Long optical vibrations and elastic constants of hexagonal boron nitride

Abstract

Abstract The long optical vibrations of hexagonal BN are studied using the valence force constants of the borazine molecule. It is shown that the in‐plane interactions are adequately described by the transferred molecular force constants. The elastic constant ( c 11 + c 12 ), calculated from the above model compares well with the experimentally deduced value. It is argued that the interplanar forces cannot be satisfactorily described by a simple Lennard‐Jones potential.