Theoretical approach to the phonon modes of GaSb nanowires

Gallium Antimonide nanowires (GaSbNWs) have attracted much attention due to their possible applications in mid infrared detectors, however, there are only few theoretical investigations about this material and almost none regarding its vibrational properties. In this work the phonon modes of GaSbNWs were studied using the density functional theory with the finite displacement supercell scheme. The nanowires are modeled by removing atoms outside from a circumference along the [1 1 1] direction. All surface dangling bonds were passivated with hydrogen atoms. The results show that the expected red-shift of the highest frequency modes of GaSb are hindered by low frequency H bond bending modes. Three clearly distinguishable frequency intervals were observed: One with vibrations whose main contribution come from the Ga and Sb nanowire atoms, the second interval with main contributions from H bending modes and finally a high frequency interval where the main contributions come from H stretching modes. Also, it was observed that the radial breathing mode (RBM) decreases when the nanowire diameter increases, while the contrary tendency is observed with their specific heat (the specific heat increases as the nanowire diameter increases), except in the low temperature region where the lower diameters have higher specific heat values. These results could be important for the characterization of these nanowires with IR and Raman techniques.

Automated summary

This study investigates the phonon modes of Gallium Antimonide nanowires (GaSbNWs) using density functional theory. The results show that the red-shift of the highest frequency modes of GaSb is hindered by low frequency H bond bending modes. Three distinguishable frequency intervals were observed, and it was found that the radial breathing mode decreases with increasing nanowire diameter, while the specific heat exhibits the opposite trend.