The compound energy model for compound semiconductors

The compound energy model is applied to semiconductor systems in order to describe the thermodynamic properties of the lattice defects and of free electrons and holes. A convenient way of defining the model parameters is presented. The description is compared with a recent description based on a 'species chemical potential' formalism. It is shown that they can be translated into each other, and a numerical example is given using GaAs. Some parameters that are constant in a binary system may vary in a higher order system. Different ways of handling such cases are discussed.