High Purity Indium Research Articles

Hydration of magnesia cubes: a helium ion microscopy study.

Physisorbed water originating from exposure to the ambient can have a strong impact on the structure and chemistry of oxide nanomaterials. The effect can be particularly pronounced when these oxides are in physical contact with a solid substrate such as the ones used for immobilization to perform electron or ion microscopy imaging. We used helium ion microscopy (HIM) and investigated morphological changes of vapor-phase-grown MgO cubes after vacuum annealing and pressing into foils of soft and high purity indium. The indium foils were either used as obtained or, for reference, subjected to vacuum drying. After four days of storage in the vacuum chamber of the microscope and at a base pressure of p < 10−7 mbar, we observed on these cubic particles the attack of residual physisorbed water molecules from the indium substrate. As a result, thin magnesium hydroxide layers spontaneously grew, giving rise to characteristic volume expansion effects, which depended on the size of the particles. Rounding of the originally sharp cube edges leads to a significant loss of the morphological definition specific to the MgO cubes. Comparison of different regions within one sample before and after exposure to liquid water reveals different transformation processes, such as the formation of Mg(OH)2 shells that act as diffusion barriers for MgO dissolution or the evolution of brucite nanosheets organized in characteristic flower-like microstructures. The findings underline the significant metastability of nanomaterials under both ambient and high-vacuum conditions and show the dramatic effect of ubiquitous water films during storage and characterization of oxide nanomaterials.

Formation of High-Purity Indium Oxide Nanoparticles and Their Application to Sensitive Detection of Ammonia.

High-purity In2O3 nanoparticles were recovered from scrap indium tin oxide substrates in a stepwise process involving acidic leaching, liquid-liquid extraction with a phosphine oxide extractant, and combustion of the organic phase. The morphological and structural parameters of the recovered nanoparticles were investigated to support the formation of the desired products. These In2O3 nanoparticles were used for sensitive sensing of ammonia gas using a four-probe electrode device. The proposed sensor offered very quick response time (around 10 s) and highly sensitive detection of ammonia (at a detection limit of 1 ppm).

Uncertainty assessment of enthalpy of fusion measurements performed by using an improved Calvet calorimeter

The French National Metrology Institute LNE-LCM has developed a new in situ electrical calibration system which is integrated into a heat flux Calvet calorimeter in order to perform accurate and reliable measurements of enthalpy of fusion from 23 °C to 1000 °C. The measurement procedure consists in putting a sample inside the calibration system and in performing the heat calibration of the calorimeter by electrical substitution (Joule effect) before and after the enthalpy of fusion measurement during the same heating run. This procedure directly takes into account the temperature dependence of the calibration factor (sensitivity) and keeps the calibration and measurement experimental conditions strictly the same. Uncertainties of the enthalpy of fusion measurements, performed by using this facility and procedure, have been assessed according to the ‘guide to the expression of uncertainty in measurement’. The detailed uncertainty budgets are presented here in the case of three pure metallic materials (indium, tin and silver). The relative expanded uncertainty (k = 2) of the enthalpy of fusion measurement is estimated to be less than 0.4% for the high purity indium and tin, and less than 1% in the case of silver.

GROWTH AND MICRO STRUCTURAL CHARACTERIZATION OF IN2O3 THIN FILMS PREPARED BY ELECTRON BEAM EVAPORATION TECHNIQUE

High purity Indium oxide powder was used to prepare In2O3 thin films using electron beam evaporation technique. Ultrasonically cleaned substrates were used for the deposition of In2O3 thin films. Welldefined and good quality In2O3 thin films were formed by maintaining substrate temperatures between 300K 573K. The thin films were characterized using XRD, SEM, AFM, EDS and UV-VIS spectroscopy, to study the effect of substrate temperature on the properties of In2O3 thin films. The XRD patterns suggest that the films deposited at room temperature are amorphous in nature. The crystalline nature of the films increases with increase in substrate temperature and it was found that the films crystallizes in a cubic structure with preferred (2 2 2) orientation. Thickness of the films was found from cross sectional view of SEM images. Optical transmission measurements were carried out using UV-VIS spectrophotometer in the wavelength range 300-1000nm and it was confirmed that these thin films exhibits good transparency and it was noticed that the transmittance was decreased with increasing substrate temperature. Surface morphology studies of the films, using AFM, reveal the formation of nanostructured indium oxide thin films. The results obtained in the present work was presented and discussed.

Chemical vapor deposition of m-plane and c-plane InN nanowires on Si (100) substrate

In this paper, synthesis of indium nitride (InN) nanowires (NWs) by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) is studied. InN NWs were synthesized via a vapor–liquid–solid (VLS) growth mechanism using high purity indium foil and ammonia as the source materials, and nitrogen as carrier gas. The mixture of nonpolar m-plane oriented and polar c-plane oriented tapered InN NWs is observed grown on top of Si (100) substrate. Energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) showed that the tips of the NWs are primarily consisted of Au and the rest of the NWs are consisted of indium (In) and nitrogen (N). High resolution scanning electron microscopy (HRSEM) revealed that the InN NWs have both triangular and hexagonal cross sections. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) diffraction pattern showed that the NWs are high quality single crystals having wurtzite crystal structure. High resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) showed the growth directions of the InN NWs with triangular cross section are along 〈10−10〉 nonpolar m-plane orientation and the InN NWs with hexagonal cross section are along 〈0001〉 polar c-plane orientation.

Indium recovery from waste liquid crystal displays by polyvinyl chloride waste

An efficient recovery of high purity indium from waste LCDs was achieved via PVC waste.

Preparation and Characterization of Hot Wall Deposited CuInGaSe&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt; Thin Films for Solar Cell Applications

CuIn0.7Ga0.3Se2 (CIGS) bulk compound was prepared by direct reaction of high purity (99.99%) elemental copper, indium, gallium and selenium. Using the prepared bulk CIGS, polycrystalline CuInGaSe2 thin films were deposited onto well cleaned soda-lime glass substrates using hot wall deposition technique by optimizing process parameters such as the wall temperature, filament current and time of deposition. The x-ray diffraction studies on the as-prepared films revealed polycrystalline nature. The composition of the chemical constituents present in the prepared bulk and thin films has been determined using energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX). The surface morphology of CIGS thin film of deposition time 3 min. have been carried out using Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM). The AFM images revealed that the average grain size was 20 nm and the surface roughness was about 8 nm. Transmittance spectra in the wavelength range of 190 nm to 2500 nm was obtained using a double beam spectrophotometer (UV-VIS) and the results are discussed.

New hybrid materials for organic light-emitting diode devices

The regularities of polymorphism in high-purity crystalline tris(8-hydroxyquinoline) aluminum, gallium, and indium (Meq3) have been studied in the temperature range of 300–712 K. From the results of an analysis of photoluminescence and Raman spectra and X-ray diffraction data, a generalized picture has been produced, according to which, for all the studied compounds, a series of polymorphic transitions is the same: β → α → δ → γ → ɛ. Based on high-purity single-phase specimens of the investigated metal complexes and boron oxide, new hybrid materials have been synthesized: bulk samples (alloying technique) and thin films (vacuum thermal evaporation). The photo- and electroluminescent properties of the hybrid materials at room temperature have been investigated. It has been established that, as the synthesis duration of the bulk hybrid materials increases from 5 to 60 min, a photoluminescence maximum shifts to a short-wavelength domain from the value typical of pure δ(γ)-Meq3 by 40, 15, and 10 nm for Alq3, Gaq3, and Inq3, respectively.

Development of characterization procedure of particulate matter pollution collected in immediate vicinity of urban residents

Advantage of using individual dust meters over traditional stationary particulate matter (PM) air pollution monitoring is evaluated. Data of air pollution levels obtained from the three municipal stationary monitoring stations were compared with data of individual dust meters SidePak AM 510. Results of a few control series of this comparison have indicated important differences between the mentioned two types of synchronised measurements. Taking into account that vast majority of time people spend indoors, one may expect that individual samplers better characterise exposition of any human being on the PM urban pollution. As a result, a new sampling procedure is proposed. It allows the collection of particulate matter in the immediate vicinity of human being: As collectors of the PM, we propose mobile phones, accompanying people whatever is their everyday activity. Namely, dust deposited in the inner parts of the used mobile phones is extracted and analysed. The procedure consists of bulk analysis performed with spark source mass spectrometry (SSMS) and depth profile analysis made by secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS). Exemplary results are presented of the particulate material deposited on high purity indium foils. Ion erosion is done with 5 keV Ar+, 150‐µm diameter ion beam scanned over 2 × 2.5 mm area. The analyser is equipped with Physical Electronics ion gun and QMA‐410 Balzers quadrupole mass spectrometer. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley &amp; Sons, Ltd.

Temperature effect on the physical properties of CuIn11S17 thin films for photovoltaic applications

CuIn11S17 compound was synthesized by horizontal Bridgman method using high-purity copper, indium and sulfur elements. CuIn11S17 thin films were prepared by high vacuum evaporation on glass substrates. The glass substrates were heated at 30, 100 and 200°C. The structural properties of the powder and the films were investigated using X-ray diffraction (XRD). XRD analysis of thin films revealed that the sample deposited at a room temperature was amorphous in nature while those deposited on heated substrates were polycrystalline with a preferred orientation along the (311) plane of the spinel phase. Ultraviolet–visible (UV–vis) spectroscopy was used to study the optical properties of thin films. The results showed that CuIn11S17 thin films have high absorption coefficient α in the visible range (105–106cm−1). The band gap Eg of the films decrease from 2.30 to 1.98eV with increasing the substrate temperature (Ts) from 30 to 200°C. We exploited the models of Swanepoel, Wemple–DiDomenico and Spitzer–Fan for the analysis of the dispersion of the refractive index n and the determination of the optical constants of the films. Hot probe method showed that CuIn11S17 films deposited at Ts=30°C and Ts=100°C are p-type conductivity whereas the sample deposited at Ts=200°C is highly compensated.

Recycling indium from waste liquid crystal display panel by vacuum carbon-reduction

This study investigated the recovery of indium from waste liquid crystal display (LCD) panel using vacuum carbon-reduction. First of all, high purity In2O3 was investigated. The results indicated that indium can be reclaimed from In2O3 using vacuum carbon-reduction in thermodynamics and dynamics. The conditions of 1223K, 50wt% carbon addition, 30min, and 1Pa were confirmed as the optimal conditions for pure In2O3 and high purity indium could be selectively recovered on condensing zone. Based on this, the experiment of the recovery of indium from waste LCD power was performed. The best parameters were confirmed as 1223K and 1Pa with 30wt% carbon addition for 30min. The recovery rate of indium from LCD powder could reach to 90wt%. No hazardous materials produced in this process. Therefore, this technique provides the possibility of reutilization of LCD in an environmentally friendly way.

Prepare dispersed CIS nano-scale particles and spray coating CIS absorber layers using nano-scale precursors

In this study, the Mo-electrode thin films were deposited by a two-stepped process, and the high-purity copper indium selenide-based powder (CuInSe2, CIS) was fabricated by hydrothermal process by Nanowin Technology Co. Ltd. From the X-ray pattern of the CIS precursor, the mainly crystalline phase was CIS, and the almost undetectable CuSe phase was observed. Because the CIS powder was aggregated into micro-scale particles and the average particle sizes were approximately 3 to 8 μm, the CIS power was ground into nano-scale particles, then the 6 wt.% CIS particles were dispersed into isopropyl alcohol to get the solution for spray coating method. Then, 0.1 ml CIS solution was sprayed on the 20 mm × 10 mm Mo/glass substrates, and the heat treatment for the nano-scale CIS solution under various parameters was carried out in a selenization furnace. The annealing temperature was set at 550°C, and the annealing time was changed from 5 to 30 min, without extra Se content was added in the furnace. The influences of annealing time on the densification, crystallization, resistivity (ρ), hall mobility (μ), and carrier concentration of the CIS absorber layers were well investigated in this study.

Electrodeposition of High-Purity Indium Thin Films and Its Application to Indium Phosphide Solar Cells

We report on advances in the electrochemical deposition of indium (In) on molybdenum foil that enables deposition of electronic-grade purity, continuous films with thickness in the micron range. The desired In film morphology is obtained from an InCl3 aqueous bath by using a high current density of 250 mA/cm2 and a low deposition-bath temperature of −5°C to increase the nucleation density of In islands until a continuous film is obtained. As an example application, the electrodeposited In films are phosphorized via the thin-film vapor-liquid-solid growth method. The resulting poly-crystalline InP films display excellent optoelectronic quality, comparable to single crystalline InP wafers, thus demonstrating the versatility of the developed electrochemical deposition procedure.

Influence of substrate temperature on structural, optical, and electrical properties of flash evaporated CuIn0.81Al0.19Se2 thin films

Chalcopyrite copper indium aluminum diselenide (CuIn0.81Al0.19Se2) compound is prepared by direct reaction of high purity elemental copper, indium, aluminum and selenium in their stoichiometric proportion. Structural and compositional characterizations of pulverized material confirm the formation of a single phase, polycrystalline nature. CuInAlSe2 (CIAS) thin films are deposited on organically cleaned soda lime glass substrates using flash evaporation technique by varying the substrate temperatures in the range from 423 K to 573 K. Influence of substrate temperature observed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), optical and electrical measurement. CIAS Films grown at different substrate temperatures are polycrystalline in nature, exhibiting a chalcopyrite structure with lattice parameters a = ∼0.576 nm and c = ∼1.151 nm. The crystallinity in the films increases with increasing substrate temperature up to 473 K, and tend to degrade at higher substrate temperatures. Optical band gap is in the range of 1.20 eV–1.38 eV and the absorption coefficient is close to 105 cm−1. Electrical characterization reveals p-type conductivity and the structural, morphological and optical properties indicate potential use of CIAS thin films as an absorber layer for thin film solar cell applications.

Purification of indium by vacuum distillation and its analysis

High purity (99.999% or 5N, mass fraction) indium (In) was obtained through vacuum distillation using a 2N (99%) In as input material under a dynamic vacuum of 5 Pa. The glow discharge mass spectrometry (GDMS) was applied for the analysis of input material and the distilled indium. The results indicate that high-volatile impurities namely Cd, Zn, Tl and Pb can be removed from the indium matrix at the low fraction stage of 1 223 K for 120 min; Low-volatile impurities such as Fe, Ni, Cu, Sn can be reduced at the high fraction stage of 1 323 K for 120 min. The separation coefficient βi and activity coefficient γi of impurities are calculated according to the experiments to fill the inadequate data of the thermodynamics.

Hydride Generation Atomic Fluorescence Spectrometric Determination of Ultratrace Arsenic in High Purity Indium Oxide

A simple, sensitive, and interference free method was proposed for the determination of total arsenic in high purity indium oxide by hydride generation atomic fluorescence spectrometry (HG-AFS). Preconcentration was carried out by distillation of volatile arsenic trichloride. Hydrazine sulfate was used as a prereductant to reduce As (V) to As (III). The volatile arsenic trichloride generation was based on the reaction between As (III) and hydrochloric acid, and vapors were absorbed with water. The method provides a linear response range of 2 ng/mL–70 ng/mL, a detection limit of 0.1 ng/mL, a recovery of 96%–113%, and an average relative standard deviation of 2.42%. The method was validated by means of interlaboratory comparative analysis with the proposed method HG-AFS, and the comparison of data by using proposed method HG-AFS and reference methods of ICP-OES and spectrophotometry.

Characterization of Cu(In,Ga)Se2 films deposited by single-step electron beam evaporation for solar cell applications

CuInxGa(1−x)Se2 (CIGS) thin films have been prepared by a single step of electron beam evaporation of a mixed alloy power made of high purity elemental copper, indium, gallium and selenium. The crystalline quality of CIGS films increases with increasing the substrate temperature, and stoichiometric CuIn0.7Ga0.3Se2 with chalcopyrite phase and (112) preferential orientation can be obtained at a substrate temperature of 650°C. X-ray diffractometer (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM) and absorption spectroscopy are used to characterize the obtained films. CuIn0.7Ga0.3Se2 films evaporated at 650°C is found to have a bandgap of about ∼1.11eV. In addition, two different acceleration voltages (5kV and 10kV) for the electron gun are also compared and a high acceleration voltage is found to be crucial in order to obtain stoichiometric CIGS films without Cu-deficiency. Our results suggest that the single-step electron beam evaporation at a high acceleration voltage could be potentially applied for fabrication of CIGS thin solar cells.

Synthesis of N-deficient indium nitride nanowires and their room-temperature ferromagnetism

High-purity indium nitride (InN) nanowires were synthesized by a facile direct nitridation method. The characterizations of composition and microstructure reveal that the nanowires are N-deficient InN0.866 grown along c axis. The diameter of the nanowires is in the range of 60–90nm and the length is up to tens of micrometers. TEM measurement indicates that the nanowires are well crystalline and obvious bulk defects are not observed. Unusual room-temperature ferromagnetism order was detected in the nanowires. It is suggested that a large number of point defects e.g. N vacancies and In interstitials should be responsible for the ferromagnetism order.

Half-life of theβdecay115In(9/2+)→115Sn(3/2+)

The half-life of the rare \ensuremath{\beta}${}^{\ensuremath{-}}$ decay of ${}^{115}$In (9/2+) to ${}^{115}$Sn (3/2+) was determined by measuring the subsequent 497.334(22) keV \ensuremath{\gamma}-ray emission in a high-purity indium sample. The measurements were carried out by means of ultralow-level \ensuremath{\gamma}-ray spectrometry in the HADES underground laboratory, using three different high-purity germanium detectors. The value of the partial half-life for this low-${Q}_{\ensuremath{\beta}}^{\ensuremath{-}}$ transition was measured to be 4.3(5) \ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{} 10${}^{20}$ yr.

Density and surface tension of heavy liquid-metal coolants: Gallium and indium

The density and surface tension of liquid high-purity gallium and indium as a function of temperature were studied. The sessile drop method was used to obtain these parameters. Experiments were carried out from the melting points to ∼1300 K in a high vacuum. The confidence error of the experiments was 0.5 and 1% for density and surface tension, respectively. The results of this research are compared with recommended reference data in the literature.