Effect of gravity on the mixing of In–Sb melt

Abstract

In order to investigate the effect of gravity on the mixing of indium (In) and antimony (Sb) melts under the uniform temperature, an In–Sb sample without a free melt surface was melted and solidified both under microgravity and on earth. In the earth-processed sample, the indium concentration was not uniform because of the gravitational segregation. On the other hand, the indium concentration in the space-processed sample became fairly uniform. From the measurement of concentration distribution in the solidified samples, the effective diffusion coefficient of indium into Sb was estimated to be (1.3–2.4) × 10 ^{-4} cm ^{2} /s. During the cooling process, many InSb needle crystals were formed and finally residual solution was solidified.