Electron density distribution in Si and Ge using multipole, maximum entropy method and pair distribution function analysis

Abstract

The local, average and electronic structure of the semiconducting materials Si and Ge has been studied using multipole, maximum entropy method (MEM) and pair distribution function (PDF) analyses, using X-ray powder data. The covalent nature of bonding and the interaction between the atoms are clearly revealed by the two-dimensional MEM maps plotted on (100) and (110) planes and one-dimensional density along [100], [110] and [111] directions. The mid-bond electron densities between the atoms are 0.554 e/A3 and 0.187 e/A3 for Si and Ge respectively. In this work, the local structural information has also been obtained by analyzing the atomic pair distribution function. An attempt has been made in the present work to utilize the X-ray powder data sets to refine the structure and electron density distribution using the currently available versatile methods, MEM, multipole analysis and determination of pair distribution function for these two systems.