Amorphous semiconductors prepared by quenching under high pressure

Amorphous semiconductors synthesised by high-pressure quenching (ASHP) are discussed as a new class of materials of potential value in explaning the mechanisms of solid-state amorphisation processes and in testing models of an effective medium and of the scaling theory and the percolation theory. The formation of multicomponent systems, the superconductivity induced by amorphisation, the stability regions of metastable phases, and the effect of doping on the physical properties of tetrahedral amorphous semiconductors have been studied by using a wide range of experimental methods capable of establishing the interrelationship and the sequence of the phase transformations in ASHP produced by changes in the physical parameters. The bibliography contains 104 references.