INHERENT PROPERTIES OF TERNARY (ANB2+NC27-N) TETRAHEDRAL SEMICONDUCTORS

In this paper we have evaluated inherent properties (i.e., heat of formation and cohesive energy) for chalcopyrite structured solids. We have presented two expressions relating the heat of formation and cohesive energy for A(II) B-IV C-2(V) and A(I) B-III C-2(VI) semiconductors with the product of ionic charge (Z(A)Z(B)Z(C)) and nearest neighbor distance (d in angstrom). The heat of formation and cohesive energy of these solids exhibit a linear relationship when plotted on a log-log scale against the nearest neighbor distance, but fall on different straight lines according to the product of ionic charge of the compounds. We have applied the modified relations on these solids and found a better agreement with experimental data as compared to the values evaluated by previous researchers so far. The results for heat of formation differ from experimental values by the following amounts: ZnSiP2 - 4.8%, ZnSnP2 - 0.4%, ZnSiAs2 - 0.7%, ZnGeAs2 - 2.6%, ZnSnAs2 - 1.2%, CdGeP2 - 3.8%, CuGaSe2 - 0.3% and AgInSe2 - 5% and the results for cohesive energy differ from experimental values by the following amounts: ZnSiP2 - 0.3%, ZnSnAs2 - 1.5%, CuGaSe2 - 3.7%, CuGaTe2 - 2%, CuInTe2 - 2.7%, AgGaTe2 - 0.7%, AgInSe2 - 3%, AgInTe2 - 3%.