Synthesis, rietveld refinement, and microstructural characterization of bulk zinc gallium telluride

After thoroughly evaluating its properties, the suggested semiconducting material for a thin film semiconductor electronic device is selected. A thorough analysis of Zinc gallium telluride (ZnGa₂Te₄) in bulk can be helpful for researchers working on electronic device production. ZnGa₂Te₄ (ZGT) is a ternary semiconducting compound that belongs to the II-III₂-VI₄ family [II: zinc (Zn), cadmium (Cd); III: indium (In), gallium (Ga); and III: selenium (Se), tellurium (Te), sulphur (S)]. The microcontroller-based programmable rotary tube furnace synthesized homogeneous bulk ZGT ternary semiconducting compound. A vigorous XRD peak intensity and a low full breadth/width at half maximum (β) (FWHM) of the diffraction peak value in the synthesized ZGT bulk indicate high levels of crystallinity, which were examined using X-ray diffraction (XRD). The ZGT bulk's d-interplanar spacings (as determined by Bragg's law and Bravais theory), stacking fault (SF), texture coefficient (C_i), degree of preferred orientation (σ), lattice constants (a and c), and unit cell volume (V) have all been computed. To understand the thermal and structural characteristics of ZGT, the XRD data is analyzed using the Rietveld refinement (RR) method in the Fullprof programme. Various microstructural parameters of ZGT bulk, such as lattice parameters (a and c), crystallite size (D), strain (ε), microstrain ( \({\varepsilon }_{\text{rms}}\) ${\epsilon }_{\text{rms}}$ ), dislocation density ( \(\delta\) $\delta$ ), Young's modulus (y_{h k l}), stress ( \(\sigma\) $\sigma$ ), and energy density \((u)\) $(u)$ are calculated. Calculations have been made for the bulk, Voigt shear, Young's modulus, and Poisson's ratio elastic moduli of ZGT. Equipped with its transverse and longitudinal sound velocities, the ZGT bulk's Debye temperature has been calculated and depicted. The ZGT's bulk density is calculated using a pycnometer. The implications are discussed.