稀土金属与周期表中Ⅴ族、Ⅵ族元素所形成的一系列化合物,大多具有半导体特性。称为稀土化合物半导体,简称稀土半导体。研究表明,其中许多是有希望的高温热电材料,ScN可望为高迁移率的N型和P型半导体,SmS及其固溶体可望用作光数据存储器。本文对稀土半导体的能带结构、电学特性和材料制备,以及SmS中的半导体—金属转变作了简述。 Rare earth metals and the periodic table V, VI elements formed by a series of compounds, most of them have semiconductor properties. Known as rare earth compound semiconductor, referred to as rare earth semiconductor. Research shows that many of them are promising high temperature thermoelectric materials. ScN is expected to be a high-mobility N-type and P-type semiconductor. SmS and its solid solution are expected to be used as optical data storage. In this paper, the energy band structure, electrical properties and material preparation of rare earth semiconductors, as well as the semiconductor-metal transition in SmS are briefly described.