Chemical bonding properties of cubic III-nitride semiconductors

Abstract

We report on the chemical trends of the physical quantities of cubic III nitrides obtained from first-principles calculations on the basis of the density functional theory within the local density approximation. The results are compared to experimental results of the element semiconductors including diamond, and of III-V and II-VI compound semiconductors. It has been found that (a) BN has strong covalent character comparable to diamond, (b) the chemical bonding properties of AIN and GaN are located in the intermediate between that of other III-V and II-VI materials, and (c) the bond angle of InN is easy to bend more than the other typical III-V, II-VI, and I-VII materials.