The effects of concentration on the electronic and optical properties in CdxZn1-xS ternary alloys

The structural, electronic and optical properties of CdxZn1-xS alloys have been studied using the first-principles plane-wave pseudopotential (PP) method within the local-density approximations (LDAs). The effects of composition on lattice constants, bulk modulus, band gap, dielectric functions, refractive index, extinction coefficient and energy loss function are investigated. It has been found that the lattice constants and bulk modulus change as almost linear for these alloys. Calculated electronic structure and density of states (DOS) of CdxZn1-xS alloys are discussed in terms of the contribution of Zn d, Cd d and p and S s and p states. Our results agree well with the available data in the literature. © 2010 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.