Anion Ordering and Phase Stability Govern Optical Band Gaps in BaZr(S,Se)3

Fuente: arXiv
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Auteurs principaux: Fransson, Erik, Xu, Michael, Kayastha, Prakriti, Ye, Kevin, Sadeghi, Ida, Jaramillo, Rafael, LeBeau, James M., Whalley, Lucy, Erhart, Paul
Format: Preprint
Publié: 2026
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author Fransson, Erik
Xu, Michael
Kayastha, Prakriti
Ye, Kevin
Sadeghi, Ida
Jaramillo, Rafael
LeBeau, James M.
Whalley, Lucy
Erhart, Paul
author_facet Fransson, Erik
Xu, Michael
Kayastha, Prakriti
Ye, Kevin
Sadeghi, Ida
Jaramillo, Rafael
LeBeau, James M.
Whalley, Lucy
Erhart, Paul
contents Chalcogenide perovskites have emerged as promising lead free materials for photovoltaic and thermoelectric applications. Among them, BaZrS3 has attracted particular attention due to its thermal and chemical stability, favorable optoelectronic properties, and low thermal conductivity. Here, we combine molecular dynamics and Monte Carlo simulations based on machine learned interatomic potentials with scanning transmission electron microscopy to investigate mixing thermodynamics and phase stability in the BaZr(S,Se)3 system. We identify an unusual ordered structure that persists at room temperature, most prominently at 33% S, where S and Se atoms form alternating layers within the crystal. Free energy calculations yield the temperature composition phase diagram, including a nonperovskite delta phase in the Se rich limit and a perovskite phase in the S rich limit, separated by a broad two phase region. Analysis of the dielectric function and the absorption coefficient demonstrates that composition, crystal structure, and anion ordering jointly control the optical band gap. Selenium alloying enables tuning between approximately 1.6 and 1.9eV, while anion ordering within a given composition reduces the gap by about 0.12eV. Lastly, variations between structural polymorphs give rise to band gap differences of up to 0.4eV.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2604_13768
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Anion Ordering and Phase Stability Govern Optical Band Gaps in BaZr(S,Se)3
Fransson, Erik
Xu, Michael
Kayastha, Prakriti
Ye, Kevin
Sadeghi, Ida
Jaramillo, Rafael
LeBeau, James M.
Whalley, Lucy
Erhart, Paul
Materials Science
Chalcogenide perovskites have emerged as promising lead free materials for photovoltaic and thermoelectric applications. Among them, BaZrS3 has attracted particular attention due to its thermal and chemical stability, favorable optoelectronic properties, and low thermal conductivity. Here, we combine molecular dynamics and Monte Carlo simulations based on machine learned interatomic potentials with scanning transmission electron microscopy to investigate mixing thermodynamics and phase stability in the BaZr(S,Se)3 system. We identify an unusual ordered structure that persists at room temperature, most prominently at 33% S, where S and Se atoms form alternating layers within the crystal. Free energy calculations yield the temperature composition phase diagram, including a nonperovskite delta phase in the Se rich limit and a perovskite phase in the S rich limit, separated by a broad two phase region. Analysis of the dielectric function and the absorption coefficient demonstrates that composition, crystal structure, and anion ordering jointly control the optical band gap. Selenium alloying enables tuning between approximately 1.6 and 1.9eV, while anion ordering within a given composition reduces the gap by about 0.12eV. Lastly, variations between structural polymorphs give rise to band gap differences of up to 0.4eV.
title Anion Ordering and Phase Stability Govern Optical Band Gaps in BaZr(S,Se)3
topic Materials Science
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.13768