Phonons in semiconductors

Abstract It is obvious that the title of this article encompasses an area too vast to be adequately covered in a single review paper. Thus, we hasten to remark at the outset that the primary topic to be dealt with here is the relation between the crystal dynamics, on the one hand, and the basic interactions between the valence electrons and ion cores in semiconducting crystals, on the other. In this sense, this review is essentially an extension and updating of Cochran's recent review article in this series1 with special emphasis on semiconductors and covalently bonded solids.