Boron phosphide

History

Crystals of boron phosphide were synthesized by Henri Moissan as early as 1891.

Appearance

Pure BP is almost transparent, n-type crystals are orange-red whereas p-type ones are dark red.

Chemical properties

BP is not attacked by acids or boiling aqueous alkali water solutions. It is only attacked by molten alkalis.

Physical properties

BP is known to be chemically inert and exhibit very high thermal conductivity. Some properties of BP are listed below:

• lattice constant 0.45383 nm
• coefficient of thermal expansion 3.65 /°C (400 K)
• heat capacity CP ~ 0.8 J/(g·K) (300 K)
• Debye temperature = 985 K
• Bulk modulus 152 GPa
• relatively high microhardness of 32 GPa (100 g load).
• electron and hole mobilities of a few hundred cm2/(V·s) (up to 500 for holes at 300 K)
• high thermal conductivity of ~ 460 W/(m·K) at room temperature

References

References

1. Madelung, O.. (2004). "Semiconductors: Data Handbook". Birkhäuser.
2. (1957). "Boron Phosphide, a III–V Compound of Zinc-Blende Structure". Nature.
3. Moissan, H.. (1891). "Préparation et Propriétés des Phosphures de Bore". Comptes Rendus.
4. Berger, L. I.. (1996). "Semiconductor Materials". CRC Press.
5. (2017). "Thermal Properties and Phonon Spectral Characterization of Synthetic Boron Phosphide for High Thermal Conductivity Applications". Nano Letters.