1. Structural and electronic properties of Fe-doped silver delafossites: AgAl1−xFexO2 and AgGa1−xFexO2 (x = 1–5%).
- Author
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Panapitiya, Gihan, Avendaño-Franco, Guillermo, and Lewis, James P.
- Subjects
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VALENCE bands , *SILVER , *VISIBLE spectra , *DENSITY of states , *LIGHT absorption , *SILVER phosphates , *DOPING agents (Chemistry) - Abstract
• In AgAl 1−x Fe x O 2 , Fe atoms cluster at small proximities to each other for x ≤ 3%. • In both delafossites, Fe atoms prefer to occupy the same crystallographic plane. • In AgAl 0.98 Fe 0.02 O 2 , Fe-Fe distance affects the broadening of the Fe states. • For x ≥ 3%, majority of the Fe density concentrates at the isolated Fe atom. • Shift in the valence band edge is caused by the Fe states near the Gamma point. Delafossite materials have been studied for a long time for photovoltaic and catalytic applications due to their wide band gaps and bipolar conductivities. These systems have forbidden fundamental band gaps which are much smaller than their apparent optical gaps. Making optical transitions permissible across the fundamental gap allows photocatalytic reactions to harness solar light in the visible region. Recently, it has been shown that B site doping can break the inversion symmetry of these delafossites allowing light absorption across the fundamental gap. We study structural and electronic properties of two Fe-doped delafossites, AgAl 1−x Fe x O 2 and AgGa 1−x Fe x O 2 (x = 1–5%) using high-throughput calculations. Preferable Fe dopant locations in both these systems are studied using two metrics. Based on the electronic density of states and unfolded band structures, we find that Fe impurities mainly affect the valence band edges of both these systems. New Fe states at the Г point can result in lower energy optical transitions compared to the undoped delafossites. The estimated reductions in the direct band gap at the Gamma point are 1.3 eV and 0.5 eV for AgAl 1−x Fe x O 2 and AgGa 1−x Fe x O 2 respectively. Hence, Fe doped silver delafossites are possible candidates to be tested as catalysts under visible light. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2019
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