Structural, elastic, electronic and optical properties of KAlQ 2 (Q = Se, Te): A DFT study

• Published in: Solid state sciences 2015-01, Vol.48, p.72-81
• Main Authors: Benmakhlouf, A, Bentabet, A, Bouhemadou, A, Maabed, S, Khenata, R, Bin-Omran, S
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aluminum; Band structure of solids; Dielectric properties; Elastic constants; Electronics; Mathematical analysis; Optical properties; Stress-strain relationships
• ISSN: 1293-2558
• DOI: 10.1016/j.solidstatesciences.2015.07.006

First-principles calculations in the framework of density functional theory have been conducted to explore the structural, elastic, electronic and optical properties of two layered ternary compounds chalcogenides of aluminum KAlSe2 and KAlTe2. We have calculated all of the equilibrium structural parameters; the lattice parameters (a, b and c), angle beta and twenty three internal atomic coordinates. The obtained results are in excellent agreement with the available experimental data. We have predicted the single-crystal elastic constants C ij of the title materials using stress-strain approach and then derived the elastic moduli of the polycrystalline aggregates and related properties via the Voigt-Reuss-Hill approximations. The band structure and density of states diagrams have been calculated and analyzed. Both compounds demonstrate semiconducting behavior with direct band gap. The linear optical properties, namely the frequency-dependent dielectric function, absorption coefficient, refractive index, extinction coefficient, reflectivity and energy-loss function, have been calculated and analyzed in a wide energy range up to 20 eV.