Plasmon energy and microhardness of BxAl1-xSb alloys: semi-empirical prediction

  • Authors

    • Rabie Mezouar Institue of Optics and Fine Mechanics, University of Ferhat Abbas Setif 1, 19000 Setif, Algeria
    • Nacer Logzit Laboratory of Materials and Electronic Systems, Faculty of Sciences and Technology, University Mohamed El Bachir El Ibrahimi of Bordj Bou Arreridj, 34000, Bordj Bou Arreridj, Algeria
    2023-03-02
    https://doi.org/10.14419/ijpr.v11i1.32245

  • Abstract

    Based on the reflective index reported in the literature, the present work aims to investigate the plasmon energy, the microhardness and the homopolar band gap energy of BxAl1-xSb ternary semiconducting alloys as a function of boron concentration x in the range 0 –1. We found that both the plasmon energy and the microhardness of BxAl1-xSb alloys change gradually but not monotonically with increasing of boron concentration x from 0 to 1, while the homopolar band gap energy increases monotonically with enhancing of x.

    We emphasize that a boron concentration x dependent plasmon energy and microhardness between 0 and 1 is extremely unusual behavior for BxAl1-xSb alloys. Normally, both plasmon energy and the microhardness monotonically increase with increasing boron concentration x as it was mentioned in the literature. The plasmon energy of AlSb and BSb was found to be 16.14 and 15.58 eV, respectively. Our value (16.14 eV) of the plasmon energy for AlSb compound is higher than the result (13.8 eV) reported by Böer and Pohl. The minimum of the plasmon energy was found to be 14.4 eV for both B0.5Al0.5Sb and B0.625Al0.375Sb alloys.

    The microhardness of AlSb was found at around 7.56 GPa, while that of BSb was found to be 6.51 GPa. Similar to the plasmon energy, the minimum value of the microhardness was found to be 4.45 GPa for both B0.5Al0.5Sb and B0.625Al0.375Sb alloys.

  • References

    1. S. Pal, R. K. Tiwari, D. C. Gupta, and A. S. Verma, "Simplistic theoretical model for optoelectronic properties of compound semicon-ductors", Journal of Materials Physics and Chemistry, Vol. 2, No.2, (2014), pp. 20 – 27. https://doi.org/10.12691/jmpc-2-2-2.
    2. K.W. Böer and U.W. Pohl, "Semiconductor Physics", Springer International Publishing AG, Switzerland, (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-69150-3.
    3. S. Daoud, "Comment on structural phase transition, electronic and elastic properties in TlX (X = N, P, As) compounds: Pressure-induced effects" Computational Materials Science, Vol. 111, No. 1, (2016), pp. 532 – 533. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.commatsci.2015.09.022.
    4. S. Daoud, P. K. Saini, and H. Rekab-Djabri, "Elastic constants and optical phonon frequencies of BX (X= P, As, and Sb) semiconduc-tors: Semi-empirical prediction", International Journal of Physical Research: Vol. 8, No.2, (2020), pp. 45 – 49. https://doi.org/10.14419/ijpr.v8i2.31001.
    5. S. Daoud, N. Bioud, and N. Lebga, " Erratum to Elastic and piezoelectric properties, sound velocity and Debye temperature of (B3) BBi compound under pressure", Pramana Journal of Physics, Vol. 86, No. 4, (2016), pp. 945 – 946. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12043-015-1099-0.
    6. S. Daoud, " Sound velocities and thermal properties of BeX (X=S, Se and Te) alkaline-earth chalcogenides", International Journal of Scientific World, Vol.5, No.1, (2017), pp. 9 – 12. https://doi.org/10.14419/ijsw.v5i1.6929.
    7. M. Kr. Pathak, M. S. Dutta, P. Mahto, R. N. Sinha, and A. K. Gupta, Variation of microhardness with composition in ABC and ACB ternary semiconductors, ICAASET-2021, 20-21 May, 2021, K.R. Mangalam University, Gurugram. https://doi.org/10.30780/specialissue-ICAASET021/025.
    8. S. Daoud,"Linear correlation between Debye temperature and lattice thermal conductivity in II-VI and III-V semiconductors", Interna-tional Journal of Scientific World, Vol. 3, No.2, (2015) pp. 216 – 220. https://doi.org/10.14419/ijsw.v3i2.4793.
    9. M. Benchehima, H. Abid, A. C. Chaouche, A. Resfa, " Structural and optoelectronic properties of BxAl1-xSb ternary alloys: first princi-ples calculations", The European Physical Journal Applied Physics, Vol. 77, No.3, (2017), pp. 30101 (15 pages). https://doi.org/10.1051/epjap/2017160319.
    10. R. Mezouar, N. Bioud, H. Rekab-Djabri, N. Beloufa, and Z. Rouabah, " Theoretical prediction of mechanical properties of BxAl1-xSb ternary semiconducting alloys", Annals of west university of Timisoara physics, Vol. 64, No. 1, (2022), pp. 22 – 36. https://doi.org/10.2478/awutp-2022-0002
    11. S. Daoud, P. K. Saini, and H. Rekab-Djabri, "Theoretical prediction of some physical properties of BxAl1-xSb ternary alloys", Journal of Nano- and Electronic Physics., Vol. 12, No. 6, (2020), pp. 06008 (5 pages). https://doi.org/10.2478/awutp-2022-0002.
    12. F. Bengasmia, A. Benamrani, L. Boutahar, H. Rekab-Djabri, and S. Daoud, " Hydrostatic pressure effect on the structural parameters of GaSb semiconducting material: Ab-initio calculations", Journal of Physical & Chemical Research, Vol. 1, No. 2, (2022), pp. 25 – 30. https://doi.org/10.21272/jnep.12(6).06008.
    13. S. Hou, B. Sun, F. Tian, Q. Cai, Y. Xu, S. Wang, X. Chen, Z. Ren, C. Li, and R. B. Wilson, "Thermal conductivity of BAs under pres-sure", Advanced Electronic Materials, Vol. 8, No. 10, (2022), pp. 2200017 (8pages). https://doi.org/10.58452/jpcr.v1i2.24.
    14. S. Daoud, N. Bioud, N. Lebgaa, and R. Mezouar, "Optoelectronic and thermal properties of boron- bismuth compound", International Journal of Physical Research, Vol. 2, No. 2, (2014), pp. 27-31. https://doi.org/10.1002/aelm.202200017.
    15. F. Annane, H. Meradji, S. Ghemid, H. Bendjeddou, F. Elhaj Hassan, V. Srivastava, and R. Khenata, "Ab-initio study of ordered III–V antimony-based semiconductor alloys GaP1−xSbx and AlP1−xSbx", Pramana Journal of Physics, Vol. 94, No. 7, (2020), pp. 107 (16 pag-es). https://doi.org/10.14419/ijpr.v2i2.2760.
    16. S. Daoud, "Empirical prediction of thermal properties, microhardness and sound velocity of cubic zinc-blende AlN", Semiconductor Physics, Quantum Electronics and Optoelectronics: Vol. 22, No. 4, (2019), pp. 404 – 409. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12043-020-01966-1.
    17. S. Daoud, R. Mezouar, and A. Benmakhlouf, " Structural and piezoelectric coefficients of AlP under pressure ", International Journal of Physical Research, Vol. 6, No. 2, (2018), pp. 53-55. https://doi.org/10.15407/spqeo22.04.404.
    18. S. Daoud, "Simplified expressions for calculating Debye temperature and melting point of II-VI and III-V semiconductors", Interna-tional Journal of Scientific World, Vol. 3, No.2, (2015), pp. 275 – 279. https://doi.org/10.14419/ijpr.v6i2.11020.
    19. D. R Penn, "Wave-number-dependent dielectric function of semiconductors ", Physical Review, Vol. 128, No. 5, (1962), pp. 2093 – 2097. https://doi.org/10.14419/ijsw.v3i2.5314.
    20. M. Irfan, S. Azam, and A. Iqbal, " Proposal of new stable ABC2 type ternary semiconductor pnictides K3Cu3P2 and K3Ni3P2: First-principles calculations and prospects for thermophysical and optoelectronic applications", International Journal of Energy Research, Vol.45, No.2, (2020), pp. 2980 – 2996. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRev.128.2093.
    21. V. Kumar, A.K. Shrivastava, and Vijeta Jha, "Bulk modulus and microhardness of tetrahedral semiconductors", Journal of Physics and Chemistry of Solids, Vol.71, No.11, (2010), pp. 1315– 1320. https://doi.org/10.1002/er.5992.
    22. N. Bioud, X-W. Sun, S. Daoud, T. Song, and Z-J. Liu, "Structural stability and thermodynamic properties of BSb under high pressure and temperature", Materials Research Express, Vol. 5, No. 8, (2018) 085904 (12 pp). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpcs.2010.07.012.
    23. J. A. Abraham, G. Pagare, S. S. Chouhan, and S. P. Sanyal, "Structural, electronic, elastic, mechanical and thermal behavior of RESn3 (RE = Y, La and Ce) compounds: A first principles study ", Intermetallics, Vol. 51, No. 8, (2014), pp. 1 – 10. https://doi.org/10.1088/2053-1591/aad3a5.
    24. Y. Linghu, X. Wu, R. Wang, W. Li, and Q. Liu, " The phase stability, ductility and hardness of MoN and NbN: First-principles study", Journal of Electronic Materials, Vol. 46, (2018), pp. 1914 – 1925. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intermet.2014.02.017.
    25. S. Daoud, N. Bioud, "Semi-empirical prediction of physical prop (B3) TlP compound", International Journal of Physical Research, Vol. 2, No. 2, (2014), pp. 72 – 77. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-016-5258-y.
    26. V. Kumar, G. M. Prasad, A. R. Chetal, and D. Chandra, "Microhardness and bulk modulus of binary tetrahedral semiconductors", Journal of Physics and Chemistry of SolidsVol. 57, No. 4, (1996), pp. 503 – 506. https://doi.org/10.14419/ijpr.v2i2.3361.
    27. S. Amari and S. Daoud, "Structural phase transition, elastic constants and thermodynamic properties of TmAs: An ab-initio study", Computational Condensed Matter, Vol. 33, (2022), pp. e00764 (8 pages). https://doi.org/10.1016/0022-3697(95)00265-0.
    28. S. Daoud, "Empirical study of elastic properties of BX (X = As, Sb) materials ", International Journal of Scientific World, Vol.3, No.1, (2015), pp. 37 – 42. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cocom.2022.e00764.
    29. S. Daoud, "Correlation study of optical and mechanical properties of BAs material and its experimental energy gap ", International Journal of Physical Research: Vol. 5, No.2, (2017), pp. 79 – 82. https://doi.org/10.14419/ijsw.v3i1.4022.
    30. A. Šimůnek and J. Vackář, " Hardness of covalent and ionic crystals: First-principle calculations", Physical Review Letters, Vol. 96, No. 8, (2006), pp. 085501 (4pp). https://doi.org/10.14419/ijpr.v5i2.8314.
    31. S. Daoud, A. Latreche, and P. K. Saini, "Theoretical investigation of acoustic wave velocity of aluminum phosphide under pressure", International Journal of Physical Research, Vol. 7, No. 1, (2019), pp. 3 – 6. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.96.085501
    32. S. Daoud, N. Bioud, L. Belagraa, and N. Lebga, "Elastic, optoelectronic and thermal properties of boron phosphide", Journal of Nano-and Electronic Physics: Vol. 5, No.4, (2013), pp. 04061 (6pp). https://jnep.sumdu.edu.ua/download/numbers/2013/4/articles/jnep_2013_V5_04061.pdf. https://doi.org/10.14419/ijpr.v7i1.23681.
    33. A. Benamrani, S. Daoud, and P. K. Saini, " Structural, elastic and thermodynamic properties of ScP compound: DFT study ", Journal of Nano- and Electronic Physics, Vol. 13, No 1, (2021), pp. 01008 (5pp). https://doi.org/10.21272/jnep.13(1).01008.
    34. X.Q. Chen, H. Niu, D. Li, and Y. Li, "Modeling hardness of polycrystalline materials and bulk metallic glasses", Intermetallics, Vol. 19, No 9. (2011), pp. 1275 –1281. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intermet.2011.03.026.
    35. A.E. Attard, "Charge-related properties of III–V compounds", Journal of Physics C: Solid State Physics, Vol. 3, No. 1, (1970), pp. 184–189. https://doi.org/10.1088/0022-3719/3/1/020.
    36. S. Daoud, N. Bouarissa, N. Bioud, and P. K. Saini," High-temperature and high-pressure thermophysical properties of AlP semicon-ducting material: A systematic ab initio study ", Chemical Physics, Vol. 525, (2019) pp. 110399 (9 pages). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemphys.2019.110399.
    37. S. Adachi, "Properties of Group-IV, III-V and II-VI Semiconductors", John Wiley & Sons, England, (2005). https://doi.org/10.1002/0470090340.
    38. A. S. Verma, R. Bhandari, and A. Kumar, "Elastic moduli of perovskite-type rare earth rhodium borides and carbides", Advanced Ma-terials Letters, Vol. 5, No. 3, (2014), pp. 148–151. https://doi.org/10.5185/amlett.2013.fdm.02.

  • Downloads

  • How to Cite

    Mezouar, R., & Logzit, N. (2023). Plasmon energy and microhardness of BxAl1-xSb alloys: semi-empirical prediction. International Journal of Physical Research, 11(1), 1-4. https://doi.org/10.14419/ijpr.v11i1.32245