MgSiP2: A New Member of the II IV V2 Family of Semiconducting Compounds

Abstract

SINCE the first members of the II IV V2 family of compound semiconductors were synthesized by Goodman1 there has been an increasing interest in these ternary analogues of the III V compound semiconductors, particularly in the USSR2. Until recently only fourteen members of the family were known to exist with the diamond-like chalcopyrite or sphalerite structures2-4 out of a possible total of 125 (ref. 3). In particular only one compound containing magnesium, MgGeP2 (refs. 3 and 5), had been identified. As with the III V compounds, there is a general tendency for an increase of energy gap with decreasing average atomic number and, in consequence, the magnesium compounds would be expected to have higher energy gaps (in excess of 2.0 eV) than many of the other members of the family. © 1969 Nature Publishing Group.