Effect of magnesium on structural and optical properties of CaTiO3: A DFT study

The electronic bandstructure, optical and structural properties of pure and Mg-doped CaTiO3 are calculated by using first-principle calculation which is based on the density functional theory. The effect of Mg-dopant on the properties of CaTiO3 perovskite explored by using ultra soft pseudo-potential (USP) and generalized gradient approximation (GGA). The incorporation of Mg at Ca site affected the electronic band structure of CaTiO3 meaningfully by introducing new gamma point. The incorporation of Mg increases the band gap from 1.84 eV to 1.92 eV. The partial density of states of pure CaTiO3 changed after doping cleared the effect of dopant on pure system. Optical properties of both the systems are examined which reveals that the absorption edge shifting from 2.1 eV to 2.5 eV indicates a blue shift whereas the refractive index also increases from 2 to 2.4 after doping. Thus Mg-doped CaTiO3 not only affect the optical properties of the system but also make it and appealing candidate for optical devices. •Electronic and optical properties of Mg-doped CaTiO3 are studied.•Mg-doped CaTiO3 is remained the indirect band gap semiconductor but with.change of symmetry points.•Mg(d) state plays an important role in the doping system.