Simplified Method for the Calculation of Characteristic Temperatures of Diamond and Sphalerite-Structure Solids

Characteristic temperatures of crystals having the diamond and sphalerite crystal structures were calculated by use of a model based on lattice theory. In the calculations the elastic longitudinal mode of vibration in the [Formula: see text] crystallographic direction has been directly related to the cutoff frequency of the acoustical part of the lattice-vibration spectrum. Characteristic temperatures so calculated may provide a convenient single parameter for relating the acoustical part of the frequency spectrum to some of the observed physical and thermal properties of these solids.