Synthesis, characterization and DFT calculations of electronic and optical properties of YbPO4

YbPO4 crystals were synthesized by solid-state reaction and characterized by X-ray diffraction, infrared and Raman spectroscopies. The electronic structure and optical properties of YbPO4 such as the energy band structures, density of states and chemical bonds were calculated with the Density Functional Theory (DFT) for the first time. We present a combination of the GGA and the LDA + U approaches in order to obtain appropriate results due to the strong Coulomb repulsion between the highly localized 4f electrons of rare earth atoms. The linear photon-energy-dependent dielectric functions, conductivity and some optical constants such as refractive index, reflectivity and absorption coefficients were determined. The calculated total and partial densities of states indicate that the top of valance band is built upon O-2p states with P-3p states via sigma (P-O) interactions, and the conduction bands mostly originate from Yb-5d states. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.