@article{19190,
  abstract     = {{Polarons in dielectric crystals play a crucial role for applications in integrated electronics and optoelectronics. In this work, we use density-functional theory and Green's function methods to explore the microscopic structure and spectroscopic signatures of electron polarons in lithium niobate (LiNbO3). Total-energy calculations and the comparison of calculated electron paramagnetic resonance data with available measurements reveal the formation of bound 
polarons at Nb_Li antisite defects with a quasi-Jahn-Teller distorted, tilted configuration. The defect-formation energies further indicate that (bi)polarons may form not only at 
Nb_Li antisites but also at structures where the antisite Nb atom moves into a neighboring empty oxygen octahedron. Based on these structure models, and on the calculated charge-transition levels and potential-energy barriers, we propose two mechanisms for the optical and thermal splitting of bipolarons, which provide a natural explanation for the reported two-path recombination of bipolarons. Optical-response calculations based on the Bethe-Salpeter equation, in combination with available experimental data and new measurements of the optical absorption spectrum, further corroborate the geometries proposed here for free and defect-bound (bi)polarons.}},
  author       = {{Schmidt, Falko and Kozub, Agnieszka L. and Biktagirov, Timur and Eigner, Christof and Silberhorn, Christine and Schindlmayr, Arno and Schmidt, Wolf Gero and Gerstmann, Uwe}},
  issn         = {{2643-1564}},
  journal      = {{Physical Review Research}},
  number       = {{4}},
  publisher    = {{American Physical Society}},
  title        = {{{Free and defect-bound (bi)polarons in LiNbO3: Atomic structure and spectroscopic signatures from ab initio calculations}}},
  doi          = {{10.1103/PhysRevResearch.2.043002}},
  volume       = {{2}},
  year         = {{2020}},
}