Chain-like [Sx ] (x=2-6) Units Realizing Giant Birefringence with Transparency in the Near-Infrared for Optoelectronic Materials

Guangmao Li; Zhihua Yang; Xueling Hou; Shilie Pan

doi:10.1002/anie.202303711

Chain-like [S_x ] (x=2-6) Units Realizing Giant Birefringence with Transparency in the Near-Infrared for Optoelectronic Materials

Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2023 May 22;62(22):e202303711. doi: 10.1002/anie.202303711. Epub 2023 Apr 25.

Authors

Guangmao Li^{1

2}, Zhihua Yang^{1

2}, Xueling Hou^{1

2}, Shilie Pan^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Research Center for Crystal Materials, CAS Key Laboratory of Functional Materials and Devices for Special Environments, Xinjiang Technical Institute of Physics & Chemistry, CAS, 40-1 South Beijing Road, 830011, Urumqi, China.
² Center of Materials Science and Optoelectronics Engineering, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, 100049, Beijing, China.

PMID: 36988004
DOI: 10.1002/anie.202303711

Abstract

Birefringent crystals are requisite optical devices in laser and modern opto-electronic fields. Development of excellent birefringent materials is still challenging. Herein, the linear or chain-like [S_x ] (x=2-6) species were theoretically proved to be the origin of the large birefringence, and could be regarded as birefringent genes. Besides, the metal polysulfide family was first proposed to be rich birefringent materials source, among which Cs₂ S₆ realizes giant birefringence 0.58@1064 nm together with a wide band gap of 1.70 eV (based on the generalized gradient approximation). Moreover, the first dual-anion group polysulfide Na₄ Ba₃ (S₂ )₄ S₃ was obtained, showing wide infrared transmission range (0.5-6.2 μm), wide band gap (2.3 eV), and large birefringence (0.37 at 1064 nm). This work provides a new guiding thought for exploring large birefringence crystals in the future.

Keywords: Birefringent Crystals; Chain-Like Units; Large Polarization Anisotropy; Polysulfides.