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RESEARCH PRODUCT

Semiconducting half-Heusler and LiGaGe structure type compounds

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Compounds with LiAlSi (half-Heusler) and LiGaGe structure types have been investigated by means of band structure calculations. The LiAlSi structure type is known as the half-Heusler structure type, whereas LiGaGe is a closely related hexagonal variant. A remarkable feature of some XYZ half-Heusler compounds with 8 and 18 valence electrons is, that despite being composed of only metallic elements, they are semiconductors. More than 100 semiconducting compounds within these structure types are known. LiGaGe compounds have an additional degree of freedom, namely the degree of puckering of the layers. These compounds can become semiconducting at a certain degree of puckering. Half-metallic behavior is rarely found in this structure type.