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The correct band gaps of semiconductors are highly desirable for their effective use in optoelectronic and other photonic devices. However, the experimental and theoretical results of the exact band gaps are quite challenging and sometimes tricky. In this article, we explore the electronic band structures of the highly desirable optical materials, III-V semiconductors. The main reason of the ineffectiveness of the theoretical band gaps of these compounds is their mixed bonding character, where large proportions of electrons reside outside atomic spheres in the intestinal regions, which are challenging for proper theoretical treatment. In this article, the band gaps of the compounds are revisited and successfully reproduced by properly treating the density of electrons using the recently developed non-regular Tran and Blaha's modified Becke-Johnson (nTB-mBJ) approach. This study additionally suggests that this theoretical scheme could also be useful for the band gap engineering of the III-V semiconductors. Furthermore, the optical properties of these compounds are also calculated and compared with the experimental results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A first-principles technique capable of describing the nearly excited states of semiconductors and insulators, namely the modified Becke-Johnson (mBJ) potential approximation, is used to investigate the electronic band structure and optical properties of spinel oxides: GeZn2O4. The predicted band gaps using the mBJ approximation are significantly more accurate than the proposed previous theoretical work using the common LDA and GGA. Band gap dependent optical parameters, like the dielectric constant, index of refraction, reflectivity and optical conductivity are calculated and analyzed. The results from the dielectric constant shows that the numerical value of the static dielectric, after dropping constantly, becomes less than zero and the material exhibits metallic behavior. The refractive index also drops below unity for photons higher than 18 eV, which indicates that the velocities of incident photons are greater than the velocity of light. However, these phenomena can be explained by the fact that a signal must be transmitted as a wave packet rather than a monochromatic wave. This comprehensive theoretical study of the optoelectronic properties predicts that these materials can effectively be used in optical devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Structural and electronic properties of the cubic perovskite ZnTiO3 and spinel Zn2TiO4 are theoretically studied by the modified Becke–Johnson (mBJ) potential within the framework of density functional theory (DFT). The calculated lattice constants are found to be consistent with the experimental results. The electronic band structures of both the materials reveal that ZnTiO3 is an indirect band gap while Zn2TiO4 is a direct band gap semiconductor. The calculated fundamental band gaps of these compounds are 2.7eV and 3.18eV, which are consistent with the experimental band gaps of 2.9eV and 3.1eV, respectively. Zn2TiO4 is a wide and direct band gap compound and hence is an attractive material for optoelectronic applications, especially in near ultraviolet (UV) optoelectronics. Keeping in view the importance of Zn2TiO4 in low frequency UV devices its optical properties like dielectric functions, refractive index, reflectivity and energy loss function are also evaluated and discussed in detail. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Highlights: [•] First principle calculations using mBJ are carried out for Cd1-xZnxTe (0⩽ x ⩽1). [•] The calculated band gaps are in agreement with experiments. [•] The band gap nature is direct and increases with Zn concentration. [•] The material is optically active, therefore the optical properties are also investigated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]