Electronic properties of Fibonacci and random Si-Ge chains

In this paper we address a theoretical calculation of the electronic spectra of an Si-Ge atomic chain that is arranged in a Fibonacci quasi-periodic sequence, by using a semi-empirical quantum method based on the Hückel extended model. We apply the Fibonacci substitutional sequences in the atomic building blocks A(Si) and B(Ge) through the inflation rule or a recursion relation. In our ab initio calculations we use only a single point, which is sufficient for considering all the orbitals and charge distribution across the entire system. Although the calculations presented here are more complete than the models adopted in the literature which take into account the electronic interaction only up to the second and third neighbors, an interesting property remains in their electronic spectra: the fractality (which is the main signature of this kind of system). We discuss this fractality of the spectra and we compare them with the random arrangement of the Si-Ge atomic chain, and with previous results based on the tight-binding approximation of the Schrödinger equation considering up to the nearest neighbor.