Issue 37, 2021

Vibrational and optical identification of GeO2 and GeO single layers: a first-principles study

Abstract

In the present work, the identification of two hexagonal phases of germanium oxides (namely GeO2 and GeO) through the vibrational and optical properties is reported using density functional theory calculations. While structural optimizations show that single-layer GeO2 and GeO crystallize in 1T and buckled phases, phonon band dispersions reveal the dynamical stability of each structure. First-order off-resonant Raman spectral predictions demonstrate that each free-standing single-layer possesses characteristic peaks that are representative for the identification of the germanium oxide phase. On the other hand, electronic band dispersion analysis shows the insulating and large-gap semiconducting nature of single-layer GeO2 and GeO, respectively. Moreover, optical absorption, reflectance, and transmittance spectra obtained by means of G0W0-BSE calculations reveal the existence of tightly bound excitons in each phase, displaying strong optical absorption. Furthermore, the excitonic gaps are found to be at deep UV and visible portions of the spectrum, for GeO2 and GeO crystals, with energies of 6.24 and 3.10 eV, respectively. In addition, at the prominent excitonic resonances, single-layers display high reflectivity with a zero transmittance, which is another indication of the strong light–matter interaction inside the crystal medium.

Graphical abstract: Vibrational and optical identification of GeO2 and GeO single layers: a first-principles study

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
24 May 2021
Accepted
01 Sep 2021
First published
02 Sep 2021

Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2021,23, 21307-21315

Vibrational and optical identification of GeO2 and GeO single layers: a first-principles study

Y. Sozen, M. Yagmurcukardes and H. Sahin, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2021, 23, 21307 DOI: 10.1039/D1CP02299G

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements