Experimental evidence for semiconducting behavior of Si-XII

The conventional diamond cubic phase of silicon, so-called Si-I, exhibits the desirable semiconducting properties on which the silicon chip industry relies and it is by far the most stable of all silicon phases. However, other phases of silicon can be formed under pressure and some of them are metastable at room temperature and pressure. Two such phases, Si-III (BC8) and Si-XII (R8), can be produced by indentation with a diamond tip but, …