Anharmonic Properties of IV–VI Compound Semiconductors

The anharmonic properties of IV–VI compound semiconductors are analysed by means of a theoretical model in which the charge transfer effects, arising from the deformation of electron shells leading to three‐body interactions, are included explicitly in the crystal potential energy. The agreement between the experimental and the theoretical results on anharmonic elastic properties is reasonably good in almost all the cases under consideration. The charge transfer effects show appreciable influence on the third‐order elastic constants and the pressure derivatives of the second‐order elastic constants of IV–VI semiconductors.