Kevin Kwock with Kathleen Kash and Gary Chottiner

Deposition and characterization of ZnSnSb₂ for phase transition studies

ZnSnSb₂ (zinc tin antimonide) is predicted to have interesting crystal structures, phase transitions, and thermoelectric properties that have not yet been carefully confirmed by experiment. The objective of this study is to produce, characterize and understand this material. Because of its ternary structure, ZnSnSb₂ has polymorphic crystal structures that order at around 473 K. We plan to expand the understanding of this material and verify whether it in fact has the properties, such as bandgap and potential crystal structure ordering, predicted by theory.