Bandgap tuning in SrTi(N,O,F)3 by anionic-lattice variation

Abstract

Polycrystalline SrTiO{sub 3} and SrTi(O,F){sub 3} powders were synthesized by a solid-state reaction. A partial substitution of oxygen by nitrogen was subsequently carried out using thermal ammonolysis resulting in SrTi(N,O){sub 3} and SrTi(N,O,F){sub 3}. Powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) revealed a cubic perovskite structure with space group Pm-3m for all samples. The thermal ammonolysis slightly increased the lattice parameters, crystallite sizes and strain. As a result from the co-substitution of oxygen with nitrogen and fluorine for SrTi(N,O,F){sub 3}, highly distorted TiO{sub 6} octahedra were detected using X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) spectroscopy. The weakening of all active modes of the Raman spectra after thermal ammonolysis also indicated enhanced distortions in the local crystal structure. SrTi(N,O,F){sub 3} has the largest amount of nitrogen as well as fluorine among all four samples as determined by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), elemental analysis and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). In the UV–vis spectra a distinctive shift of the absorption-edge energy was observed exclusively for the SrTi(N,O,F){sub 3} sample from 390 to 510 nm corresponding to a bandgap narrowing from 3.18 to 2.43 eV. - Graphical abstract: Figure shows the shift of the absorption-edge energy for the SrTi(N,O,F){sub 3} sample from 390 to 510 nm corresponding tomore » a bandgap narrowing from 3.18 to 2.43 eV. Display Omitted - Highlights: • Synthesis of phase-pure SrTi(N,O,F){sub 3} via solid-state reaction. • The incorporated nitrogen contents increase by the presence of fluorine in SrTi(N,O,F){sub 3}. • Co-substitution with nitrogen and fluorine is beneficial for the bandgap narrowing compared to by only nitrogen or fluorine substitution.« less