Systematical, experimental investigations on LiMgZ (Z = P, As, Sb) wide band gap semiconductors

This work reports on the experimental investigation of wide band gap compounds LiMgZ (Z = P, As, Sb), which are promising candidates for opto-electronics and anode materials for lithium batteries. The compounds crystallize in the cubic (C1b) MgAgAs structure (space group ). The polycrystalline samples are synthesized by solid-state reaction methods. X-ray and neutron diffraction measurements show homogeneous, single-phased samples. The electronic properties are studied using the direct current method. Additionally, UV–Vis diffuse reflectance spectra are recorded in order to investigate the band gap nature. The measurements show that all compounds exhibit semiconducting behaviour with direct band gaps of 1.0–2.3 eV depending on the Z element. A decrease in the peak widths in the static 7Li nuclear magnetic resonance spectra with increasing temperature is observed, which can be directly related to an increase in Li ion mobility.