Growing crystals and studying structure and electronic properties of Cu2ZnGe(SхSe1-x)4 compositions

Ivan V Bodnar; Vitaly V Khoroshko; Veronika A Yashchuk; Valery F Gremenok; Mohsin Kazi; Mayeen U Khandaker; Abdul G Abid; Tatiana I Zubar; Daria I Tishkevich; Alex V Trukhanov; Sergei V Trukhanov

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e22533

Growing crystals and studying structure and electronic properties of Cu₂ZnGe(S_хSe_1-x)₄ compositions

Heliyon. 2023 Nov 18;9(11):e22533. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e22533. eCollection 2023 Nov.

Authors

Ivan V Bodnar¹, Vitaly V Khoroshko¹, Veronika A Yashchuk¹, Valery F Gremenok^{1

2}, Mohsin Kazi³, Mayeen U Khandaker^{4

5}, Abdul G Abid⁶, Tatiana I Zubar², Daria I Tishkevich², Alex V Trukhanov^{2

7

8}, Sergei V Trukhanov^{2

7}

Affiliations

¹ Belarussian State University of Informatics and Radioelectronics, 220013, Minsk, P. Brovka str., 6, Belarus.
² Laboratory of Magnetic Films Physics, SSPA "Scientific and Practical Materials Research Centre of NAS of Belarus", 220072, Minsk, P. Brovka str., 19, Belarus.
³ Department of Pharmaceutics, College of Pharmacy, POBOX-2457, King Saud University, Riyadh, 11451, Saudi Arabia.
⁴ Centre for Applied Physics and Radiation Technologies, School of Engineering and Technology, Sunway University, Bandar Sunway, 47500, Selangor, Malaysia.
⁵ Faculty of Graduate Studies, Daffodil International University, Daffodil Smart City, Birulia, Savar, Dhaka, 1216, Bangladesh.
⁶ Institute of Chemical Sciences, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan, 60800, Pakistan.
⁷ Smart Sensors Laboratory, Department of Electronic Materials Technology, National University of Science and Technology MISiS, Lenin Ave. 4/1, 119049, Moscow, Russia.
⁸ L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University, Astana, 010000, Kazakhstan.

Abstract

Single crystals of Cu₂ZnGeSe₄ and Cu₂ZnGeS₄ solid solutions were developed and successfully obtained using the chemical vapor transfer method, with iodine acting as a transporter. The structure, compositional dependences of lattice parameters, pycnometric and X-ray densities and microhardness were determined. The chemical composition determined by the X-ray microanalysis satisfactorily corresponds to the nominal one with a tolerance of ±5 %. The XRD analysis showed that all the obtained compounds and their solid solutions have unit cell described by tetragonal symmetry. The attice parameters were found to be а = 5.342 ± 0.005 Å, с = 10.51 ± 0.01 Å for the Сu₂ZnGeS₄ compound and а = 5.607 ± 0.005 Å, с = 11.04 ± 0.01 Å for the Cu₂ZnGeSe₄, respectively. Structural studies confirmed the validity of the Vegard's law in relation to the obtained samples. The pycnometric densities of ∼4.28 g/cm³ for the Cu₂ZnGeS₄ and ∼5.46 g/cm³ for the Cu₂ZnGeSe₄ were found to be slightly less than their X-ray densities of ∼4.32 g/cm³ and ∼5.52 g/cm³, respectively. The maximum microhardness of ∼398 kg/mm² for these solid solutions corresponds to x = 0.60. The melt point of the solid solutions increases from ∼1180 °C for the Сu₂ZnGeSe₄ up to ∼1400 °C for the Сu₂ZnGeS₄. Based on X-ray fluorescence analysis and DTA data, the phase diagram of the Cu₂ZnGeSe₄-Cu₂ZnGeS₄ system was constructed. Analysis of the obtained diagram indicates its first type according to Rozbom's classification.

Keywords: Chemical vapor transport method; Crystal structure; Microhardness; Single crystals; State diagram.