Electronic properties of vacancies in alloys: Insight from Heyd-Scuseria-Ernzerhof hybrid functional calculations
Phys. Rev. B 113, 125202 – Published 17 March, 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/mydp-bdng
Abstract
The development of alloys has prompted interest in exploring the nature of point defects, particularly vacancies. This study employs Heyd-Scuseria-Ernzerhof hybrid functional to investigate the electronic properties of the vacancy in alloys, focusing specifically on Si, , and compositions. It is found that for a fixed vacancy configuration, variations in alloy composition lead to nearly similar formation energies. The calculated levels for vacancies of the 0-0-0, 0-0-1, and 0-1-0 configuration in the two alloys are generally consistent with the experimental value of . For the level, the results for the vacancy in Si and the vacancy of the 0-0-0 configuration in are very close. The acceptor levels of the vacancy in Si are found to be for level and for level. These results are consistent with the corresponding acceptor levels obtained for the vacancy of the 0-0-0 configuration in . These findings underscore the importance of alloying and local configuration in determining vacancy electronic properties and suggest that alloys offer a valuable platform for more accurate probing of vacancy acceptor levels in silicon.