Investigation of Electronic and Optical Properties of (Cs, Br, Cs-Br) Doped Mono-Layer Hexagonal Boron Nitride Using First Principles

Research on the effect of alternative doping on the photoelectric properties of boron nitride is still at an early stage. In particular, research on hexagonal boron nitride's diatomic co-doping is still rarely studied. In this work, first-principles calculations are selected as the main method to investigate the electronic structure and optical properties of different atoms used to dope hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN). The band gap value of intrinsic h-BN is 4.66 eV. The band gap was changed after Cs, Br, and Cs-Br doping. The results show that the band gap is 4.61 eV when the Br atom replaces the N atom, while the band gap of h-BN doped with Cs is 3.52 eV. Additionally, the band gap width can be reduced to a typical narrower band gap width of 3.19 eV when Cs-Br is used for doping. At the same time, the complex dielectric function representing the optical properties is calculated after Cs, Br, and Cs-Br doping. The optical absorption peaks of Cs-Br-doped h-BN are weaker at low-frequency conditions. The optical absorption of h-BN can be modified by Cs doping, Br doping, and Cs-Br co-doping in the near-infrared, visible, or portion of the near-ultraviolet bands, which makes the doped material more suited for photoelectric detectors in the relevant frequency bands.

Automated summary

This study investigates the effect of different atoms on the electronic structure and optical properties of hexagonal boron nitride using first-principles calculations. The results show that Cs, Br, and Cs-Br doping can modify the band gap and optical absorption of h-BN, making it more suitable for photoelectric detectors in specific frequency bands.