Indium phosphide
Indium phosphide (InP) is a semiconductor composed of indium and phosphorus. It is used in high-power and high-frequency electronics because of its superior electron velocity with respect to the more common semiconductors silicon and gallium arsenide. It also has a direct bandgap, making it useful for optoelectronics devices like laser diodes.
| General | |
|---|---|
| Name | Indium phosphide |
| Chemical Formula | InP |
| Appearance | Dark gray cubic crystals |
| Structure | Formula weight | 145.79 amu |
| Lattice constant | 0.58687 nm |
| Crystal structure | Zinc-blende | Physical |
| State of matter at STP | solid |
| Melting point at SP | 1333 K |
| Boiling point at SP | ? |
| Specific gravity | 4.81 |
| Electronic | |
| Band gap at 300K | 1.344 eV |
| Electron effective mass | 0.073 me |
| Hole effective mass | 0.64 me |
| Electron mobility at 300 K | 0.46 m2/V·s |
| Hole mobility at 300 K | 0.015 m2/V·s | Precautions |
| Toxic | ? |
| Decompostion products | ? | SI units were used where possible. |
Indium phosphide also has one of the longest-lived optical phonons of any compound with the zincblende crystal structure.
The Sellmeier equation that describes how the optical refractive index for indium phosphide depends on wavelength is given by:
where λ is the wavelength in micrometres.