Phonon dynamics of plutonium chalcogenides and pnictides

We have investigated the phonon dynamics of the plutonium compounds (PuX; X = S, Se, Te, As, and Sb) by using rigid ion (RIM) and breathing shell models (BSM), later includes breathing motion of the electrons of the Pu-atoms due to f-d hybridization. We discuss the significance of these two approaches in predicting the phonon dispersion curves of PuX compounds and examine the role of electron-phonon interactions. Dominant ionic nature of bonding has been predicted for PuX compounds from the large LO-TO phonon splitting at zone center. We also report the one phonon density of states and first time calculated the lattice specific heat for these compounds.