The pressure dependence of energy gaps for a number of elemental and compound semiconductors is investigated employing the empirical pseudopotential method. The compressibility and the empirical pseudopotential form factors appro~ate for describing the band structure at normal pressure are the only required input parameters in this calculation. The calculated pressure coefficients of several critical-point band gaps for group IV and III-V compounds are generally in good agreement with experimental data. The results are then utilized, along with a Penn type of single-oscillator model for the dielectric constant, to calculate the pressure coefficient of the refractive index. The results are good for elemental semiconductors and reasonable for III-V compounds. Similar calculations of pressure coeAicients of both the energy gaps and the refractive index for several II-VI compounds yield results which are less satisfactory. Possible reasons for this discrepancy are discussed.
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