Origin and use of the term metalloid antimony and tellurium, was recorded merely on a 'sometimes' basis. Use of the term metalloid subsequently underwent a period of great flux up to 1940. Consensus as to its application to intermediate or borderline elements did not occur until the ensuing years, between 1940 and 1960. In 1947, Pauling included a reference to metalloids in his classic and influential textbook, "General chemistry: An introduction to descriptive chemistry and modern chemical theory." He described them as 'elements with intermediate properties ... occupy[ing] a diagonal region [on the periodic table], which includes boron, silicon, germanium, arsenic, antimony, tellurium, and polonium.' In 1959
Boron arsenide Boron arsenide Boron arsenide is a chemical compound involving boron and arsenic, usually with a chemical formula BAs. Other boron arsenide compounds are known, such as the subarsenide BAs. Chemical synthesis of cubic BAs is very challenging and its single crystal forms usually have defects. BAs is a cubic (sphalerite) semiconductor in the III-V family with a lattice constant of 0.4777 nm and an indirect band gap of approximately 1.86 eV. It can be alloyed with gallium arsenide to produce ternary and quaternary semiconductors. Cubic BAs is reported to decompose to the subarsenide BAs at temperatures above 920 °C. Boron