Theoretical Prediction of Mechanical Properties of B_xAl_1−xSb Ternary Semiconducting Alloys

The present work aims to predict the elastic constants and other significant properties of ordered B_xAl_1-xSb (0 ≤ x ≤ 1) ternary semiconducting alloys. We report the initial results of the elastic stiffness constants, the bulk modulus, the aggregate shear modulus, the Cauchy ratio, the aggregate Young’s modulus, the Born ratio, the isotropy factor, the fracture toughness and the longitudinal, transverse and average sound velocities. The Debye temperature and the melting point were also predicted using two different empirical expressions. Except the Cauchy ratio, which decreases with enhancing boron content x, all other physical quantities of B_xAl_1-xSb alloys increase gradually and monotonically with increasing of boron concentration x in the range 0-1.

Our obtained data for BSb and AlSb binary semiconducting compounds are discussed and analyzed in comparison with experimental and other theoretical values of the literature. Generally, our data for BSb and AlSb are in good agreement with other results reported previously in literature. Indeed, our obtained value (335.82 K) of the Debye temperature for AlSb compound overestimates the result (328.6 K) reported by Salehi et al. by around 2.03%, while that (1520 K) of the melting point for BSb overestimates the result (1500 K) reported recently by Bioud et al. by around 1.34%. Furthermore, to the best of our knowledge, no theoretical or experimental data were reported in the literature on the elastic constants and other properties for B_xAl_1-xSb alloys to compare with them.