Most binary materials formed by early group 13 and 15 elements are semiconductors identical in their structures and properties. We show that in the ultra-small cluster regime these materials are markedly different. Among X3Y3 (X = B, Al, Ga; Y = P, As), lighter clusters are planar, and heavier clusters are compact and three-dimensional. The difference is owed to the interplay between covalency and delocalized non-directional bonding in these systems. If the sp-hybridization in the constituent elements is energetically affordable and leads to strong directional overlap, the bonding is covalent and the cluster is flat. Otherwise, the cluster is three-dimensional.
Revised: December 30, 2015 |
Published: November 19, 2013
Citation
Alexandrova A.N., M.R. Nechay, B.R. Lydon, D.P. Buchan, A.J. Yeh, M. Tai, and I.P. Kostrikin, et al. 2013.The same in the bulk but different as clusters: X3Y3 (X = B, Al, Ga; Y = P, As).Chemical Physics Letters 588. doi:10.1016/j.cplett.2013.10.003