A correlation between the enthalpy of mixing and the internal strain energy in the III-V alloy semiconductor system

The enthalpy of mixing calculated using the delta lattice parameter model has been compared with the internal strain energy estimated by the elastic sphere approximation. The composition dependencies of both energies are very similar for the quaternary III-V alloy semiconductors. Substantial origin of increase of the enthalpy in the alloy is concluded to be the internal strain caused by the difference in the bond length of constituent compounds.