Lattice vibration, optical, and mechanical properties of aluminum phosphide (AlP) compound under the influence of temperature

Abstract

We have studied the lattice vibrations, optical and mechanical characteristics of the zinc-blende aluminum phosphide (AlP) compound. Investigations have been done into the effect of temperature on refractive index, optical dielectric constant, static dielectric constant, longitudinal and transversal sound velocities, reflectivity, susceptibility, phonon frequencies, micro-hardness, ionicity, and transverse effective charge. AlP is a wide-indirect band gap semiconductor and has a wide range of uses in high-performance optoelectronic devices, such as the manufacturing of infrared photo-detectors and light-emitting diodes. It's important to know the physical properties of semiconductor materials, like the AlP compound, to develop new technologies and devices. The calculations were carried out using the empirical pseudo-potential method (EPM). Comparative analysis with the existing experiment and other theoretical calculations reveals a satisfactory level of agreement.