Synthesis of Complex Pnictide Semiconductors

Synthesis of complex inorganic materials is often a bottleneck of the materials by design concept. For complex pnictides, thermodynamic and kinetic limitations of conventional synthetic approaches areas are complicated with phase segregation of volatile components, such as P and As, together with extreme reactivity of alkali and alkaline-earth metals towards container materials. Such limitations often resulted in inability to synthesize predicted materials in ternary and quaternary systems with drastically different reactivities of the constituent elements. Several strategies to advance synthesis and produce challenging phases will be discussed, such as averaging precursor reactivity by atomic mixing of refractory components; and prebuilding chemical bonds in the precursor. In-situ studies are crucial for the development of effective synthesis, especially when backed-up with ex-situ synthetic explorations and DSC results.