Abstract:
At sufficiently high pressures, wurtzite structure zinc oxide (WZnO)
can be transformed to the cubic rocksalt (R-ZnO)
structure. The R-ZnO exhibits semiconductor behavior with an
indirect wide band gap of Eg ¼ 5:5 eV. The maximum valence
band is found far away from the center of the Brillouin zone
(BZ) at high symmetry point L and line S, depending on the
pressure. The unusual electronic band structure (EBS) of the RZnO
leads to several direct and indirect optical transitions
which find applications in ultraviolet optoelectronic devices.
We have investigated radiative and non-radiative symmetry
restricted selection rules, as well as inter- and intra-valley
scattering processes.
