First-principles study of the structural, elastic, electronic, optical and thermodynamic properties of the cubic perovskite CsCdCl3 under high pressure

The structural, elastic, electronic, optical and thermodynamic properties of the perovskite chloride CsCdCl3 were investigated using the pseudo-potential plane wave (PP-PW) within the Generalized Gradient Approximation (GGA) and Local Density Approximation (LDA). The computed lattice parameter agrees well with experimental and previous theoretical works. Based on the elastic constants and their related parameters, the crystal rigidity and mechanical stability have been discussed. Energy band structure shows that the investigated material is Γ – R indirect energy band gap semiconductor. The static dielectric constant and static refractive index are indeed, proportional to the fundamental indirect band gap. The thermal effect on the lattice parameter, bulk modulus, volume expansion coefficient, Grüneisen parameter, heat capacities and Debye temperature were predicted using the quasi-harmonic Debye model. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, most of the studied properties are reported for the first time.