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Updated: Jun 8, 2026

Probe Type II Band Alignment in One-Dimensional Van Der Waals Heterostructures Using First-Principles Calculations
Published on: October 12, 2019
Effective band structure of random alloys
1National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, Colorado 80401, USA.
Abstract:
Random substitutional A(x)B(1-x) alloys lack formal translational symmetry and thus cannot be described by the language of band-structure dispersion E(k(→)). Yet, many alloy experiments are interpreted phenomenologically precisely by constructs derived from wave vector k(→), e.g., effective masses or van Hove singularities. Here we use large supercells with randomly distributed A and B atoms, whereby many different local environments are allowed to coexist, and transform the eigenstates into an effective band structure (EBS) in the primitive cell using a spectral decomposition. The resulting EBS reveals the extent to which band characteristics are preserved or lost at different compositions, band indices, and k(→) points, showing in (In,Ga)N the rapid disintegration of the valence band Bloch character and in Ga(N,P) the appearance of a pinned impurity band.
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