Structural, electronic and optical properties of complex lead-free ferroelectric Ba0.7Ca0.3TiO3 materials: A DFT study

Abstract

The effect of randomly distributed Ca dopants within the BaTiO₃ lattice was investigated using first principle calculations. We examined electronic properties to understand how different orbitals contribute to the conduction and valence bands in doped materials. Our findings indicate that the valence band is primarily composed of Ti-3d and O-2p orbital states, while the conduction band is influenced by the collective contributions of Ba-4d, Ti-3d, and Ca-3d orbital states. Additionally, our results demonstrate a reduction in the bandgap due to Ca doping, with the extent of variation depending on the substituted sites of the Ca atoms. Furthermore, we investigated modifications in optical properties such as absorption, conductivity, dielectric function, refractive index, extinction coefficient, loss function, and reflectivity in the energy range from 0 to 40 eV. The findings reveal the stability of these characteristics in the infrared and visible light regions, and they also depend on the site substitution of Ca cations within the BaTiO₃ lattice. We expected that our findings would deepen the understanding of the mechanism and site effect of Ca dopant on the properties of BaTiO₃ materials, thereby contributing to the development of lead-free ferroelectric materials with enhanced properties for multifunctional applications.

Graphical abstract