Open Access Article
Nguyen Thi Han
a,
Wei Bang-Li
a,
Kuang-I. Lin
b,
Vo Khuong Dien
*a and
Ming-Fa Lin
*ac
aDepartment of Physics, National Cheng Kung University, 701 Tainan, Taiwan. E-mail: vokhuongdien@gmail.com
bCore Facility Center, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan 701, Taiwan
cHierarchical Green-Energy Material (Hi-GEM) Research Center, National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan. E-mail: mflin@mail.ncku.edu.tw
First published on 14th November 2022
We perform the electronic and optical properties of the Li6PS5Cl compound using first-principles calculation. The featured physical and chemical pictures and orbital hybridizations in all Li–S and P–S chemical bonds are clearly exhibited, such as the optimized geometry, the quasi-particle energy spectra, the band-decomposed charge densities, and the van Hove singularities in the density of states. Furthermore, the calculated results of the presence and absence of electron–hole interactions in optical responses are achieved successfully through the dielectric function, the energy loss functions, the absorption coefficients, and the reflectance spectra. The Li6PS5Cl compound can be useful for extensive applications in all-solid-state batteries and optoelectronic. Our theoretical investigation of Li6PS5Cl material will encourage further studies to fully comprehend the diverse phenomena for other emerging materials.
Up till now, the sulfide SSEs has sketched many attentions of researchers because of their high Li-ion conductivities, easy processability, and compatible interface with sulfur-based cathodes.12 For example, Zhang et al. have synthesized a Li6PS5Cl by heating a mixture of Li2S, P2S5, and LiCl to 600 °C at 0.3 °C min−1, and the ionic conductivity of Li6PS5Cl was 1.8 × 10−3 S cm−1 at RT.13 Most recently, the Li6PS5Cl with a very high ionic conductivity of 4.96 × 10−3 S cm−1 at 26.2 °C by sintering the mixed precursors at 550 °C for 10 h are reported by Yu et al.14
Experimentally, the Li6PS5Cl compound has been successfully synthesized and examined by variety measurements. For example, the X-ray diffraction (XRD),15–17 scanning electronic microscopy (SEM),16,18,19 and tunneling electronic microscope (TEM)14,20 measurements can examine the optimized geometric structures and surface monologies on this system. Besides, the angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES)21 and scanning tunneling spectroscopy (STS)22 measurements can verify the energy spectrum depending on frequencies at the occupied states, and the van Hove singularities in the density of states, respectively. However, such measurements are not reported yet in this compound. Furthermore, the delicate measurements on optical properties of the Li6PS5Cl system, such as photoluminescence, absorption, and transmission measurements are absent up till now.
In terms of theory, it is known that the first-principles calculations could give many expected results on electronic and optical properties of emerging materials23–27 and agree well experimental measurements. However, we detected that investigation of first-principles calculations on this compound is still rather limited. For example, only Zhuo Wang et al.,28 have shown the gap energy of 3.4 eV in the density of states of Li6PS5Cl compound by using the HSE method. Meanwhile, a lot of outstanding properties of Li6PS5Cl are not discovered yet by using first-principles calculations. Especially, consideration to probe chemical bonding behaviors in orbital hybridizations, which will be responsible to featured properties, has not still researched yet. It motivated us to perform this topic.
In this article, the optimized geometric structure, quasi-band structure, atom-dominated band structure at various energy ranges, the band-decomposed charge density, charge density distributions, and the van Hove singularities in the density of states (DOS) are disclosed in detail by using the first-principles calculation based on Vienna Ab initio Simulation Package (VASP). Furthermore, examination of optical responses is clearly exposed, such as the plasmon mode in terms of imaginary part and real part of dielectric functions, the energy loss functions, absorption coefficients, and reflectance spectra. More importantly, close associations between electronic and optical properties are revealed in this study. Consequently, our calculated results can provide to experimentalists for testing. The theoretical framework29–32 can be useful for studying the other properties of the emerging materials.31,32
In this letter, the electronic properties of Li6PS5Cl compound have exhibited by using the GW method (G stands for the Green' function and W represents the screened Coulomb potential), in which, the quasi-particle energies were obtained within the GW approximation for the self-energy,39 the response function's cutoff energy was equal to 200 eV, and 7 × 7 × 7-centered k-points sampling was used to represent reciprocal space. The quasi-particle band structure was plotted by using the WANNIER 90 code.40,41 Based on the electronic wave functions, the single-particle excitations were indicated by using Fermi's golden rule.42
In addition to the single particle excitations, the presence of exciton states may have a significant impact on the optical properties. The wave functions related to these bound states of electrons and holes could be expressed by using the following equation:
In this part, the Tamm-Dancoff approximation (TDA)44 was calculated, moreover, energy cutoff and k-point sampling are set resemblances as in the GW calculations. Lorentzian with 100 meV broadening was used to replace the delta function. Since we are dealing with low frequency part of the absorption spectra, 7 lowest conduction bands (CBs) and 15 highest valence bands (VBs) in the Bethe–Salpeter kernel are sufficient to describe the excitonic effects. The fully chemical and physical pictures, the physics of the selective optical absorption and the effect of the strong exciton are the main study focus of the current study. Other optical properties, such as the energy loss functions,45 absorption coefficient,46 and reflectivity47 can be obtained from the dielectric function by the following equations:
All parameters in this article are carefully checked for the convergence of the calculations, such as the k-grid and cut-off frequency as seen in Fig. 1.
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| Fig. 1 .Convergence of the GW electronic band gap of Li6PS5Cl with considerations to (a) k-grid from 1 × 1 × 1 to 10 × 10 × 10 and (b) cutoff frequency from 10 to 200, respectively. | ||
43m space group) at room temperature. The conventional and primitive cell of Li6PS5Cl compound is clearly indicated in Fig. 2(a) and (b). Its structure provides octahedral [Li6S], tetrahedral [PS4] units and chlorine ions (Fig. 2(c) and (d). The S ions are occupied in the center of octahedral [Li6S] units or at corners of tetrahedral [PS4] ones. The chemical environments around these two types of S atom are quite different. Besides, halogen Cl is located at interstitial space between tetrahedral [PS4]. The lattice constant for structural relaxation is equal to 10.13 Å of conventional as seen in Table 1. These results are suitable with high-precision X-ray measurements. There exist 13 atoms in a primitive unit cell, including 6-Li, 1-P, 5-S and 1-Cl atoms, in which all the Li–S chemical bond have two different type lengths of 2.32 Å and 2.41 Å, as well as the P–S chemical bonds have identical lengths of 2.06 Å and Li–Cl bonds (very weak) as evidenced in Table 1. Such chemical bonds are highly position-dependent and are responsible for the anisotropic quasi-particle phenomena.
Very interestingly, the three-dimensional (3D) ternary Li6PS5Cl compound exposes unique band structures. In this work, we consider band structure in energy range from −14 eV to 6 eV (Fig. 3(a)–(c)) and from −3 eV to 3 eV (Fig. 3(d)–(f)). The wave-vector-dependent energy spectrum and wave function, the featured quasi-particle properties of this system are indicated along the high-symmetry points. The occupied hole and unoccupied electron spectra are high asymmetry each other spectra about the Fermi level (EF = 0), which directly reflect the very complicated orbital hybridizations in all Li–Cl, Li–S and P–S chemical bonds. The parabolic, linear, and partial flat energy dispersions, a lot of band-edge states, many sub-bands with crossings/non-crossing phenomena are clearly exposed. Most importantly, the conduction-band minimum and the valence-band maximum of relaxed Li6PS5Cl locate at the same Γ point, showing a direct nature (green circles and red arrows). The theoretical prediction for band gap of Li6PS5Cl compound is equal to 2.15 eV (Fig. 3a) under PBE approximations. Using HSE and GW corrections, respectively, provide direct gap values of 3.52 eV (Fig. 3b) and 5.13 eV (Fig. 3c). The former is good agreement with the previous theoretical work,28 while the latter in accordance with the electronic gap measured in STS and requite for the description of excitonic states. Obviously, the large band gap/low dielectric screening, leading to the excitonic effects are very strong and the coupled electron–hole states locate well below the quasi-particle band gap.
In addition to the basic features of the band structure, the electronic wave functions for occupied hole and unoccupied electron states can reflect useful information on the chemical bonds. Each band state can be considered as a linear superposition of different orbitals. Therefore, it can be decomposed into distinct atomic contributions. The dominance of different atom can be helpful to understand the important roles of the chemical bonds in the electronic properties. The green, blue, pink, and red circles are corresponding to the Li, P, S and Cl atom contributions, respectively (Fig. 4(a)–(d)). In general, the effective occupied and unoccupied states, which are closely related to the orbital hybridizations of the s–sp3, s–sp3 and sp3–sp3 chemical bonds, corresponding to Li–S, Li–Cl and P–S bonds (discussed later) lie in the energy range of the −14 eV < Ec,v < 6.0 eV. Almost all elements have significant contributions to the whole band structure. However, it might be difficult to observe the Lithium-contributions (small green circle) because of the single 2s-orbital. The opposite is true for the P, S and Cl atoms with their contributions which are represented by very large circles in the electronic energy spectrum. Specifically, the sulfur (S) atoms dominate all valence and conduction states since they associate with all the chemical bonds as Li–S and P–S bonds.
To fully understand bonding characters, the band decomposed charge densities for the Li6PS5Cl compound, which include four active energy domains: (i) the unoccupied states of 2 eV < Ec,v < 6 eV, (ii) the occupied states of −4 eV < Ec,v < −2 eV, (iii) valence states of −6 eV < Ec,v < −4 eV, and (iv) −8 eV < Ec,v < −6 eV, are displayed in Fig. 5(a)–(d). Indeed, the charge density of unoccupied states (Fig. 5a) is dominated by the P-3p and S-3p states. On the other hand, the charge density of occupied states (−4 eV to −2 eV) (Fig. 5b) is governed by the P-3s and S-3p states. The charge density of occupied states (−6 eV to −4 eV) (Fig. 5c) is dominated by the P-3p and S-3p states. Finally, the energy domain of (−8 eV to −6 eV) (Fig. 5d) is governed by the P-3p and S-3p states.
As clearly sketched in Fig. 5(e), the charge density distributions are very useful comprehending to type of all Li–S and P–S chemical bonds. Indeed, there is a noteworthy bonding feature: there is a weak orbital hybridization between Li atoms and S atoms, forming ionic bonds, while the orbital hybridization between P atoms and S atoms is very strong, forming covalent bonds.
Apparently, band-decomposed charge densities and density charge distributions will assist well with band structure and density of states to comprehend the orbital hybridizations in all chemical bonds.
The atom- and projected density of states of the Li6PS5Cl compound is presented in Fig. 6 and 7. The Li-, P-, S- and Cl-orbitals make significant contributions to density of states within a whole energy spectrum (the green, blue, pink, and red curves in Fig. 6, respectively). However, the contributions of P, S and Cl atoms (blue, pink, and red curves) are stronger than Li atom (green curves) because formers provide more active orbitals than with that of the latter. The van Hove singularities of the Li-2s orbital (green curves) and P-/S-/Cl-3s, 3px, 3py, 3pz orbitals (red, green, blue, and pink curves) are merged with each other for both occupied and unoccupied states, forming s–sp3, s–sp3 and sp3–sp3 orbital hybridizations, corresponding to Li–S, Li–Cl and P–S chemical bonds. Besides, the outer 2s-orbital of Li atom is half occupied and has a unique cooperation with the active ones of other atoms. As a result, the Li-related van Hove singularities are available in supporting the orbital hybridizations of each Li–S and Li–Cl bonds. Moreover, the valence state part clearly indicate the strong [3px, 3py, 3pz]–[3px, 3py, 3pz]-orbital hybridizations in P–S chemical bonds, but the weak 2s-[3px, 3py, 3pz] orbital mixings in Li–S and Li–Cl chemical bonds, leading to be comparable with band-decomposed charge densities, and charge density distributions in Fig. 5(b)–(e). Specially, density of states is vanishing in a specific energy range of −1.075 eV ≤ E ≤ 1.075 eV across the Fermi level, indicates a middle gap semiconductor of Eig = 2.15 eV (DFT method). These quasi-particle behaviors are expected to determine the concise physical and chemical pictures of the other properties, such as the threshold transition frequency and prominent absorption structures closely related to the specific orbital hybridizations (consider later).
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| Fig. 6 .Van hove singularities in the density of states (DOS) of the Li6PS5Cl compound, coming from Li, P, S and Cl atoms (green, blue, pink, and red curves, respectively) using PBE method. | ||
| Energy (eV) | Label | Vertical excitation in band structure | Orbital hybridizations in P–S bonds |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4.50 | E1 | ||
| 5.13 | E2 | Threshold frequency | 3s, 3px, 3py, 3pz – 3s, 3px, 3py, 3pz |
| 7.40 | P1 | Γ | 3s – 3s, 3px, 3py, 3pz |
| 8.00 | P2 | X | 3s – 3s, 3px, 3py, 3pz |
| 9.20 | P3 | U/K | 3s, 3px, 3py, 3pz – 3s, 3px, 3py, 3pz |
| 9.60 | P4 | X | 3s, 3px, 3py, 3pz – 3s, 3px, 3py, 3pz |
| 10.30 | P5 | Between | 3s – 3s, 3px, 3py, 3pz |
| U/K and Γ | |||
| 11.00 | P6 | Between | 3s – 3s, 3px, 3py, 3pz |
| Γ and L | |||
| 11.40 | P7 | L | 3s – 3s, 3px, 3py, 3pz |
To evaluate the excitonic effects, the electron–hole interactions (called excitonic effects) in imaginary part of dielectric function of Li6PS5Cl compound are also showed in Fig. 8a by seeing red curves. Obviously, after taking into the Coulomb interaction, the enhancement of the electron–hole wave function overlap can create the excitation strength. Therefore, the optical gap value is equal to 4.50 eV (first exciton peak), leading to moving red shift of 0.63 eV (energy binding). The great redshift indicates very strong excitonic effects, and therefore, the stable coupled quasi-particle may survive at the room temperature. Furthermore, the presence of exciton peaks (E1, E2) below the band gap are designed from electron and hole pair interactions at the extreme band edge states, creating to strong excitonic effects. The origin of this scene comes from the large energy band gap/low charge screening combined with rather flat energy sub-bands/large effective mass at the Γ(0,0,0) point, as clearly observed in Fig. 3(d)–(f).
Apparently, the real part ε1(ω),48 and the imaginary part ε2(ω) of the dielectric function ε(ω) are connected each other by the Kramers–Kronig relationship.49 The real part of the dielectric functions is weakly dependent on the energy in the inactive region, such as dielectric constant at zero point ε1(0) are about 2.4 eV (1.7 eV), respectively for presence (absence) of the excitonic effect. Also, ε1(ω) can provide information about the frequencies less, corresponding vanishing range of absorption coefficients α(ω) and low energy reflectance spectrum R(ω).
Interestingly, the simultaneous existence of the zero points of the real part with very weak single-particle transitions exhibit and corresponding to the weak damping of the Plasmon mode of 12.3 eV (13.5 eV) for presence (absence) of excitonic effects, respectively. It is known that the energy loss function (ELF) are especially the collective excitations and then useful for comprehending the screened excitation spectra. The plasmon resonances are about ωp = 12.3 eV (13.5 eV) with (without) excitonic effect which is confirmed by each spectral peak in ELF. This value is rather fitting with the zero points in the real part ε1(ω) and the imaginary part ε2(ω) of the dielectric function in Fig. 9. Very interestingly, the P- (3s, 3px, 3py, 3pz) and S- (3s, 3px, 3py, 3pz) orbitals in P–S chemical bonds are contributed to almost prominent peaks as verified in Fig. 7 and 8.
To consider the other optical properties, we sketch the absorption coefficient (α(ω)) and the reflectance spectra (R(ω)) of Li6PS5Cl compound as showed in Fig. 10(a) and (b). Apparently, the absorption coefficient α(ω) is vanishing while the reflectivity R(ω) is weakly dependent in region from 0 to 4.5 eV (5.13eV) because of lacking to the electronic excitation contributions. Beyond the thresh-hold frequency, α(ω) and R(ω) dramatically change to the excitation model. The different inter-band transitions lead to a rapid increase in the absorption coefficient. The photon energy propagates through the medium and is easily absorbed by the electronic excitations, as observed in Fig. 10(b) by the inverse values of the absorption coefficient of 80 Å (100 Å) for the presence (absence) excitonic effect, respectively. The prominence peak corresponding to the Plasmon mode (ωp) is seen and coincides with the significant decline in R(ω). At the resonance frequency ωp, the reflectance spectra are indicated to vary by 60% (28%) for the presence (absence) under the black (red) curves, respectively.
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| Fig. 10 .(a) The reflectance spectra and (b) absorption coefficient with and without excitonic effects of Li6PS5Cl compound, respectively. | ||
In addition to electronic properties, the main features of optical absorption spectra with the presence and absence of excitonic effects are very suitable for establishing the close relations between the specific orbital hybridizations and the vertical transition channels. Plasmon mode value is 12.3 eV (13.5 eV), corresponding to Landau damping (zero points) of the real and imaginary part of the dielectric functions. Such characteristics are attributed to the active orbital hybridizations. Our quasi-particle framework50 is available for discovering the other interesting properties of the emerging materials.
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