Band structure of Mg_1-xZn_xS_ySe_1-y

The empirical pseudopotential method within the virtual crystal approximation is used to calculate the band structure of Mg_1-xZn_xS_ySe_1-y, which has recently been proved to be a potential semiconductor material for optoelectronic device applications in the blue spectral region. It is shown that MgZnSSe can be a direct or an indirect semiconductor depending on the alloy composition. Electron and hole effective masses are calculated for different compositions. Polynomial approximations are obtained for both the energy gap and the effective mass as functions of alloy composition at the Gamma valley. This information will be useful for the future design of blue wavelength optoelectronic devices as well as for assessment of their properties.