Boron phosphide properties

Boron phosphide (BP), a semiconductor with an indirect band gap of 2 eV, is one of the most promising high-temperature thermoelectric materials due to its outstanding chemical, mechanical, optical and thermal properties. Traditionally, BP is... 

The semiconducting properties of boron phosphide have not yet been investigated sufficiently thoroughly. The reported values of the forbidden band width are contradictory. According to some authors [2,5], the optical width of the forbidden band of BP is about 5.9 eV. According to others [6,7], its value is 2.1 eV. Medvedeva [8] reported AE = 2.6 eV. 

Prasad C, Sahay M (1989) Electronic stmcture and properties of boron phosphide and boron arsenide. Phys Status Solidi 154b 201-207... 

There are limited experimental data on the electronic structure of boron phosphide. Although several theoretical calculations are available, their results differ considerably. The existing theoretical data cannot be relied upon to provide accurate estimates of excitation energies, because most band structure calculations performed to date rely on the Xa method (10) and the local density approximation (LDA) to the density-functional theory (11-13). These theoretical methods can yield errors of up to several eV in band gaps or other excitation energies when compared with reliable experimental results. It has become possible to compute with great accuracy a number of electronic and structural properties from first-principles calculations. Among the quantities obtainable with this kind of calculation are crystal structures, phonon spectra, lattice constants, bulk and shear moduli, and other static and dynamical properties. 

DJ Stukel. Self-consistent energy bands and related properties of boron phosphide. Phys Rev Bl ... 

Y Kumashiro, M Hirabayashi, T Koshiro, Y Takahashi. Preparation and thermoelectric properties of sintered boron phosphide. In S Somiya, M Shimada, M Yoshimuta, R Watanabe, eds. Sintering 87. Amsterdam Elsevier Applied Science, 1988, p 43. 

Y Kumashiro, T Yokoyama, T Sakamoto, T Fujita. Preparation and electrical properties of boron and boron phosphide films obtained by gas source molecular beam deposition. J Solid State Chem 133 269, 1977. 

Y Kumashiro, M Hirabayashi, T Koshiro. Thermoelectric properties of boron phosphide. J Less Common Met 143 159, 1988. 

Y Kumashiro, T Mitsuhashi, S Okaya, F Muta, T Koshiro, Y Takahashi, M Hirabayashi, Y Okada. Thermophysical properties of thick wafers of boron phosphide. High Temp High Press 21 105, 1989. 

A Goossens, EM Kelder, RJM Beeren, CJG Bartels, J Schoonman. Structural, optical and electronic properties of sUicon/boron phosphide heterojunction photoelecirodes. Ber Bunsenges Phys Chem 95 503, 1991. 

The monophosphides MP, where M = B, Al, Ga or In, form an important group of phosphides in which each attmi is tetrahedrally coordinated by atons of the opposite kind in a cubic zinc blend-type similar to those of diamond, silicon and boron nitride (Figure 8.11). These monophosphides are hard high melting point compounds which have important semiconductor properties, and the system. GaP-... 

---