Low-temperature lattice thermal expansion of the II–VI semiconductor ZnSe Original Research Article

The low-temperature lattice thermal expansion of the wide gap semiconductor ZnSe is investigated using the quasi-harmonic theory of thermal expansion. The generalized Grüneisen parameters (GPs) of the elastic waves propagating in different directions with respect to the [001] crystallographic axis are calculated using the second-and third-order elastic constants. The values of the generalized GPs γ j are generally positive except for γ 2 from θ =25 to 65°. The Brugger gamma is calculated and the low-temperature limit of the Grüneisen gamma is determined using the procedure of Menon and Rao. The low-temperature limit View the MathML sourceγ¯ has been obtained as 0.46 for ZnSe. The volume expansion is expected to be positive down to absolute zero for ZnSe, since View the MathML sourceγ¯ is positive.