Eur. Phys. J. Plus (2016) 131: 369
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjp/i2016-16369-x

Regular Article

Theoretical and experimental investigations of optical, structural and electronic properties of the lower-dimensional hybrid [NH₃-(CH₂)₁₀-NH₃]ZnCl₄

¹ Laboratoire de Physique des Matériaux et Modélisation des Systèmes (LP2MS), Unité Associée au CNRST-URAC: 08, Faculté des Sciences, Université Moulay Ismail, B.P. 11201, 50000, Meknès, Morocco
² CNRS, Univ. Bordeaux ICMCB, UPR 9048, F-33600, Pessac, France

^* e-mail: a.belaaraj@fs-umi.ac.ma

Received: 15 March 2016
Accepted: 27 September 2016
Published online: 20 October 2016

Abstract

In the current study, a combination between theoretical and experimental studies has been made for the hybrid perovskite [NH₃-(CH₂)₁₀-NH₃]ZnCl₄. The density functional theory (DFT) was performed to investigate structural and electronic properties of the tilted compound. A local approximation (LDA) and semi-local approach (GGA) were employed. The results are obtained using, respectively, the local exchange correlation functional of Perdew-Wang 92 (PW92) and semi local functional of Perdew-Burke-Ernzerhof (PBE). The optimized cell parameters are in good agreement with the experimental results. Electronic properties have been studied through the calculation of band structures and density of state (DOS), while structural properties are investigated by geometry optimization of the cell. Fritz-Haber-Institute (FHI) pseudopotentials were employed to perform all calculations. The optical diffuse reflectance spectra was mesured and applied to deduce the refractive index (n), the extinction coefficient (k), the absorption coefficient (), the real and imaginary dielectric permittivity parts () and the optical band gap energy E_g. The optical band gap energy value shows good consistent with that obtained from DFT calculations and reveals the insulating behavior of the material.