Collective dynamics in crystalline polymorphs of ZnCl₂: potential modelling and inelastic neutron scattering study

We report a phonon density of states measurement of $\alpha$-ZnCl$_{2}$ using the coherent inelastic neutron scattering technique and a lattice dynamical calculation in four crystalline phases of ZnCl$_{2}$ using a transferable interatomic potential. The model calculations agree reasonably well with the available experimental data on the structures, specific heat, Raman frequencies and their pressure variation in various crystalline phases. The calculated results have been able to provide a fair description of the vibrational as well as the thermodynamic properties of ZnCl$_{2}$ in all its four phases.