Neha Patil (Editor)

Boron phosphide

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Formula
  
BP

Density
  
2.9 g/cm³

Appearance
  
maroon powder

Melting point
  
1,100 °C

Molar mass
  
41.7855 g/mol

Boron phosphide wwwnaturecomamjournalv5n7imagesam201331f1jpg

Boron phosphide (BP) (also referred to as boron monophosphide, to distinguish it from boron subphosphide, B12P2) is a chemical compound of boron and phosphorus. It is a semiconductor.

Contents

History

Crystals of boron phosphide were synthesized by Henri Moissan 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

Some properties of BP are listed below:

  • lattice constant 0.45383 nm
  • coefficient of thermal expansion 3.65×10−6 /°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)

    • References

    Boron phosphide Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA