Potassium phosphide


Potassium phosphide is an inorganic semiconductor compound with the formula K3P. It appears as a green crystalline solid or powder. It reacts violently with water and is toxic via ingestion, inhalation and skin absorption. It has a hexagonal structure.

Synthesis

Potassium phosphide can be synthesised by a reaction under controlled conditions starting from the two elements. Simply fusing potassium and phorsphorus does not yield pure K3P:

Applications

Potassium phosphide is used in high power, high frequency applications and also in laser diodes.