The effect of defects and disorder on the electronic properties of ZnIr₂O₄

We analyze by means of ab initio calculations the role of imperfections on the electronic structure of ZnIr₂O₄, ranging from point defects in the spinel phase to the fully amorphous phase. We find that interstitial defects and anion vacancies in the spinel have large formation energies, in agreement with the trends observed in other spinels. In contrast, cation vacancies and antisites have lower formation energies. Among them, the zinc antisite and the zinc vacancy are the defects with the lowest formation energy. They are found to act as acceptors, and may be responsible for the spontaneous hole doping in the material. They may also induce optical transitions that would reduce the transparency of the material. Amorphization of ZnIr₂O₄ leads a large decrease of the band gap and appearance of localized states at the edges of the band gap region, which may act as charge traps and prevent amorphous ZnIr₂O₄ from being a good hole conductor