Indium(III) antimonide

Chemical Properties

Crystalline solid.

Physical properties

Black cubic crystal; zincblende structure; density 5.775 g/cm3; melts at525°C; density of melt 6.48 g/mL; dielectric constant 15.9; insoluble in water.

Uses

Indium antimonide finds use in infrared detectors, including FLIR systems, thermal imaging cameras, infrared astronomy and in infrared homing missile guidance systems, in fast transistors. It is used in thermal image detectors using photo-electromagnetic detectors or photodiodes.

Uses

Crystal structure: Zinc blende structure, cubic

Uses

In semiconductor electronics. Grown p-n junctions(Indium(III) antimonide) have been made by doping a melt with an acceptor impurity such as zinc or cadmium, and dipping in an n-type crystal. Rate-grown junctions have also been made. Broad-area surface junctions have been produced by out-diffusing antimony in vacuum from the surface of an n-type crystal, producing a p-n junction just inside the surface. Also has photoconductive, photoelectromagnetic, and magnetoresistive properties. Useful as an infrared detector and filter, and in Hall effect devices.

Preparation

Indium antimonide may be synthesized from its elements by fusion of sto-ichiometric amounts of indium and antimony at elevated temperatures in anevacuated, sealed ampule.

Production Methods

Intermetallic semiconductors of indium are formed from group III and group V elements, requiring very high purity of the elements (0.1 ppm).

Production Methods

Single crystals are grown by using the Kyropoulus method—by pulling up from the melt composed of stoichiometric In and Sb because both elements have low vapor pressure. Impurities are Zn and Cd, which cannot be removed by zone refining. As a result, it is important to use pure source materials. It is soft and fragile, and it is required to be cut carefully by a diamond cutter. The same polishing method for Si and Ge is possible.
Films are deposited using the vapor phase method. In and Sb (or In(CH3) and SbH3) are encapsuled in a vacuum and these source materials are heated to evaporate and then deposited on the substrate placed at a lower temperature portion. The electrical properties of the films deposited by this method are slightly different from those of bulk.

General Description

This product has been enhanced for energy efficiency.

Hazard

See indium; antimony.

Structure and conformation

The space lattice of InSb belongs to the cubic system and zinc-blende-type structure called InSb-I at room temperature and under atmospheric pressure has a lattice constant of a=0.64789 nm and In–Sb=0.280 nm. A single crystal has cleavage of (110) plane. It transforms to white tin-type InSb-II at high temperatures and under high pressure.