An investigation of the preparation and properties of some IIIa-Vb compounds

Previous work bearing on the techniques of preparation of the IIIa-Vb compounds is reviewed and the preparative problems systematically analysed. This study has resulted in the development of a simple low temperature method for preparing these compounds from their component elements with the minimum of contamination. It has been found that these very high melting point compounds can be sublimed and that sublimation techniques offer a convenient route for their purification and fabrication in thin film form.Evidence that some of the IIIa-Vb compounds are semiconductors has been obtained from studies of the optical properties of thin films of PrAs, NdAs, SmAs, GdAs, DyAs, TmAs, YbAs, PrSb, SmSb, YbSb and SmP; their respective optical energy gaps were determined as 1, 1.04, 1.03, 0.63, 1, 1.18, 1.02, 0.66, 0.59, 1, and 1.09 eV respectively. A comparison is made between these measured values and those predicted by N. Sclar [1].