Abstract

By exploiting a realistic rigid-ion model (RIM) in the quasi-harmonic approximation, we have calculated the pressure- and temperature-dependent phonon characteristics of cubic silicon carbide (3C-SiC). All the RIM parameters at ambient (1atm or P=0) and high pressure (P=22.5GPa) are carefully optimized by using successive least-square fitting procedures – incorporating critical-point phonon energies as input while the lattice, elastic constants and their pressure derivatives are employed as constraints. For P>0, we strongly recommend the need of high resolution temperature-dependent second-order Raman scattering measurements to help identify the shifts of optical and acoustical phonons perceived in the two-phonon density of states. Unlike many zinc-blende semiconductors, the present lattice dynamical study of 3C-SiC exhibited no negative thermal expansion (NTE) coefficient α(T) at low temperatures T<100K. The mechanism responsible for the absence of NTE behavior is identified and discussed in terms of the bonding and elastic properties of 3C-SiC with comparison to those of diamond (C) and silicon (Si) materials.

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