<i>E</i> band-gap energy and lattice constant of ternary Zn1−<i>x</i>Mg<i>x</i>Se as functions of composition

Abstract

The E0 band gap energies and the lattice constants of zinc-blende Zn1−xMgxSe alloys grown by molecular beam epitaxy in the composition range of 0≤x≤0.95 are determined. A nonlinear dependence on the composition is observed for both the band-gap energies and the lattice con- stants of the ternary alloys. To our knowledge this is an initial report of a bowing in the lattice constant of a ternary II–VI alloy. Considering the bowings, the band-gap energy and the lattice constant of zinc-blende MgSe are extrapolated to be about 4.0 eV and 5.91 Å, respectively.