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arXiv · 2512.24093

Tunable Carrier Dynamics in Carbide Antiperovskites via A-Site Cation Substitution

Sanchi Monga·Saswata Bhattacharya
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Abstract

We present a comprehensive first-principles investigation of the electronic structure and excited-state carrier dynamics in the carbide antiperovskites Ca$_6$CSe$_4$ and Sr$_6$CSe$_4$. Using many-body perturbation theory ($G_0W_0$/BSE), we show that both materials are direct band gap semiconductors with quasiparticle gaps of 1.66 eV (Ca) and 1.22 eV (Sr), lying in the visible-near-infrared range, and exhibit moderate excitonic binding energies. Ab initio nonadiabatic molecular dynamics simulations at 300 K reveal distinct relaxation mechanisms governed by the interplay of band gap, nonadiabatic (NA) couplings, and electronic decoherence. In Ca$_6$CSe$_4$, stronger lattice fluctuations induce 38% larger band gap variations and 28% faster decoherence, which, together with approximately 53% weaker NA couplings, suppress nonradiative recombination and yield lifetimes nearly 18 times longer (40.3 ns) than in Sr$_6$CSe$_4$ (2.2 ns). Hot-carrier cooling in both systems occurs on picosecond timescales (1-9 ps) with a pronounced slow down near the band egdes. Overall, our results demonstrate that A-site cation substitution provides an effective route to control carrier lifetimes and relaxation pathways in antiperovskites, offering microscopic insight into lattice-driven carrier dynamics and guiding their experimental realization and optimization.

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Sanchi Monga, Saswata Bhattacharya. 2026-04-11. Tunable Carrier Dynamics in Carbide Antiperovskites via A-Site Cation Substitution. https://arxiv.org/abs/2512.24093

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