Inorganic Chemistry, Vol.59, No.24, 18452-18460, 2020
EuHgGeSe4 and EuHgSnS4: Two Quaternary Eu-Based Infrared Nonlinear Optical Materials with Strong Second-Harmonic-Generation Responses
Metal chalcogenides play a critical role in the infrared (IR) nonlinear optical (NLO) field. However, Eu-based chalcogenide-type IR NLO materials are still scarce up to now. In this paper, two new quaternary Eu-based chalcogenides, EuHgGeSe4 and EuHgSnS4, containing the "NLO active groups" [HgQ(4)](6-) (Q= S, Se) and [GeSe4](4-)/[SnS4](4-) were synthesized through traditional high-temperature solid-state reactions. They possess noncentrosymmetric structures, crystallizing in the Ama2 space group, and exhibit strong phase-matchable second-harmonicgeneration (SHG) responses (3.1X and 1.77X that of AgGaS2 for EuHgGeSe4 and EuHgSnS4, respectively). Meanwhile, the optical band gaps of EuHgGeSe4 (1.97 eV) and EuHgSnS4 (2.14 eV) were determined from UV-vis-NIR diffuse reflectance spectra. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) analyses reveal the congruent-melting behavior of EuHgGeSe4. Furthermore, structural analysis and theoretical calculations verify the critical driving effects of [HgQ(4)](6-) tetrahedra on the strong SHG activity. The overall results demonstrate that EuHgGeSe4 and EuHgSnS4 are potential IR NLO materials.