Unfolding the band structure of GaAsBi

J Phys Condens Matter. 2017 Feb 22;29(7):075001. doi: 10.1088/1361-648X/aa50d7. Epub 2016 Dec 23.

Abstract

Typical supercell approaches used to investigate the electronic properties of GaAs(1-x)Bi(x) produce highly accurate, but folded, band structures. Using a highly optimized algorithm, we unfold the band structure to an approximate [Formula: see text] relation associated with an effective Brillouin zone. The dispersion relations we generate correlate strongly with experimental results, confirming that a regime of band gap energy greater than the spin-orbit-splitting energy is reached at around 10% bismuth fraction. We also demonstrate the effectiveness of the unfolding algorithm throughout the Brillouin zone (BZ), which is key to enabling transition rate calculations, such as Auger recombination rates. Finally, we show the effect of disorder on the effective masses and identify approximate values for the effective mass of the conduction band and valence bands for bismuth concentrations from 0-12%.