Investigations of structural, electronic and optical properties of TM-GaO3 (TM = Sc, Ti, Ag) perovskite oxides for optoelectronic applications: a first principles study

Abstract

We have examined structural, electronic and optical properties of TM-GaO3 (TM = Sc, Ti, Ag) perovskite oxides by means of first Principles study based on density functional theory (DFT). TM represents transition metal elements. To investigate structural properties, exchange correlation potential was determined by employing Full Potential Linearly Augmented Plane Wave (FP-LAPW) technique along with Perdew-Burke-Ernzerhof – GeneralizedGradient Approximation (PBE-GGA) functional. Moreover, Hubbard Ueff parameter LDA + U was used to overcome limitations of PBE-GGA functional. All compounds TM-GaO3 (TM = Sc, Ti, Ag) seem semi-conductor in nature because indirect band gap in each case has been observed with energies 1.33 eV, 0.75 eV and 1.95 eV, respectively. Partial density of states (PDOS) analyses portrayed that 3d orbitals of Sc & Ti, 4d orbital of Ag, and 2p orbital of anions contribute mainly to increase electronic conductivity of the studied compounds. Charge density contour plots depicted ionic nature of TM-cations, while, significant sharing of isolines between O and Ga atoms showed covalent character between them. These contours have also confirmed accumulation of charges around O atoms. Optical analysis revealed that the considered perovskite oxides show sharp increase in optical conductivity and absorptivity in higher energy range when energetic photons are incident upon. Remarkably, they displayed poor reflectivity. However, defect states introduced in the band gap region might be due to cations. These composites are suitable for photovoltaics and other optoelectronic applications