We study structural, electronic and optical properties of inorganic lead-
free halide perovskites RbGeX3 (X = Cl, Br and I) under hydrostatic pressure, which
could facilitate development of new optoelectronic and solar-cell technologies. ab
initio first-principles calculations are employed based on the generalized gradient
approximation within the framework of density functional theory. We demonstrate
that the bandgap of our perovskites decreases with increasing pressure. At a given
pressure, the bandgap becomes narrower when the halogen atom is changed from Cl
to I. We also examine the density of states and demonstrate that the energy levels
near the Fermi level change significantly under pressure. The optical properties are
calculated using the density functional perturbation theory and the Kramers–Kronig
relation. The optical parameters such as the real and imaginary parts of the dielectric
function, the refractive index and the absorption coefficient are calculated under
different pressures.