Recently I am working at electrical properties of amorphous boron. I checked the literature and found confusing results. There are reports its semiconducting nature with band gap ranging from 0.3 to 2.0 eV from samples prepared by different techniques. I tried ab initio MD to produce a-B samples from melt in computer. Structural analysis revealed some B clustering in the sample. There is short- and medium-range ordering but no long-range ordering. The DFT calculations produced a pseudo-gap. The Fermi level falls in the valley of the DOS curve. It seems like a 'bad' metal.

I consider that the high melting point (2079 degree C.) means experimentally difficult to obtain a-B samples of high purity and homogeneity.

Is it possible to prepare 'real' a-B samples via e.g. melting ?