solid solution

solid solution, mixture of two crystalline solids that coexist as a new crystalline solid, or crystal lattice. The mixing can be accomplished by combining the two solids when they have been melted into liquids at high temperatures and then cooling the result to form the new solid or by depositing vapours of the starting materials onto substrates to form thin films. As with liquids, solids have different degrees of mutual solubility, depending on their chemical properties and crystalline structure, which determine how their atoms fit together in the mixed crystal lattice. The mixed lattice may be substitutional, in which the atoms of one starting crystal replace those of the other, or interstitial, in which the atoms occupy positions normally vacant in the lattice. The substances may be soluble over a partial or even complete range of relative concentrations, producing a crystal whose properties vary continuously over the range. This provides a way to tailor the properties of the solid solution for specific applications.

Many solid solutions appear in nature in the form of minerals made under conditions of heat and pressure. One example is the olivine mineral group, particularly the forsterite-fayalite series, whose members vary from forsterite (Mg₂SiO₄) to fayalite (Fe₂SiO₄). The two compounds have identical crystal structures and form a substitutional solid solution that can range from 100 percent magnesium (Mg) to 100 percent iron (Fe), including all proportions in between, with physical properties that vary smoothly from those of forsterite to those of fayalite.

Solid solutions of semiconductors are of great technological value, as in the combination of gallium arsenide (GaAs) with gallium phosphide (GaP), aluminum arsenide (AlAs), or indium arsenide (InAs). The properties of these solid solutions can be tuned to values between those of the end compounds by adjusting the relative proportions of the compounds; for instance, the band gap for combinations of InAs and GaAs can be set anywhere between the value for pure InAs (0.36 electron volt [eV]) and that for pure GaAs (1.4 eV), with corresponding changes in the materials’ electrical and optical properties. This kind of flexibility makes semiconductor solid solutions highly useful for a variety of electronic and optical devices, including transistors, solar cells, infrared detectors, light-emitting diodes (LEDs), and semiconductor lasers.