In this paper a new approach utilizing the concept of plasma oscillations theory of solids has been applied to investigate the electronic properties such as homopolar gap (E_h), heteropolar or ionic gap (E_c), average energy gap (E_g), bond ionicity (f_i) and electronic susceptibility (^χ_e) for the chemical bonds (A-C and B-C) in complex structured A^IB^IIIC^VI₂ ternary chalcopyrite crystals. We have presented the expressions relating the electronic properties for these chalcopyrite crystals with plasmon energy (ћω_p). The homopolar gap (E_h), heteropolar gap (E_c), average energy gap (E_g), bond ionicity (f_i) and electronic susceptibility (^χ_e) of the bonds in these semiconductors exhibit a linear relationship when plotted on a log-log scale against the valence electron plasmon energy, which lies on the straight line. The calculated values of E_h, E_c, E_g, f_i and χ_e have been compared with the available theoretical values reported by several workers so far. A fairly good agreement has been obtained between them.

A. Ternary chalcopyrites, D. Electronic properties, D. Optical properties