Obtained and Studied Structural Aspects of the Ge0.9Er0.1S Compound with Ge → Er Substitutions

Abstract

In this work, Ge0.9Er0.1S was synthesised by partially replacing Ge atoms with Er atoms. The crystal structure of the resulting compound was studied by X-ray diffraction. The research found that Er atoms can completely replace Ge atoms in the crystal structure. Therefore, the compound can crystallize into one phase. It was established that the structure of this compound corresponds to orthorhombic symmetry and space group Pnma. The crystallographic parameters of the Ge0.9Er0.1S compound were determined by analyzing the X‑ray diffraction spectrum using the Rietveld method. Based on the obtained structure on different atomic planes, an explanation of the crystal structure of the Ge0.9Er0.1S semiconductor is given. It is established that one of the main elements in the formation of the crystal structure are the ionic radii of the elements Ge, Er and S.

Keywords

• Ge0.9Er0.1S
• Crystal structure
• X-ray diffraction
• Lattice parameters