Crystal lattice and band structure of the intermediate high-pressure phase of PbSe

In the present paper the results of fitting synchrotron diffraction data are obtained for the intermediate high-pressure phase (9.5 GPa) of the lead selenide based compound Pb(1-x)Sn(x)Se (x = 0.125)-an optoelectronic as well as a thermoelectric material-for two types of lattice symmetries Pnma (space group #62) and Cmcm (space group #63). Both lattice parameters and positions of atoms for the above mentioned structures have been used in calculations of the electron structure of high-pressure phases. The main difference between the electronic properties for Cmcm and Pnma structures established in electronic structure calculations is that in the first one the PbSe compound was found to be a metal, while in the second a small semiconductor gap (E(G) = 0.12 eV) was obtained. Moreover, the forces in the Cmcm structure are an order of magnitude larger than those calculated for the Pnma lattice. In the optimized, Pnma structure within a generalized gradient approximation (GGA), the band gap increases up to E(G) = 0.27 eV. The result coincides with the data on thermoelectric power and electrical resistance data pointing to a semiconductor gap of ∼0.2 eV at ∼9.5 GPa. Thus, the Pmna type of lattice seems to be a preferable version for the intermediate phase compared with the Cmcm one.