High temperature elastic anharmonicity in lanthanum mono-chalcogenides
The elastic behaviour of lanthanum mono-chalcogenides is investigated at elevated temperatures. This study includes second- and third-order elastic constants of compound semiconductors LaS, LaSe, and LaTe, starting from primary physical parameters, that is, nearest neighbour distance and hardness parameters, assuming long- and short-range potentials. The variations of elastic constants with temperature follow a systematic trend identical to that observed in other chalcogenides in the NaCl-type structure family. The present approach can also succeed in predicting the pressure derivatives of the elastic constants. The obtained results are compared with available theoretical data and are found to be in satisfactory agreement with present values.