Zinc cadmium phosphide arsenide ( Zn- Cd- P- As) is a quaternary system of group II (

IUPAC The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC ) is an international federation of National Adhering Organizations working for the advancement of the chemical sciences, especially by developing nomenclature and terminology. It is ...

group 12) and group V (IUPAC

group 15 , - ! colspan=2 style="text-align:left;" , ↓ Period , - ! 2 , , - ! 3 , , - ! 4 , , - ! 5 , , - ! 6 , , - ! 7 , , - , colspan="2", ---- ''Legend'' A pnictogen ( or ; from "to choke" and -gen, "generator") is any ...

) elements. Many of the

inorganic An inorganic compound is typically a chemical compound that lacks carbon–hydrogen bonds⁠that is, a compound that is not an organic compound. The study of inorganic compounds is a subfield of chemistry known as '' inorganic chemistry''. Inor ...

compounds in the system are II-V

semiconductor material A semiconductor is a material with electrical conductivity between that of a Electrical conductor, conductor and an Insulator (electricity), insulator. Its conductivity can be modified by adding impurities ("doping (semiconductor), doping") to ...

s. The quaternary system of II₃V₂ compounds, (Zn_1−xCd_x)₃(P_1−yAs_y)₂, has been shown to allow

solid solution A solid solution, a term popularly used for metals, is a homogeneous mixture of two compounds in solid state and having a single crystal structure. Many examples can be found in metallurgy, geology, and solid-state chemistry. The word "solutio ...

continuously over the whole compositional range. This material system and its subsets have applications in

electronics Electronics is a scientific and engineering discipline that studies and applies the principles of physics to design, create, and operate devices that manipulate electrons and other Electric charge, electrically charged particles. It is a subfield ...

optoelectronics Optoelectronics (or optronics) is the study and application of electronic devices and systems that find, detect and control light, usually considered a sub-field of photonics. In this context, ''light'' often includes invisible forms of radi ...

, including

photovoltaics Photovoltaics (PV) is the conversion of light into electricity using semiconducting materials that exhibit the photovoltaic effect, a phenomenon studied in physics, photochemistry, and electrochemistry. The photovoltaic effect is commerciall ...

, and thermoelectrics.

List of all binary compounds

This system of elements contains numerous binary compounds and their solid solutions.

Stable at atmospheric pressure

The binary compounds thermodynamically stable at

atmospheric pressure Atmospheric pressure, also known as air pressure or barometric pressure (after the barometer), is the pressure within the atmosphere of Earth. The standard atmosphere (symbol: atm) is a unit of pressure defined as , which is equivalent to 1,013. ...

are listed in the following table:

Metastable or unstable at atmospheric pressure

Compounds metastable or unstable at atmospheric pressure are the following:

Quaternary compounds

The compounds of the form II₃V₂ have similar crystalline structures and exhibit full solid solution over the whole compositional range. The compounds of the form II-V₂ allow only partial solid solution.

Ternary compounds

The binary compounds in this system form a wide range of solid solutions. This miscibility reflects the close similarity of the structures of the binary phases. The IIV₂ compounds exhibit wide solid solution ranges with CdP₄ even though the stoichiometry and structures of the components differ. The optoelectronic and band properties of some ternary compounds have also been studied. For example, the bandgap of Zn₃(P_1−yAs_y)₂ solid solutions is direct and tunable from 1.0 eV to 1.5 eV. This solubility enables the fabrication of tunable nanowire photodetectors. The solid solution (Zn_1−xCd_x)₃As₂ exhibit a

topological Topology (from the Greek words , and ) is the branch of mathematics concerned with the properties of a geometric object that are preserved under continuous deformations, such as stretching, twisting, crumpling, and bending; that is, wit ...

phase transition at x ~ 0.62.

Notable binary compounds

Cadmium arsenide (Cd₃As₂)

Cadmium arsenide is a 3D Dirac

semimetal A semimetal is a material with a small energy overlap between the bottom of the Electrical conduction, conduction Electronic band structure, band and the top of the valence band, but they do not overlap in momentum space. According to Band theory ...

exhibiting the Nernst effect.

Zinc phosphide (Zn₃P₂)

Zinc phosphide is a semiconductor material with a direct

band gap In solid-state physics and solid-state chemistry, a band gap, also called a bandgap or energy gap, is an energy range in a solid where no electronic states exist. In graphs of the electronic band structure of solids, the band gap refers to t ...

of 1.5 eV used in photovoltaics. It is also used as a

rodenticide Rodenticides are chemicals made and sold for the purpose of killing rodents. While commonly referred to as "rat poison", rodenticides are also used to kill mice, woodchucks, chipmunks, porcupines, nutria, beavers, and voles. Some rodenticides ...

in the

pest control Pest control is the regulation or management of a species defined as a pest (organism), pest; such as any animal, plant or fungus that impacts adversely on human activities or environment. The human response depends on the importance of the da ...

industry.

Zinc arsenide (Zn₃As₂)

Zinc arsenide is a semiconductor material with a band gap of 1.0 eV.

References

External links

{{Phosphides II-V semiconductors Zinc compounds Cadmium compounds Arsenides Phosphides II-V compounds