Boron phosphide is a chemical compound of boron

Boron

Boron is the chemical element with atomic number 5 and the chemical symbol B. Boron is a metalloid. Because boron is not produced by stellar nucleosynthesis, it is a low-abundance element in both the solar system and the Earth's crust. However, boron is concentrated on Earth by the...

 and phosphorus

Phosphorus

Phosphorus is the chemical element that has the symbol P and atomic number 15. A multivalent nonmetal of the nitrogen group, phosphorus as a mineral is almost always present in its maximally oxidized state, as inorganic phosphate rocks...

. It is a semiconductor

Semiconductor

A semiconductor is a material with electrical conductivity due to electron flow intermediate in magnitude between that of a conductor and an insulator. This means a conductivity roughly in the range of 103 to 10−8 siemens per centimeter...

 .

History

Crystals of boron phosphide have been synthesized by Henri Moissan

Henri Moissan

Ferdinand Frederick Henri Moissan was a French chemist who won the 1906 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work in isolating fluorine from its compounds.-Biography:...

 as early as in 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

• coefficient of thermal expansion ~3x10⁻⁶ /°K
• heat capacity C_P ~ 0.8 J/(g*K) (300 K)
• Debye temperature = 1000 K
• relatively high microhardness of 32 GPa (100 g load).
• electron and hole mobilities of few hundred cm²/(V*s) (up to 500)

Related materials

• Boron arsenide
  Boron arsenide
  Boron arsenide is a chemical compound of boron and arsenic. It is a cubic semiconductor with a lattice constant of 0.4777 nm and an indirect bandgap of roughly 1.5 eV...
  
  
• Boron nitride
  Boron nitride
  Boron nitride is a chemical compound with chemical formula BN, consisting of equal numbers of boron and nitrogen atoms. BN is isoelectronic to a similarly structured carbon lattice and thus exists in various crystalline forms...
  
  
• Aluminium phosphide
  Aluminium phosphide
  Aluminium phosphide is an inorganic compound used as a wide band gap semiconductor and a fumigant. This colourless solid is generally sold as a grey-green-yellow powder due to the presence of impurities arising from hydrolysis and oxidation.-Properties:...
  
  
• Gallium phosphide