Optoelectronic properties of LixAxNbO3 (A=Na, K, Rb, Cs, Fr) crystals

The structural and optoelectronic properties of Li(x)A(x)NbO(3) (A=Na, K, Kb, Cs, Fr and x=0, 0.5) compounds have been investigated by the generalized gradient approximation within density functional theory. The calculated fundamental direct band gap of pure LiNbO3 is 3.32 eV. It is found that the substitution of alkali elements drastically change the optoelectronic nature of the compound from direct to indirect bandgap semiconductor and the fundamental gap also decreases. The nature of the compound is ionic with strong bonds between alkali ions and O, while there are partial covalent bonds between Nb and O. The calculated static refractive index of pure LiNbO3 is 2.43 for the perpendicular plane to the c-axis, while 2.37 for the parallel plane to the c-axis. So these values are intensively dependent on the substitution of alkali metals. The calculated electron energy loss spectra are in good agreement with the experimental results. It also predicts some extra interesting peaks, which have not been observed in experiments. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.