Domain formation and phase transitions in the wurtzite-based heterovalent ternaries: a Landau theory analysis.

ABSTRACT: Characterizing the crystalline disorder properties of heterovalent ternary semiconductors continues to challenge solid-state theory. Here, a Landau theory is developed for the wurtzite-based ternary semiconductor ZnSnN₂. It is shown that the symmetry properties of two nearly co-stable phases, with space groups Pmc2₁ and Pbn2₁, imply that a reconstructive phase transition is the source of crystal structure disorder via a mixture of phase domains. The site exchange defect, which consists of two adjacent antisite defects, is identified as the nucleation mechanism of the transition. A Landau potential based on the space-group symmetries of the Pmc2₁ and Pbn2₁ phases is constructed from the online databases in the ISOTROPY software suite an

SUBMITTER: Quayle PC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7233021 | biostudies-literature | 2020 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature