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Optical phonons and magneto-elastic coupling in the ionic conductor AgCrSe$_2$

AgCrSe$_2$ is an example of a super-ionic conductor that has recently attracted attention for its low thermal conductivity. Here we investigate the optical properties of AgCrSe$_2$ in the ordered phase between 14 K and 374 K using reflectivity experiments. The far infrared optical response is dominated by three phonon modes, while six interband transitions are observed in the visible range. From our analysis we find that the phonon parameters display an interesting temperature dependence around the Néel temperature, pointing to a small magneto-elastic coupling. In addition, the lifetimes of the modes indicate that three-phonon processes dominate and the optical phonons decay into low energy acoustic modes involved in the super-ionic transition. Finally, we detect a small free charge carrier response through the analysis of Fabry-Perot interference fringes in our reflectivity data.