Atomic volume and semiconducting properties in sulfides of non-magnetic transition metals

The relationship between the occurrence of semiconducting properties and the deviations of atomic volume from additivity in sulfides of the non-magnetic transition metals having a three-dimensional network of metal atoms is considered. It is shown that metallic properties are associated with large contraction, while semiconducting properties with small contraction in accordance with the suggestion that in metals the interatomic distances are smaller than in semiconductors