Abstract
The alloys are promising materials for band-gap engineering in two-dimensional electronics. In this work, we provide a complete scenario of statistical possibilities for the distribution of atoms and its influence on electronic and optical properties. Using first-principles calculations combined with the generalized quasichemical approximation to account for disorder effects, we study the properties of these two-dimensional alloys as a function of their average composition. Our results show that atomic arrangements with C-C and B-N bonds are energetically favored over the ones with B-B and N-N bonds, explaining the known tendency to phase separation, verified by a phase diagram. We calculate the energy gap as a function of the composition considering both composition fluctuation and phase separation effects. Experimental data are discussed in this context. Finally, we obtain absorption spectra reproducing a two-peak pattern for intermediate carbon concentrations found experimentally and identified with phase-segregated instead of homogeneous alloys.
2 More- Received 1 August 2016
- Revised 3 November 2016
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.95.035407
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