@inbook{30288, abstract = {{Lithium niobate (LiNbO3), a material frequently used in optical applications, hosts different kinds of polarons that significantly affect many of its physical properties. In this study, a variety of electron polarons, namely free, bound, and bipolarons, are analyzed using first-principles calculations. We perform a full structural optimization based on density-functional theory for selected intrinsic defects with special attention to the role of symmetry-breaking distortions that lower the total energy. The cations hosting the various polarons relax to a different degree, with a larger relaxation corresponding to a larger gap between the defect level and the conduction-band edge. The projected density of states reveals that the polaron states are formerly empty Nb 4d states lowered into the band gap. Optical absorption spectra are derived within the independent-particle approximation, corrected by the GW approximation that yields a wider band gap and by including excitonic effects within the Bethe-Salpeter equation. Comparing the calculated spectra with the density of states, we find that the defect peak observed in the optical absorption stems from transitions between the defect level and a continuum of empty Nb 4d states. Signatures of polarons are further analyzed in the reflectivity and other experimentally measurable optical coefficients.}}, author = {{Schmidt, Falko and Kozub, Agnieszka L. and Gerstmann, Uwe and Schmidt, Wolf Gero and Schindlmayr, Arno}}, booktitle = {{New Trends in Lithium Niobate: From Bulk to Nanocrystals}}, editor = {{Corradi, Gábor and Kovács, László}}, isbn = {{978-3-0365-3340-7}}, pages = {{231--248}}, publisher = {{MDPI}}, title = {{{Electron polarons in lithium niobate: Charge localization, lattice deformation, and optical response}}}, doi = {{10.3390/books978-3-0365-3339-1}}, year = {{2022}}, } @article{44088, abstract = {{Hole polarons and defect-bound exciton polarons in lithium niobate are investigated by means of density-functional theory, where the localization of the holes is achieved by applying the +U approach to the oxygen 2p orbitals. We find three principal configurations of hole polarons: (i) self-trapped holes localized at displaced regular oxygen atoms and (ii) two other configurations bound to a lithium vacancy either at a threefold coordinated oxygen atom above or at a two-fold coordinated oxygen atom below the defect. The latter is the most stable and is in excellent quantitative agreement with measured g factors from electron paramagnetic resonance. Due to the absence of mid-gap states, none of these hole polarons can explain the broad optical absorption centered between 2.5 and 2.8 eV that is observed in transient absorption spectroscopy, but such states appear if a free electron polaron is trapped at the same lithium vacancy as the bound hole polaron, resulting in an exciton polaron. The dielectric function calculated by solving the Bethe–Salpeter equation indeed yields an optical peak at 2.6 eV in agreement with the two-photon experiments. The coexistence of hole and exciton polarons, which are simultaneously created in optical excitations, thus satisfactorily explains the reported experimental data.}}, author = {{Schmidt, Falko and Kozub, Agnieszka L. and Gerstmann, Uwe and Schmidt, Wolf Gero and Schindlmayr, Arno}}, issn = {{2073-4352}}, journal = {{Crystals}}, number = {{11}}, publisher = {{MDPI AG}}, title = {{{A density-functional theory study of hole and defect-bound exciton polarons in lithium niobate}}}, doi = {{10.3390/cryst12111586}}, volume = {{12}}, year = {{2022}}, } @article{21946, abstract = {{Lithium niobate (LiNbO3), a material frequently used in optical applications, hosts different kinds of polarons that significantly affect many of its physical properties. In this study, a variety of electron polarons, namely free, bound, and bipolarons, are analyzed using first-principles calculations. We perform a full structural optimization based on density-functional theory for selected intrinsic defects with special attention to the role of symmetry-breaking distortions that lower the total energy. The cations hosting the various polarons relax to a different degree, with a larger relaxation corresponding to a larger gap between the defect level and the conduction-band edge. The projected density of states reveals that the polaron states are formerly empty Nb 4d states lowered into the band gap. Optical absorption spectra are derived within the independent-particle approximation, corrected by the GW approximation that yields a wider band gap and by including excitonic effects within the Bethe-Salpeter equation. Comparing the calculated spectra with the density of states, we find that the defect peak observed in the optical absorption stems from transitions between the defect level and a continuum of empty Nb 4d states. Signatures of polarons are further analyzed in the reflectivity and other experimentally measurable optical coefficients.}}, author = {{Schmidt, Falko and Kozub, Agnieszka L. and Gerstmann, Uwe and Schmidt, Wolf Gero and Schindlmayr, Arno}}, issn = {{2073-4352}}, journal = {{Crystals}}, pages = {{542}}, publisher = {{MDPI}}, title = {{{Electron polarons in lithium niobate: Charge localization, lattice deformation, and optical response}}}, doi = {{10.3390/cryst11050542}}, volume = {{11}}, year = {{2021}}, } @article{22960, abstract = {{We perform a theoretical analysis of the structural and electronic properties of sodium potassium niobate K1-xNaxNbO3 in the orthorhombic room-temperature phase, based on density-functional theory in combination with the supercell approach. Our results for x=0 and x=0.5 are in very good agreement with experimental measurements and establish that the lattice parameters decrease linearly with increasing Na contents, disproving earlier theoretical studies based on the virtual-crystal approximation that claimed a highly nonlinear behavior with a significant structural distortion and volume reduction in K0.5Na0.5NbO3 compared to both end members of the solid solution. Furthermore, we find that the electronic band gap varies very little between x=0 and x=0.5, reflecting the small changes in the lattice parameters.}}, author = {{Bidaraguppe Ramesh, Nithin and Schmidt, Falko and Schindlmayr, Arno}}, issn = {{1434-6036}}, journal = {{The European Physical Journal B}}, number = {{8}}, publisher = {{EDP Sciences, Società Italiana di Fisica and Springer}}, title = {{{Lattice parameters and electronic band gap of orthorhombic potassium sodium niobate K0.5Na0.5NbO3 from density-functional theory}}}, doi = {{10.1140/epjb/s10051-021-00179-8}}, volume = {{94}}, year = {{2021}}, } @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}}, } @article{10014, abstract = {{The cubic, tetragonal, and orthorhombic phase of potassium niobate (KNbO3) are studied based on density-functional theory. Starting from the relaxed atomic geometries, we analyze the influence of self-energy corrections on the electronic band structure within the GW approximation. We find that quasiparticle shifts widen the direct (indirect) band gap by 1.21 (1.44), 1.58 (1.55), and 1.67 (1.64) eV for the cubic, tetragonal, and orthorhombic phase, respectively. By solving the Bethe-Salpeter equation, we obtain the linear dielectric function with excitonic and local-field effects, which turn out to be essential for good agreement with experimental data. From our results, we extract an exciton binding energy of 0.6, 0.5, and 0.5 eV for the cubic, tetragonal, and orthorhombic phase, respectively. Furthermore, we investigate the nonlinear second-harmonic generation (SHG) both theoretically and experimentally. The frequency-dependent second-order polarization tensor of orthorhombic KNbO3 is measured for incoming photon energies between 1.2 and 1.6 eV. In addition, calculations within the independent-(quasi)particle approximation are performed for the tetragonal and orthorhombic phase. The novel experimental data are in excellent agreement with the quasiparticle calculations and resolve persistent discrepancies between earlier experimental measurements and ab initio results reported in the literature.}}, author = {{Schmidt, Falko and Riefer, Arthur and Schmidt, Wolf Gero and Schindlmayr, Arno and Imlau, Mirco and Dobener, Florian and Mengel, Nils and Chatterjee, Sangam and Sanna, Simone}}, issn = {{2475-9953}}, journal = {{Physical Review Materials}}, number = {{5}}, publisher = {{American Physical Society}}, title = {{{Quasiparticle and excitonic effects in the optical response of KNbO3}}}, doi = {{10.1103/PhysRevMaterials.3.054401}}, volume = {{3}}, year = {{2019}}, } @article{10023, abstract = {{We perform a comprehensive theoretical study of the structural and electronic properties of potassium niobate (KNbO3) in the cubic, tetragonal, orthorhombic, monoclinic, and rhombohedral phase, based on density-functional theory. The influence of different parametrizations of the exchange-correlation functional on the investigated properties is analyzed in detail, and the results are compared to available experimental data. We argue that the PBEsol and AM05 generalized gradient approximations as well as the RTPSS meta-generalized gradient approximation yield consistently accurate structural data for both the external and internal degrees of freedom and are overall superior to the local-density approximation or other conventional generalized gradient approximations for the structural characterization of KNbO3. Band-structure calculations using a HSE-type hybrid functional further indicate significant near degeneracies of band-edge states in all phases which are expected to be relevant for the optical response of the material.}}, author = {{Schmidt, Falko and Landmann, Marc and Rauls, Eva and Argiolas, Nicola and Sanna, Simone and Schmidt, Wolf Gero and Schindlmayr, Arno}}, issn = {{1687-8442}}, journal = {{Advances in Materials Science and Engineering}}, publisher = {{Hindawi}}, title = {{{Consistent atomic geometries and electronic structure of five phases of potassium niobate from density-functional theory}}}, doi = {{10.1155/2017/3981317}}, volume = {{2017}}, year = {{2017}}, }