Quasiamorphous semiconductors

The experimental data on the electrical, thermal, and optical properties of high-boron compounds and modifications of boron–refractory crystals distinguished by specific and complicated structure–are reviewed. It is shown that depending on the complexity of the crystalline structure the properties of the materials transform, systematically approaching the properties characteristic of amorphous semiconductors; a new class of materials is thus identified–quasiamorphous semiconductors. In the limiting case of the most complicated structures, they can be regarded as natural structural models of amorphous semiconductors.