Evolving Perspectives And Unifying Characteristics Of The IV-VI Semiconductors

This paper examines a selected group of basic properties of the 4-6 family of compound semiconductors and related materials. The goal is to show how knowledge accumulated over a thirty-year period has led to changes in the way these properties are described and interpreted, has focused increasing attention on the unifying characteristics of the 4-6 family, and has clarified the relationships of these compounds to one another, and to other, better-known groups of insulators, semiconductors, and semimetals.