| An interest in electronic materials has led me to investigate new synthetic approaches to "III-V" type semiconducting (13-15, current IUPAC designation for B and N groups in the Periodic Table) and magnetic (3-15) compounds. It is now possible to prepare binary (GaAs and GdP) and ternary mixed-metal ;In spite of the brief and explosive nature of these reactions, there are some clues as to the initiation and reaction processes. The initial steps in the reactions appear to be the decomposition of the precursors and the formation of the sodium halides. Since initiation occurs when one of the precursors goes through a phase change, such as melting or decomposing, the melting points of the GaX;Physical methods have been employed to characterize the bulk products. The 13-15 materials have been investigated using MAS-NMR spectroscopy. The 3-15 compounds have been extensively studied using magnetometry, and the effectiveness of the metathesis processes was examined by comparing the ignition reaction products to those generated by direct combination of the elements at elevated temperatures. Both the 3-15 and 13-15 materials have been examined by SEM and EDS techniques. |
