Remarkable Optoelectronic Characteristics of Synthesizable Square‐Octagon Haeckelite Structures: Machine Learning Materials Discovery

Abstract The research explores new compounds with structures similar to square‐octagonal beryllium oxide, commonly known as Haeckelites. The goal is to identify semiconducting variations compounds that can be synthesized and show promising potential in optoelectronic devices. Start with 1083 binary Haeckelite structures, and to test the synthesis potential of these materials quickly, develop new descriptors and use machine learning techniques. As a result, it identifies a subset of 350 materials with suitable properties in terms of phase stability and electronic perspective. These materials are further investigated to analyze their electronic structure and phase stability, which are determined through density functional theory calculations. The phase stabilities of the predicted semiconducting Haeckelites are also compared to other binary compounds using an evolutionary structure search algorithm. The comprehensive methodology also includes examining the dynamic stabilities through phonon calculations and mechanical properties through elastic constant calculations. Eventually, 13 new Haeckelite compounds are discovered, demonstrating exceptional stability and performance in electronic tests. Among these compounds, eight have shown remarkable absorption coefficients and are considered promising candidates with high reflectivity. Additionally, they have exhibited high electron mobility. These findings strongly suggest the potential of these compounds for synthesis and their application in optoelectronic devices.