Published online by Cambridge University Press: 10 February 2011
Using ab initio all-electron methods, we investigate the evolution of effective masses, deformation potentials and pressure coefficients with the degree of long-range order in spontaneously ordered Ga0.5In0.5P alloys. We find that (i) the electron effective mass in the ordering direction increases significantly with the degree of order, while the effective mass in the perpendicular direction decreases; this produces a strong anisotropy of the electron effective mass which is not present in the disordered alloy; (ii) the band-gap deformation potential for (001) epitaxial strain decreases with increasing degree of order, reflecting the extent of the ordering-induced Γ - L coupling; (iii) the band-gap pressure coefficient decreases from 8.4 meV/kbar in the disordered alloy to 6.6 meV/kbar in the ordered CuPt structure; interpolation to partial degrees of order leads to good agreement with recent high-pressure experiments.