Crystal Chemistry of Diamond-like and other Derivative Semiconducting Compounds.

A brief discussion of the fundamental principles which govern the systematic derivation of adamantane structure compounds, from the cubic and the hexagonal diamond structures of the group IV semiconducting elements, is presented. The families of semiconductors derived are referred to as n-fold derivatives of the respective binaries (II VI and III V). The most common structure types of these derivative semiconducting compounds are presented in the context of the structural relationships that exist between their complex structures and the elemental diamond substructures.