School of Engineering, University of São Paulo（圣保罗大学圣卡洛斯工程学院材料工程系）
Some III-V digital alloy avalanche photodiodes exhibit low excess noise. These alloys have low hole ionization coefficients due to presence of small 'minigaps', enhanced effective mass and large separation between light-hole and split-off bands in the valence band. In this letter, an explanation for the formation of the minigaps using a tight binding picture is provided. Furthermore, we demonstrate that decreasing substrate lattice constant can increase the minigap size and mass in the transport direction. This leads to reduced quantum tunneling and phonon scattering of the holes. Finally, we …
Tuning the opto-electronic properties through alloying is essential for semiconductor technology. Currently, mostly isovalent and isostructural alloys are used (e.g., group-IV and III-V), but a vast and unexplored space of novel functional materials is conceivable when considering more complex alloys by mixing aliovalent and heterostructural constituents. The real challenge lies in the quantitative property prediction for such complex alloys to guide their experimental exploration. We developed an approach to predict compositional dependence of both band-structure and electrical properties fro…
The valence states of Mg-Al alloys are compared to those of reference materials (pure Mg and Al metals, and intermetallics). Two methods based on X-ray emission spectroscopy are proposed to determine the phases and their proportion: first, by analyzing the Al valence spectra of the Mg-rich alloys and the Mg valence spectra of the Al-rich alloys; second, by fitting with a linear combination of the reference spectra the Al spectra of the Al-rich alloys and the Mg spectra of the Mg-rich alloys. This enables us to determine that Al and Al3Mg2 are present in the 0-43.9 wt% Al composition range and …
Avalanche photodiodes fabricated from AlInAsSb grown as a digital alloy exhibit low excess noise. In this paper, we investigate the band structure-related mechanisms that influence impact ionization. Band-structures calculated using an empirical tight-binding method and Monte Carlo simulations reveal that the mini-gaps in the conduction band do not inhibit electron impact ionization. Good agreement between the full band Monte Carlo simulations and measured noise characteristics is demonstrated.
Using density-functional ab initio theoretical techniques, we study (Ga$_{1-x}$In$_x$)$_2$O$_3$ in both its equilibrium structures (monoclinic $β$ and bixbyite) and over the whole range of composition. We establish that the alloy exhibits a large and temperature-independent miscibility gap. On the low-$x$ side, the favored phase is isostructural with $β$-Ga$_2$O$_3$; on the high-$x$ side, it is isostructural with bixbyite In$_2$O$_3$. The miscibility gap opens between approximately 15\% and 55\% In content for the bixbyite alloy grown epitaxially on In$_2$O$_3$, and 15\% and 85\% In content fo…
We report on the structural, electronic and vibrational properties of the Ga$_{1-x}$In$_x$N alloy using virtual crystal approximation (VCA) from first-principles. A band gap bowing parameter of 3.85 eV is obtained with the TB09 functional. Phonon density of states shifts to lower frequency as the In content is increased. However, VCA ignores disorder effect and is therefore unable to describe the broadening of the phonon spectra upon alloying. The role of electron-phonon interaction in the temperature dependence of the band gap is also studied for GaN, InN and their alloy Ga$_{1-x}$In$_x$N. Th…
Using a first-principles band-structure method and a special quasirandom structure (SQS) approach, we systematically calculate the band gap bowing parameters and \emph{p}-type doping properties of (Zn, Mg, Be)O related random ternary and quaternary alloys. We show that the bowing parameters for ZnBeO and MgBeO alloys are large and dependent on composition. This is due to the size difference and chemical mismatch between Be and Zn(Mg) atoms. We also demonstrate that adding a small amount of Be into MgO reduces the band gap indicating that the bowing parameter is larger than the band-gap differe…
We present ab-initio studies of band offsets, formation energy, and stability of (100) heterojunctions between (Zn,Be)(Se,Te) zincblende compounds, and in particular of the lattice-matched BeTe/ZnSe interface. Equal band offsets are found at Be/Se and Zn/Te abrupt interfaces, as well as at mixed interfaces, in agreement with the established understanding of band offsets at isovalent heterojunctions. Thermodynamical arguments suggest that islands of non-nominal composition may form at the interface, causing offset variations over about 0.8 eV depending on growth conditions. Our findings reconci…
First principles electronic structure calculations are carried out to investigate the band alignments of tensile strained (001) Ge interfaced with (001) In$_{x}$Al$_{1-x}$As. The sensitivities of band offsets to interfacial structure, interfacial stoichiometry, and substrate stoichiometry, are investigated. Large qualitative variations of the valence and conduction band offsets are observed, including changes of the band offset type, indicating the importance of local structural variations of the interface for band offsets in real samples. Our results explain recent measurements of band offset…
Surface adsorption, which is often coupled with surface dissolution, is generally unpredictable on alloys due to the complicated alloying and dissolution effects. Herein, we introduce the electronic gradient and cohesive properties of surface sites to characterize the effects of alloying and dissolution. This enables us to build a predictive model for the quantitative determination of the adsorption energy in dissolution, which holds well for transition metals, near-surface alloys, binary alloys, and high-entropy alloys. Furthermore, this model uncovers a synergistic mechanism between the d-ba…
The recent progress in formation of two-dimensional (2D) GaN by a migration-enhanced encapsulated technique opens up new possibilities for group III-V 2D semiconductors with a band gap within the visible energy spectrum. Using first-principles calculations we explored alloying of 2D-GaN to achieve an optically active material with a tuneable band gap. The effect of isoelectronic III-V substitutional elements on the band gaps, band offsets, and spatial electron localization is studied. In addition to optoelectronic properties, the formability of alloys is evaluated using impurity formation ener…
The band offsets between crystalline and hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) are key parameters governing the charge transport in modern silicon hetrojunction solar cells. They are an important input for macroscopic simulators that are used to further optimize the solar cell. Past experimental studies, using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and capacitance-voltage measurements, have yielded conflicting results on the band offset. Here we present a computational study on the band offsets. It is based on atomistic models and density-functional theory (DFT). The amorphous part of the in…
The band offsets for nine heterojunctions between titanates, zirconates, and niobates with the cubic perovskite structure were calculated from first principles. The effect of strain in contacting oxides on their energy structure, many-body corrections to the position of the band edges (calculated in the GW approximation), and the splitting of the conduction band resulting from spin-orbit interaction were consistently taken into account. It was shown that the neglect of the many-body effects can lead to errors in determination of the band offsets up to 0.36 eV. The failure of the transitivity r…
We theoretically analyse band-to-band tunneling (BTBT) in highly-mismatched, narrow-gap dilute nitride and bismide alloys, and quantify the impact of the N- or Bi-induced perturbation of the band structure -- due to band-anticrossing (BAC) with localised impurity states -- on the electric field-dependent BTBT generation rate. For this class of semiconductors the assumptions underpinning the widely-employed Kane model of direct BTBT break down, due to the strong band edge nonparabolicity resulting from BAC interactions. Via numerical calculations based on the Wentzel-Kramers-Brillouin approxima…
We use first-principles simulation and virtual crystal approximation to reveal the unique double band inversion and topological phase transition in Ge1-xSnx alloys. Wavefunction parity, spatial charge distribution and surface state spectrum analyses suggest that the band inversion in Ge1-xSnx is relayed by its first valence band. As the system evolves from Ge to α-Sn, its conduction band moves down, and inverts with the first and the second valence bands consecutively. The first band inversion makes the system nontrivial, while the second one does not change the topological invariant of the sy…
We report magnetoresistive properties of direct and indirect band gap Bismuth-Antimony (Bi-Sb) alloys. Band gap increases with magnetic field. Large positive magnetoresistance (MR) approaching to 400 % is observed. Low field MR experiences quadratic growth and at high field it follows a nearly linear behavior without sign of saturation. Carrier mobility extracted from low field MR data, depicts remarkable high value. Correlation between MR and mobility is revealed. We demonstrate that the strong nearly linear MR at high field can be well understood by classical method, co-build by Parish and L…
The Portevin-Le Chatelier(PLC) effect has been investigated by deforming Al-2.5%Mg alloy in the strain rate regime where simultaneously two types (type B and type A) of serrations appear in the stress strain curve. Our analysis reveal that in this strain rate regime the entire PLC dynamics for a particular strain rate experiment is governed by a single band which changes its character during the deformation.
Using an atomistic first principles approach, we investigate the band offset of the GaAs/AlxGa1-xAs heterojunctions for the entire range of the Al doping concentration 0<x<=1. We apply the coherent potential approach to handle the configuration average of Al doping and a recently proposed semi-local exchange potential to accurately determine the band gaps of the materials. The calculated band structures of the GaAs, AlAs crystals and band gaps of the GaAs/AlxGa1-xAs alloys, are in very good agreement with the experimental results. We predict that valence band offset of the GaAs/AlxGa1-xAs hete…
BaZrS3, a prototypical chalcogenide perovskite, has been shown to possess a direct band gap, an exceptionally strong near band edge light absorption, and good carrier transport. Coupled with its great stability, non-toxicity with earth abundant elements, it is thus a promising candidate for thin film solar cells. However, its reported band gap in the range of 1.7-1.8 eV is larger than the optimal value required to reach the Shockley-Queisser limit of a single junction solar cell. Here we report the synthesis of Ba(Zr1-xTix)S3 perovskite compounds with a reduced band gap. It is found that Ti al…
The bowing of the energy of the three lowest band-to-band transitions in $β$-(Al$_{x}$Ga$_{1-x}$)$_2$O$_3$ alloys was resolved using a combined density functional theory (DFT) and generalized spectroscopic ellipsometry (GSE) approach. The DFT calculations of the electronic band structure of both, $β$-Ga$_2$O$_3$ and $θ$-Al$_2$O$_3$, allow extracting of the linear portion of the energy shift in the alloys, and provide a method for quantifying the role of coherent strain present in the $β$-(Al$_{x}$Ga$_{1-x}$)$_2$O$_3$ thin films on (010) $β$-Ga$_2$O$_3$ substrates. The energies of band-to-band …
We present ab initio calculations of the electronic and optical properties of hexagonal SiGe alloys in the lonsdaleite structure. Lattice constants and electronic band structures in excellent agreement with experiment are obtained using density-functional theory. Hexagonal Si has an indirect band gap, while hexagonal Ge has a pseudo-direct gap, i.e. the optical transitions at the minimum direct band gap are very weak. The pseudo-direct character of pure hexagonal Ge is efficiently lifted by alloying. Already for a small admixture of Si, symmetry reduction enhances the oscillator strength of th…
Based on a successful description of II-VI ternary alloys, which introduces an empirical bowing parameter to the widely used virtual crystal approximation, we set up a tight-binding Hamiltonian to describe the Zn_{1-y}Cd_ySe_{1-x}Te_x and Zn_{.9}Cd_{.1}S_{.07}Se_{.93} quaternary alloys. We just use a formula that can be thought as a straightforward generalization of the virtual crystal approximation for this case. Our Hamiltonians reproduce very well the change in the band gap value with the composition observed in recent experimental reports.
CdTe is one of the leading materials for low cost, high efficiency thin-film solar cells, because it has a high absorption coefficient and a nearly ideal band gap of 1.48 eV for solar cell according to the Shockley-Queisser limit. However, its solar to electricity power conversion efficiency (PCE) is hindered by the relatively low open circuit voltage (VOC) due to intrinsic defect related issues. Here, we propose the strategy of improving CdTe solar cell performance byr reducing the "ideal" band gap of CdTe to gain more short-circuit current from long-wavelength absorption without sacrificing …
A simple band model using higher order non-parabolic effect was adopted for single layer molybdenum tungsten alloy disulfide (i.e., $\mathrm{Mo}_{1-x}\mathrm{W}_x\mathrm{S}_2$). The first-principles method considering $2\times2$ supercell was used to study band structure of single layer alloy $\mathrm{Mo}_{1-x}\mathrm{W}_x\mathrm{S}_2$ and a simple band (i.e., effective mass approximation model, EMA) model with higher order non-parabolic effect was used to fit the first-principle band structures in order to calculate corresponding the hole mobility. In addition, we investigate the alloy scatte…
Ab initio electronic structure studies of prototypical polar interfaces of wurtzite III-V nitrides show that large uniform electric fields exist in epitaxial nitride overlayers, due to the discontinuity across the interface of the macroscopic polarization of the constituent materials. Polarization fields forbid a standard evaluation of band offsets and formation energies: using new techniques, we find a large forward-backward asymmetry of the offset (0.2 eV for AlN/GaN (0001), 0.85 eV for GaN/AlN (0001)), and tiny interface formation energies.
We use many-body perturbation theory, the state-of-the-art method for band gap calculations, to compute the band offsets at the Si/SiO$_2$ interface. We examine the adequacy of the usual approximations in this context. We show that (i) the separate treatment of band-structure and potential lineup contributions, the latter being evaluated within density-functional theory, is justified, (ii) most plasmon-pole models lead to inaccuracies in the absolute quasiparticle corrections, (iii) vertex corrections can be neglected, (iv) eigenenergy self-consistency is adequate. Our theoretical offsets agre…
We report a systematic investigation on the magnetization relaxation properties of iron-based half-metallic Heusler alloy Fe$_{2}$Cr$_{1-x}$Co_${x}$Si (FCCS) thin films using broadband angular-resolved ferromagnetic resonance. Band structure engineering through Co doping (x) demonstrated by first-principles calculations is shown to tune the intrinsic magnetic damping over an order of magnitude, namely 0.01-0.0008. Notably, the intrinsic damping constants for samples with high Co concentration are among the lowest reported for Heusler alloys and even comparable to magnetic insulator yttrium iro…
Incorporation of bismuth (Bi) in dilute quantities in (In)GaAs has been shown to lead to unique electronic properties that can in principle be exploited for the design of high efficiency telecomm lasers. This motivates the development of simple models of the electronic structure of these dilute bismide alloys, which can be used to evaluate their potential as a candidate material system for optical applications. Here, we begin by using detailed calculations based on an $sp^{3}s^{*}$ tight-binding model of (In)GaBi$_{x}$As$_{1-x}$ to verify the presence of a valence band-anticrossing interaction…
The cubic $Ia\bar{3}$ (BC8) and tetragonal $P4_32_12$ (ST12) high pressure modifications of Si and Ge are attractive candidates for applications in optoelectronic, thermoelectric or plasmonic devices. Si$_x$Ge$_{1-x}$ alloys in BC8/ST12 modifications could help overcome the indirect and narrow band gaps of the pure phases and enable tailoring for specific use-cases. Such alloys have experimentally been found to be stable at ambient conditions after release from high pressure synthesis, however their fundamental properties are not known. In this work, we employ {\it ab initio} calculations base…
Alloying is a powerful tool for tuning materials that facilitates the targeted design of desirable properties for a variety of applications. In this work, we provide a comprehensive investigation of the synthetic accessibility and electronic properties of nine alkaline-earth chalcogenide anion alloys (CaS$_{1-x}$O$_x$, CaS$_{1-x}$Se$_x$, CaS$_{1-x}$Te$_x$, SrS$_{1-x}$O$_x$, SrS$_{1-x}$Se$_x$, SrS$_{1-x}$Te$_x$, MgS$_{1- x}$O$_x$, MgS$_{1-x}$Se$_x$, and MgS$_{1-x}$Te$_x$). We show that isostructural alloying within the rock salt structure is favored for all systems except MgS$_{1-x}$Te$_x$, whi…
N-type Bi100-xSbx alloys have the highest thermoelectric figure of merit (zT) of all materials below 200K; here we investigate how filling multiple valence band pockets at T and H-points of the Brillouin zone produces high zT in p-type Sn-doped material. This approach, theoretically predicted to potentially give zT>1 in Bi, was used successfully in PbTe. We report thermopower, electrical and thermal conductivity (2 to 400K) of single crystals with 12<x<37 and polycrystals (x=50-90), higher Sb concentrations than previous studies. We obtain a 60% improvement in zT to 0.13.
Ge with a quasi-direct band gap can be realized by strain engineering, alloying with Sn, or ultrahigh n-type doping. In this work, we use all three approaches together to fabricate direct-band-gap Ge-Sn alloys. The heavily doped n-type Ge-Sn is realized with CMOS-compatible nonequilibrium material processing. P is used to form highly doped n-type Ge-Sn layers and to modify the lattice parameter of P-doped Ge-Sn alloys. The strain engineering in heavily-P-doped Ge-Sn films is confirmed by x-ray diffraction and micro Raman spectroscopy. The change of the band gap in P-doped Ge-Sn alloy as a func…
The band offsets and the chemical bonding at the interfaces between (-201) $β$-Ga$_2$O$_3$ and Al$_2$O$_3$ polymorphs are studied through hybrid functional calculations. For alumina, we consider four representative phases, i.e., $α$, $κ$, $θ$ and $γ$-Al$_2$O$_3$. We generate realistic slab models for the interfaces which satisfy electron counting rules. The O atoms bridge the $β$-Ga$_2$O$_3$ and Al$_2$O$_3$ slabs and all the dangling bonds are saturated. The band offsets are obtained by applying an alignment scheme which requires separate bulk and interface calculations. The calculated band of…
The structural phase transitions and the fundamental band gaps of Mg(x)Zn(1-x)O alloys are investigated by detailed first-principles calculations in the entire range of Mg concentrations x, applying a multiple-scattering theoretical approach (Korringa-Kohn-Rostoker method). Disordered alloys are treated within the coherent potential approximation (CPA). The calculations for various crystal phases have given rise to a phase diagram in good agreement with experiments and other theoretical approaches. The phase transition from the wurtzite to the rock-salt structure is predicted at the Mg concent…
The GaAs/GaAsN interface band offset is calculated from first principles. The electrostatic potential at the core regions of the atoms is used to estimate the interface potential and align the band structures obtained from respective bulk calculations. First, it is shown that the present method performs well on the well-known conventional/conventional AlAs/GaAs (001) superlattice system. Then the method is applied to a more challenging nonconventional/conventional GaAsN/GaAs (001) system, and consequently type I band lineup and valence-band offset of about 35 meV is obtained for nitrogen conce…
Spin-split Rashba bands have been exploited to efficiently control the spin degree of freedom of moving electrons, which possesses a great potential in frontier applications of designing spintronic devices and processing spin-based information. Given that intrinsic breaking of inversion symmetry and sizeable spin-orbit interaction, two-dimensional (2D) surface alloys formed by heavy metal elements exhibit a pronounced Rashba-type spin splitting of the surface states. Here, we have revealed the essential role of atomic orbital symmetry in the hexagonally warped Rashba spin-split surface state o…
The addition of dilute concentrations of bismuth (Bi) into GaAs to form GaBiAs alloys results in a large reduction of the band gap energy Eg accompanied by a significant increase of the spin-orbit-splitting energy (delta_SO), leading to an Eg < delta_SO regime for ~10% Bi composition which is technologically relevant for the design of highly efficient photonic devices. The quaternary alloy GaBiNAs offers further flexibility for band gap tuning, because both nitrogen and bismuth can independently induce band gap reduction. This work reports sp3s* tight binding and 14-band k.p models for the stu…
Electronic properties of III-V semiconductor alloys are examined using first principles with the focus on the spatial localization of electronic states. We compare localization at the band edges due to various isovalent impurities in a host GaAs including its impact on the photoluminescence line widths and carrier mobilities. The extremity of localization at the band edges is correlated with the ability of individual elements to change the band gap and the relative band alignment. Additionally, the formation energies of substitutional defects are calculated and linked to challenges associated …
Accurate theoretical prediction of the band offsets at interfaces of semiconductor heterostructures can often be quite challenging. Although density functional theory has been reasonably successful to carry out such calculations and efficient and accurate semilocal functionals are desirable to reduce the computational cost. In general, the semilocal functionals based on the generalized gradient approximation (GGA) significantly underestimate the bulk band gaps. This, in turn, results in inaccurate estimates of the band offsets at the heterointerfaces. In this paper, we investigate the performa…
The tribological performance and underlying deformation behavior of Ni55Ti45, Ni54Ti45Hf1 and Ni56Ti36Hf8 alloys were studied using rolling contact fatigue (RCF) testing and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). TEM results of the as-machined RCF rods, prepared using focus ion beam, revealed some damage very close to the surface. TEM results after initial RCF cycling showed that additional damage was mainly confined to deformation bands that propagated several microns into the sample. These bands formed via localized dislocation slip, possibly on multiple slip systems, within the B2 matrix a…
The results of measurements and numerical simulation of charge carrier distribution and energy states in strained quantum wells In_xGa_{1-x}As/GaAs (0.06 < x < 0.29) by C-V-profiling are presented. Precise values of conduction band offsets for these pseudomorphic QWs have been obtained by means of self-consistent solution of Schroedinger and Poisson equations and following fitting to experimental data. For the conduction band offsets in strained In_xGa_{1-x}As/GaAs - QWs the expression DE_C(x) = 0.814x - 0.21x^2 has been obtained.
Structural and electronic properties of hypothetical zinc blende Tl(x)Ga(1-x)N alloys have been investigated from first principles. The structural relaxation, preformed within the LDA approach, leads to a linear dependence of the lattice parameter a on the Tl content x. In turn, band structures obtained by MBJLDA calculations are significantly different from the corresponding LDA results. The decrease of the band-gap in Tl-doped GaN materials (for x<0.25) is predicted to be a linear function of x, i.e. 0.08 eV per atomic % of thallium. The semimetallic character is expected for materials with …
Structural and electronic properties of zinc blende TlxIn(1-x)N alloy have been evaluated from first principles. The band structures have been obtained within the density functional theory (DFT), the modified Becke-Johnson (MBJLDA) approach for the exchange-correlation potential, and fully relativistic pseudopotentials. The calculated band-gap dependence on Tl content in this hypothetical alloy exhibits a linear behaviour up to the 25 % of thalium content where its values become close to zero. In turn, the split-off energy at the Gamma point of the Brillouin zone, related to the spin-orbit cou…
We report first-principles density-functional pseudopotential calculations on the atomic structures, electronic properties, and band offsets of BaO/BaTiO$_3$ and SrO/SrTiO$_3$ nanosized heterojunctions grown on top of a silicon substrate. The density of states at the junction does not reveal any electronic induced interface states. A dominant perovskite character is found at the interface layer. The tunability of the band offset with the strain conditions imposed by the substrate is studied. Using previously reported theoretical data available for Si/SrO, Si/BaO and BaTiO$_{3}$/SrRuO$_{3}$ int…
The band gap engineering of group IV semiconductors has not been well explored theoretically and experimentally, except for SiGe. Recently, GeSn has attracted much attention due to the possibility of obtaining a direct band gap in this alloy, thereby making it suitable for light emitters. Other group IV alloys may also potentially exhibit material properties useful for device applications, expanding the space for band gap engineering in group IV. In this work the electronic band structure of all group IV semiconductor alloys is investigated. Twelve possible A:B alloys, where A is a semiconduct…
We demonstrate that cation-related localized states strongly perturb the band structure of $\text{Al}_{1-x}\text{In}_x$N leading to a strong band gap bowing at low In content. Our first-principles calculations show that In-related localized states are formed both in the conduction and the valence band in $\text{Al}_{1-x}\text{In}_x$N for low In composition, $x$, and that these localized states dominate the evolution of the band structure with increasing $x$. Therefore, the commonly used assumption of a single composition-independent bowing parameter breaks down when describing the evolution bo…
Band offsets at semiconductor-oxide interfaces are determined through a scheme based on hybrid density functionals, which incorporate a fraction $α$ of Hartree-Fock exchange. For each bulk component, the fraction $α$ is tuned to reproduce the experimental band gap, and the conduction and valence band edges are then located with respect to a reference level. The lineup of the bulk reference levels is determined through an interface calculation, and shown to be almost independent of the fraction $α$. Application of this scheme to the Si-SiO$_2$, SiC-SiO$_2$, and Si-HfO$_2$ interfaces yields exce…
