Lattice Dynamical Study of Zinc Chalcogenides

Metal monochalcogenides have the formula ME, where M = a transition metal and E = S, Se, Te. The zinc sulfide is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula of ZnS. This is the main form of zinc found in nature, where it mainly occurs as the mineral zinc blende (sphalerite). Although this mineral is usually black because of various impurities, the pure material is white, and it is widely used as pigment. In its dense synthetic form, zinc sulphide can be transparent, and it is used as a window for visible optics and infrared optics. ZnS is a unique compound that forms two types of crystalline structures. These two polymorphs are wurtzite and zinc blende structure. wurtzite has hexagonal structure, while zinc blende is cubic. Present study is an outcome of the effort devoted to carry out a details and systematic theoretical investigation of the phonon dispersion, Debye temperatures variation, two-phonon density of states and an-harmonic elastic properties of zinc chalcogenides and applicable to all crystals of zinc-blende structure. This book is prepared based on the authors teaching the subject for master and research level in recent years.