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By R. Schuhmann, J. Th. Overbeek, P. L. De Bruyn

THE technique of concentrating valuable minerals from lean ores by flotation depends upon the creation of a finite contact angle at the three-phase contact, mineral-water-air. If the mineral is completely wetted by the water phase, contact angle zero, there is no tendency for air bubbles to attach themselves to the mineral. However, when the contact angle is finite, the surface free energy of the system, water-air bubble-mineral particle, can be diminished by contact between the bubble and the particle, and if not too heavy the mineral will be levitated in the froth. With a few exceptions, all clean minerals are completely wetted by pure water. Thus the art of flotation consists in adding substances to the water to make a finite contact angle with the mineral to be floated, but to leave the other minerals with a zero contact angle. The contact angle concept and experimental measurements of contact angles have played important roles in flotation research for several decades.'-" Nevertheless, there remain unanswered some basic questions as to the scientific significance of the contact angle and the nature of the processes by which flotation reagents affect contact angles. The contact angle is a complex quantity because the properties of three different phases, or rather of three different interfaces, control its magnitude. Considering the interfaces close to the region of ternary contact to be plane, the relation among the contact angle and the three binary interfacial tensions is easily derived. The condition for equilibrium among the three surface tensions, Fig. 1, or the requirement of minimum total surface free energy leads to Young's equation, Eq. I: ysa — ysl = yLA cos 0 [1] According to this equation, the contact angle has one well-defined value. Actually it is found in many experiments that the value of the contact angle depends on whether the air is replacing liquid over the solid (receding angle) or the liquid is replacing air (advancing angle). The receding angle is always the smaller of the two.4 Two explanations have been offered for this experimental fact. According to some investigators,5-8 roughness of the surface causes apparent contact angles that are different for the receding and the advancing cases although the actual local contact angle may be completely determined by Eq. 1. The other explanation involves the hypothesis that the solid-air interface after the liquid has just receded is different from the same interface when no liquid has previously covered it.1,4 Adsorption of constituents of the air or liquid might play a role here. In this discussion the difference between advancing and receding contact angle will be neglected and plane surfaces where Eq. 1 describes the situation will be considered. But there is still a fundamental obstacle to the application of Young's equation. The surface tension of the liquid (rla) can easily be determined, but the two surface tensions of the solid (rsa and ySL) cannot be measured directly. Eq. 1, however, is not without value. By contact angle measurements it is possible to establish how ysl — ysl varies with the addition of solutes to the liquid phase. Also, Eq. 1 affords a convenient starting point for calculating net forces and energy changes involved in the process of bubble-particle attachment.1,2 . If for the moment surface tension of the liquid (yLa) is considered a constant, an increase in ysa — ysL, will tend to decrease the contact angle. A decrease in ySA — ysl, corresponds to an increase of the contact angle. In cases where ySA — ySL > yLa the contact angle is zero; it will only reach finite values when ysa — ysa has been decreased below YLA. Thus on the basis of Young's equation and contact angle measurements alone, it can be learned how flotation reagents affect the difference Ysa — ysl, but no conclusions can be drawn as to the effects of reagents on the individual surface tensions ysa, and ysL, not even as to signs or directions of the surface tension changes resulting from reagent additions. A quantitative relationship between the surface tension or interfacial tension and the adsorption occurring at a surface or an interface is given by the Gibbs equation, which for constant temperature and pressure reads dy = — 2 T, du, [2] where dy is the infinitesimal change in surface tension accompanying a change in chemical potential

Jan 1, 1955

By Albert E. Ketler

Introduction – The introduction of computerized monitoring and control (M/c) equipment into the U.S. coal mining industry may prove to be of truly revolutionary proportions in the 801s.Many of you are aware that the British have developed and have been using such sophisticated M/C equipment for performing production and safety related tasks in their coal mines for nearly a decade. The benefits of M/C systems in the mining industry are usually separated into those which improve productivity, and hence make money for the company, and those which improve safety, and hence cost money. The economic benefits of M/C are startling for the production related functions such as for monitoring and controlling conveyor belts, de-watering pumps, electrical power distribution, and the like. It doesn't take much analysis to show that hundreds and even thousands of tons of coal don't get mined every time a belt shuts down or when power is out due to circuit breakers tripping for any number of reasons. A flood, caused by a malfunctioning pump which goes undetected for lack of feedback monitoring of pumping parameters, can destroy literally millions of dollars worth of mining equipment. The M/C system would be justified or not based on whether or not the productivity benefits balanced the cost within a timespan commensurate with the return on capital philosophy of the company. The safety related benefits are easily underestimated or ignored completely and the purpose of this paper is to under-score some of these benefits, as well as to review the application of M/C to the coal mining industry. The companies involved are Transmitton Ltd of England and Minetics Corp of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Transmitton is probably the most experienced manufacturer of M/C equipment in the world having some 200 installations to its credit. Minetics is the marketing and manufacturing arm for Transmitton in the U.S.A. and is responsible for all aspects of distribution and service. Plans are underway for manufacturing of the Transmitton hardware for U.S. sales to be transplanted into U.S. subcontractors by 1981. Thus our coal mining industry will benefit from British technology, but without the delays and additional costs usually involved in international shipments.

Jan 1, 1981

By A. Schild

The effect of heating a producing well on the rate of oil recovery has been analyzed in the simple case of a well producing oil by a radial drive and in the steady state. Differences of production rates with and without borehole heating have been calculated and plotted; these measure some of the benefits of the thermal recovery process. A striking feature is that the production increase tends rapidly to a constant value for large production rates. Some concrete examples, including a rough comparison with field data. are discussed. Heating requirements have been calculated and plotted on the assumption that the heaters used are 100 per cent efficient. Heating has been thought of as applying only to low volume wells producing heavy oils. However, the calculations suggest that the thermal process considered might be profitable even for some wells producing large quantities of light oil, especially in unconsolidated formations where fracturing is not possible. In the case of wells producing other fluids with the oil or of wells producing partly or wholly by gravity drainage, the theory developed does not apply in detail. It can be expected, however, that any general qualitative be-havior will remain valid. Under normal temperature conditions, high viscosity emulsions sometimes form around the wellbore, lowering the permeability in the vicinity of the well and impeding the production of oil. Borehole heating often prevents such emulsification. This important effect is not easily amenable to mathematical analysis and has not been included in the theory presented here. It should therefore be kept in mind that the benefits due to borehole heating may in fact exceed the values given by the following calculations. INTRODUCTION The recovery of viscous, low gravity oils can often be stimulated by applying heat to the production zone. The higher temperature lowers the viscosity of the oil, increasing its mobility, and therefore its rate of production. One thermal method of recovery 1,2,3,4. consists in operating a heater inside a producing well and, at the same time, producing oil from the well. In this paper a simple theoretical model is analyzed to study the effect of such heating on the recovery of oil. The reservoir mechanics of the process is the only aspect of the problem which is considered here. The details of the heating system are ignored, and it is simply assumed that the heater raises the temperature in the immediate vicinity of the producing well to a pre-assigned temperature T w. Although heating requirements are calculated, these refer only to the heat supplied to the formation and to the oil being produced; they do not include heat losses due to the inefficiency of the heater. A short outline of the theory follows: The heat supplied to the producing well flows out into the formation by means of thermal conduction. At the same time, the flow of oil carries heat by convection from the formation towards the producing well. After sufficient time has elapsed, a steady-state is reached where the temperature, the velocity of the oil, etc., no longer vary with time but are functions of position only. In the steady state the temperature decays like an inverse power from the high value Tw at the wellbore to the original reservoir temperature T. at some distance away from the well. The effect of the high temperature and low oil viscosity near the producing well is the same as if the oil were produced at reservoir temperature To but through a producing well of a larger radius. From this point of view, the energy and money being expended to provide heat

Jan 1, 1958

A SELF-RESPECTING miner doesn't wash the cuttin's off his hard hat until he quits his job but, on the other hand, he keeps his lamp clean and a "spot" focus on the work at hand; the former habit is a matter of pride and the latter serves for efficient operation. During 1949, the mining engineer got all the "wet raises" for the problem of cutting costs to meet the drop of metal prices and keeping research work up to schedule when strikes tied up his work were his headaches. We note, not without admiration, that he hasn't washed the muck off his hat in token of surrender but, on the contrary, his light shines bright on the job to be done as can be seen in the following pages. Few people have any conception of how much ore and rock have to be mined and how much sorting it takes to cull a pound of copper from a 1 % ore body. These people would be even more startled to picture the problems faced by the engineer in mining and extracting, profitably, .2 oz of gold from a ton of ore as is done at some of our lode mines. Strikers have sometimes kept our researchers from their pilot plants and research laboratories, but the end of the year shows progress in making ore out of taconite and ferruginous sandstone, with a pilot plant in operation at Aurora, Minn., and plans for one near Birmingham. Unfortunately, it looks as though the mining engineer will have to make John Doe secure in mineral resources in spite of himself. Coal for steel, power, and to warm our homes is still economically possible, in spite of Mr. Lewis, through development of mechanized tools for mining. During the year, the use of continuous mining machines has extended, transport systems are being adopted to keep the ore flowing from the face to the tune of 40 tons per man-shift. Experiments in the gasification of coal are going forward in several places and may eventually extend our fuel reserves by the addition of coal seams now too lean for mining. Liquid fuel from coal, oil shale, or natural gas will become economic when oil consumption exceeds our supply; but, at less than 30 cents a ton direct cost for mining oil shale, the engineer is almost making it competitive under present market conditions. In this age of specialists, the mining engineer is still holding his own as a broad-gauge man. As a matter of fact, he is emerging from a stage of semispecialization as a coal, nonmetallics, or metal mining man to the realization that, with mechanization, mining is fundamentally materials handling whether it is fluorspar, coal, or copper ore. From the coal business come rubber-tired mechanical loaders to the iron mines of Birmingham. Shuttle cars are also finding application in the lead mines of the Tri-State. Open-pit methods are universal. Belt conveyors, trucks, Diesels, and mobile, jumbomounted drills are finding application in all types of mining. In preparation, such methods as flotation,- heavy density, electrical, and centrifugal are finding application in coal, nonmetallics, and metals. These concepts have been recognized by the mining engineer who has kept himself informed and has been quick to seize a method, machine, or a process from another operation and, with ingenuity, applied it to his problems. This, our Annual Review issue, is written by mining engineers. In gathering these separate articles under one cover for publication, we think of it as a trrbute to the tireless energy and skill of these men. They get little of the publicity accorded physicists, medical men, labor leaders, or company executives, but they supply raw materials without which industry would die.

Jan 1, 1950

By Raymond C. Johnson

GASIFICATION is important to the anthracite industry, as it is to the entire solid-fuel industry and to the nation. However, to the anthracite industry it may have particular significance in that it would increase the market value of many millions of tons of a by-product fuel, which the industry now has in storage and is currently producing, in addition to increasing the potential market for all its products. The by-product fuel is of usable quality but the ash content is higher than it can be in other products and therefore it must be converted or used at the point of production. Gasification is one method by which the product may be given increased value. The inherent characteristics of anthracite make it well suited for producing a fuel or synthesis gas. It is the most concentrated form of natural commercial carbon, noncaking and noncoking; it does not produce smoke, tar, or soot and has a low sulphur content; and the volatile matter, which ranges between 2 and 8 pct, is 80 to 85 pct hydrogen with small amounts of methane, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and nitrogen. The ash fuses at high temperatures, which allows it to be burned at high rates without slagging. However, with the addition of small amounts of dolomite, the ash will form a slag, or glass, which is very fluid. Anthracite has long been used in the manufacture of city gas and it is extensively used in various parts of the country to make water gas to be converted to hydrogen. Buckwheat and rice anthracite are used in Galusha producers to make producer gas. Excellent synthesis gas has been made in a Galusha producer with rice and barley anthracite with oxygen in tests at the Consolidated Mining and Smelting Co., Trail, British Columbia. In these tests, anthracite was shown to have advantages over competitive fuels, in that the gas had a higher hydrogen content and could be cleaned with less difficulty. The anthracite seams are steeply pitching and in mining the parting strata and some of the roof and bottom materials are taken with the coal. In preparation, these materials are separated by gravity from the commercial product and stored in refuse banks. This refuse contains a mixture of rock, slate, or shale, and high-ash anthracite with bone coal, which is low-ash coal that is interspersed with thin bands of shale. The bone coal contains between 25 and 50 pct ash with an average ash content of approximately 30 pct, with a

Jan 1, 1953

PRESIDENTS DAVID THOMAS 1871 R W RAYMOND 1872-1874 A L HOLLEY1875 ABRAM S HEWITT 1876 T STERRY HUNT 1877 ECKLEY B COXE 1878 - 1879 WILLIAM P SHINN 1880 WILLIAM METCALF 1881 RICHARD P ROTHWELL 1882 ROBERY W HUNT 1883 JAMES C, BAYLES 1884-1885 ROBERT H RICHARDS 1886 THOMAS EGLESTON 1887 WILLIAM B POTTER 1888 RICHARD PEARCE 1889 ADAM S HEWITT 1890 JOHN BIRKINBINE 1891-1892 H M HOWE 1893 JOHN FRITZ 1894 J D WEEKD 1895

Jan 1, 1923

By S. Norton

GEORGE C. FOOTS, Port Henry, N. Y. (written discussion).-The paper by Mr. Norton and Mr. LeFevre will bear the most careful consideration by all interested in the iron business, particularly in the East. There is much information contained therein which should be emphasized. The idea of handling iron-bearing rock in quantities comparable to the porphyry coppers does seem at first blush to be beyond the pale of commercial possibility. Yet, today in the Adirondack region 25 per cent.

Jan 4, 1917

By Paul J. Fopiano

SOME relationships between the flow characteristics of iron single crystals of 99.9 pct purity and the behavior of imperfections have been investigated. X-ray rocking-curve measurements and etch-pit counts were made as a function of plastic strain, and compared to the stress-strain curve obtained on a modified Polyani tensile machine. Crystals grown from rolled strips of vacuum-melted iron by the strain-anneal method1 had a high preference for a (110) longitudinal direction and a (211) face normal. The tensile specimens were prepared from 2 by i by 0.040 in. single crystals having a gage area of 3 by \ in. Rocking-curve measurements were carried out with a highly perfect germanium monochromating crystal in which the dazz spacing was matched to that of the dZl1 in the ir0n.l Well-collimated CuKal radiation was used throughout. These procedures practically eliminated errors due to geometrical and wavelength resolution. Inasmuch as the rocking-curve half breadth may vary markedly from point to point in the specimen being irradiated, the crystals were strained in place by mounting a hydraulic loading device on the double-crystal spectrometer. The rocking curves were taken after each increment of strain in the unloaded condition, since no observable difference was found in the rocking-curves between the loaded and unloaded states. The rocking-curve half breadths of the as-grown specimens were in the range 90 to 120 sec of arc when the beam irradiated an area of about -£ by -& in. on the specimen. DeMarco and weiss3 have shown that, for a well-colli- mated X-ray beam, irradiating about 10"! sq in. of the very same material, half breadths within 10 pct of the Darwin natural half breadth were observed. Since the rocking-curve specimens were stressed by the load-unload technique, the strain achieved at any given stress depended on the time of holding because of low-temperature creep. Fig. 1 shows the rocking-curve half breadth (also area/peak height) as a function of plastic strain for a relatively short holding time (2 to 5 min) at each stress level. For strains less than 0.1 pct the rocking-curve breadth is essentially constant; it is only for larger strains that there occurs a significant increase in this breadth. Where the holding times at each stress level were longer (by well over an order of magnitude) there occurs a significant increase in the rocking-curve breadth only after plastic strains of the order of 0.6 pct had been introduced into the specimen. This observation is related to the time dependence of creep phenomena and emphasizes the difficulty in comparing data obtained by two such different straining methods. Etch-pit results were obtained using a 2 pct nital etch on specimens strained in the range of 0 to 1 pct. Prior to etching, all specimens were annealed for 3 hr at 150°C, the carbon content being sufficient to decorate the dislocations for strains of at least 1 p~t.~ The data points were all taken from parts of the same single crystal which had been strained with short holding times at stress in increments of strain of the order of tenths of 1 pct. The (211) plane is particularly difficult to etch-pit in vacuum-melted iron and therefore it is felt that these values are as much as an order of magnitude low. Fig. 2 shows the etch-pit density as a function of plastic strain. The smooth curve passing through the data points is not meant to infer a quantitative correlation with the rocking-curve data. What is of interest, however, is the change in etch-pit density in the region of 0.2 pct plastic strain. The first three increments in strain (points 2,3, and 4) did not produce a measurable change in the etch-pit density while subsequent increments did produce a measurable change. While the absolute values of these results do not appear to be cor-

Jan 1, 1967

Discussion WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON, FEBRUARY 21, 1951 Ralph E. Grim presiding R. E. GRIM, CHAIRMAN-Has anyone a particularly fruitful point to make or question to ask on any of the papers that have been presented at the two sessions held on Monday and one held this morning? GENESIS OF ENDELLITE T. S. LOVERING-I think we are all a little bit embarrassed when we are asked if we have any particularly fruitful point for discussion; I just have a point. I believe that yesterday Bates said that he had found endellite in only hydrothermally altered rocks-he did not find it in sedimentary rocks-but this morning I heard Victor Allen say something about it as the normal product of weathering, and I am confused. My question concerns the genesis of endellite. I want to know whether endellite is found as a normal product of weathering. I understood from the paper by Bates that it was not a product of weathering and in the paper by Victor Allen* endellite was said to be a product of normal weathering. Did I misinterpret these two papers? T. F. BATES-I did not intend to state or imply that endellite is formed only under hydrothermal conditions. We have been studying the North Carolina deposits extensively and I feel that they illustrate very well the result of normal weathering processes acting on pegmatitic material. The resulting clay seems to be largely endellite or halloysite, almost to the exclusion of kaolinite. I may have misled you in the statement I made toward the end of my talk, to the effect that of all the kaolinic clays we have investigated with the electron microscope, we have not yet found halloysite or endellite in samples from clay deposits that are definitely sedimentary in origin. R. E. GRIM, CHAIRMAN-Professor Allen, have you anything to say on the matter of bauxite?

Jan 1, 1952

E L. DEGOLYER, our new president, though a petroleum geologist by profession, has always s been associated with mining, for soon after his birth at Greensburg, Kan., on Oct. 9, 1886, his parents moved to Joplin, and when he went, in the course of time, to the University of Oklahoma, he intended to follow his course there with another at a mining school. He became a field assistant in the U. S. Geo-logical Survey, however, while still an undergradu-ate, and after field experi- ence in Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, Colorado and Oklahoma, he went to Mexico as geologist for the Mexican Eagle Oil Co. This was in 1909, and as a result he was unable to complete his work for his degree until 1911. In Mexico, he located the Potrero de Llaño No. 4, one of the world's largest oil wells, and also the dis- covery well in the Naran- jos pool; and the Colorado School of Mines conferred the honorary degree of : Doctor of Science on him in 1925. On his return from Mexico, he engaged in the consulting business, specializing in financial ap- praisement, the Union and Marland companies being among his clients. In 1919, he organized the Amerada Petroleum Co., with the backing of Lord Cowdray. Last year, control of the company was purchased by an American group, headed by Dillon, Read and Co. Mr. DeGolyer is n o w president of the company. He is also vice-president and general manager of the Rycade Corp, the Rycade Oil Corp., and president of the Geophysical Re-search search Corp. The l a t t e r represents the practical appli-cation of his inter-est in the use of the torsion balance in the locating of salt domes, in which he has pioneered, the Nash dome being the first oil field in America actually brought into production by these methods.

Jan 3, 1927

By E. H. Rose

From the more distant members and some not so distant, the plaint is often heard that they cannot justify the expense and time required to attend the AIME Annual Meeting. Almost invariably, the reason given takes this form: "I just don't see that I would get enough out of it." Often the would-be clincher is added: "Besides, the meat of it all comes out in print anyway." Not long ago, a group of us who have seldom missed a meeting in recent years fell to discussing this phenomenon, and found ourselves in emphatic agreement that anyone holding such a belief indicates by his first remark that he does not know how to attend a convention, and by his second, proves it. He is, by and large, the man who has never been there, and of him, there are many.

Jan 1, 1949

By Joseph R. Crump, Francois Ville, Frank M. Tiller

Several simplifications have been accepted in filtration theory during the past fifty years in an effort to avoid apparently intractable mathematical problems. In effect, these simplifications ignored the variation in average cake porosity and average filtration resistance with variation in pressure drop or with time. This study examines the traditional approach and shows that, in many cases, it cannot give correct design guidance. Using a set of dimensionless parameters because of the large number of significant variables, a revised theory is developed which does not require that porosity and resistance values be set constant. Graphs developed in the traditional approach (e.g., dt/dv versus v or t/v versus V) have substantial curvature near the ordinate; but this curvature is frequently ignored in theory and is easily missed in experiments. The revised theory allows more accurate design calculations, especially for compressible cakes.

Jan 1, 1980

F. JOHNSON,* Birmingham, England (written discussion t).--. Mr. Skowronski's first melting experiments tend to show that ingots with a "level set" may be obtained without oxygen. Now it is characteristic of all metals which occupy a smaller volume when solid than they do when molten to "pipe." In vertical-cast ingots, this pipe resembles a horn-shaped cavity, with the wide mouth uppermost. In horizontal-cast ingots, the pipe is a longitudinal furrow along the center-line of the ingot surface. If copper be successfully deoxidized and degasified, this furrow will inevitably be produced. In the author's oxygen-free ingots, it is. clear that gases were occluded and these gases effectively opposed the formation of a pipe or furrow by shrinkage (fluid contraction). It is riot a special property of any particular gas which produces this effect. Hence it is not surprising that the author has succeeded in producing level and overpoled ingots through the agency of sulphur. dioxide gas. That he has counteracted the overpoling influence of sulphur by means of oxygen is somewhat difficult to explain, since the well known reaction between cuprous sulphide and cuprous oxide should result in the production of sulphur dioxide gas. Why the presence of excess cuprous oxide should neutralize the overpoling influence of this gas without eliminating sulphur is not at all clear. It is to be regretted that the oxygen was not determined in the bars given in Tables 3 and 4. It is by no means established that sulphur is responsible for the over, poling of ingots given in Table 4, since carbon was used for overpoling. If, however, the same kind of poling treatment was given as that applied in the case of ingots in Table 1, the responsibility of sulphur assumes more definite shape. The author rightly points out that Mr. Johnson's theory of the equilibrium between gases and cuprous oxide does not explain why a simple addition of cuprous oxide does not correct an overpoled charge. Such a charge must be re-worked to "set" copper. This re-working (rabbling) undoubtedly forcibly removes the excess gases, which are not removable by cuprous oxide.

Jan 11, 1918

By M. R. Lorenz

Efficient visible light emission from p-n junctions in semiconductors is currently achieved in the four materials, Sic, GaP, ]Ga1-xAs and GaAs1-x,. Recent advances in materials preparation and p-n junction formation are briefly reviewed. The radiative recombination processes in the different materials depend largely on the band structure and the impurity states of each material. The spectral distribution of the emission ranges from the blue in Sic, to green in Gap, yellow in Sic and red in Gap, Ga1-x AlxAs and GaAs1-x Px. The origin of the various processes are discussed. The conversion of the electrical power into optical power and the measurement of the conversion efficiency are reviewed. The currently maximum quantum efficiencies at 300°K are: 3 pct in GaP(red), 1 pct in SiC(yellow), 0.1 pct in GaP(green), 0.2 pct in Ga1-x AlxAs at 66001, and 0.1 pct in GaAs1-x Px at 6800. The brightness and the interplay of the quantum efficiency and the luminous efficiency are given detailed consideration. VISIBLE light generated by the application of a direct current to a semiconductor crystal was first observed by Lossev1 in 1923. Light emission came from naturally occurring junctions in Sic crystals but little was known then with regard to the mechanism of charge transport and light emission. Some nearly 30 years later and with a vastly increased understanding of semiconductors the phenomenon of electroluminescence was studied in more detail, for example in p-n junctions of germanium.2 In these early studies, the efficiency of converting the electron current into a photon current was very low and therefore aroused little interest toward practical application. More recently it became apparent that in certain materials, for instance GaAs, and under certain conditions, the conversion efficiency was not low at all.3 The subsequent discovery of the p-n junction laser4-6 provided the impetus for increased studies of electroluminescence. Light emitted from GaAs occurs in the infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum and is not visible to the eye. At nearly the same time the use of GaAs1-xPx led to laser action at low temperatures which was visible to the eye.7 Later a red light emitting diode, made from Gap, was reportedS which emitted incoherent radiation at 300°K with an external quantum efficiency of about 1.5 pct. The fact that such efficient devices were obtainable led to a more concentrated effort in the search for highly efficient room-temperature semiconductor light sources. It is some of this later work on p-n junction luminescence with which we will be concerned here. Since our aim is centered on visible light, with hv =1.8 ev ( ?=7000?), only the wider band gap semiconductors are of interest, i.e., Eg 1 1.8 ev. Although many compounds meet this criterion, only a limited number of those are also good semiconductors, i.e. contain low resistance n and p regions. Some of the more promising candidates are listed in Table I. We will only be concerned with light generation from a p-n junction. This limitation excludes essentially the group II-VI binary compounds, although we will briefly review the case of ZnTe and the solid solution ZnTe1-xSex. As we will show they may contain a p-n junction but only of a special kind. Most of the discussion will deal with the four materials, Sic, Gap, Gal-xAlxAs, and GaAs1-xPx. These appear to be at the present time the best visible light emitting semiconductors. In the following sections we will briefly consider: 1) the electrical properties of p-n junctions; 2) some recent advances in materials preparation; 3) the formation of p-n junctions; and then in somewhat greater detail we will consider: 4) the various radiative recombination processes; 5) the measurement and observation of the external quantum efficiency; 6) the luminous efficiency; 7) the brightness of light emitting diodes (LED'S). THE P-N JUNCTION The p-n junction in a semiconductor crystal is the interface between two differently doped regions. More specifically the p region is doped predominantly with acceptor impurities and the n region contains predominantly donor impurities. The energy band structure of a degenerate p-n junction at thermal equilibrium is shown in Fig. l(a). The excess electrons on the n side of the junction are confined to this region by the barrier potential Eg. Similarly the excess holes on the p-side of the junction are confined to the p-region by a similar potential barrier. If we now apply a dc voltage V such that the p region is made positive and the n region negative, the barrier potential EB is reduced by the applied voltage, V and the junction is said to be forward biased. With the barrier potential lowered, electrons and holes can drift toward the p region and n region, respectively, see Fig. l(b). The current voltage characteristics of p-n junctions in most wide band gap materials can be described by the relation: J = Joexp(eV/BkT) [1] where the functional form of Jo is determined by the recombination mechanism. Jo is generally a complicated parameter which depends on a number of different factors including temperature, junction width, bias voltage, and carrier lifetimes. The parameter B also depends on the recombination mechanism but

Jan 1, 1970

By James Tucker MacKeni~ie

BORN in Florida, educated in Ten¬nessee, employed all his life in the iron industry of Alabama, J. T. MacKenzie is truly of the South. In courtesy, hospitality, as well as in accent of speech, he is true to the tradition of the South. His alma neater, the University of the South, has given him the honorary degree of Doctor of Science for his achievements in metallurgy. He has been active in many technical societies; has received the Whiting Medal of the American Foundrymen's Association for his work in the advancement of gray iron metallurgy, and is chairman of the gray iron division of the A.F.A.; was instrumental in initiating the Alloys of Iron Research of the Engineering Foundation and has served as a member of its Alloys of Iron Committee since the Committee's organization.

Jan 1, 1938

By Edward L. Vickers

The Pacific rim countries, comprising more than half the globe, represent a complex mix of developed and developing nations. The area comprises a large segment of the industrialized world. Within its boundaries are also found many of the world's greatest mineral resources largely concentrated in the less developed countries. The conflicting objectives of these developed and developing nations are giving rise to changes in the traditional patterns of world resource development. Powerful political and socio-economic factors affecting the world today are having a great bearing on natural resource developments in the Pacific basin. New forms of partnerships have been emerging in developing nations which have had a great impact on the mining com- munity, lending institutions, as well as political relations. The United States and Japan have been substantially responsible in the past for the development of natural resources in this area of the world. Their role, however, is undergoing significant metamorphosis. The rapidly changing economic and social environment in the developing countries is producing new tensions which affect future collaboration between producers and users of natural resources. To understand current problems, I believe, it is worthwhile to examine historical trends in this area which may help defining alternatives facing us in the future. In modern times the United States was the first country in the Pacific basin to start development of resources on a massive scale. It began with the major exploration of the mineral-rich west of the United States and extended significantly later into Latin America and Australia. In the early 1950's, Japan became a significant

Jan 1, 1976

Jan 1, 1941

Jan 1, 1941

By Louis D. Huntoon

After the completion, in 1905, of the Hammond Mining and Metallurgical Laboratory of the Sheffield Scientific School, Yale University, it became necessary to secure and assay a large assortment of ore-samples, and to arrange the results in such a manner as to admit of use with the least amount of work on the part of the instructor. At first, pulp-samples, together with their respective assays, were secured from the mines, smelters, and public aesayers, but this practice did not prove satisfactory. It was not only difficult to secure a suffciently large supply of material, but it was also impossible to secure the proper assortment required for instructing students. It involved considerable work for the donors to select the samples and furnish a record of the assays, and also for the instructors to examine each pulp and determine its character. Some of the samples did not contain a sufficient quantity of pulp for the student to check his work in case his first assay did not correspond to the record. In order to increase the number of samples and to vary the character of the material, pulp-samples were later mixed with barren rock and with sulphides, but this method also was unsatisfactory and has been discontinued. At present, small lots of ore are secured by gift or purchase from engineers, public assayers, and the managers of mines, mills, and smelters. These lots weigh from 10 to 100 lb. each, and are rarely finer than 0.25 in. in size. The larger samples permit of a careful study by the instructor in order to determine the best method of assaying to be followed. In universities in which assaying is taught the record of the samples should fulfill the following requirements:

Jan 1, 1910

Ahrenholz, Herman William, Jr., Student, Lehigh Univ Bethlehem, Pa. '35 Allen, Carl A., Student, Colorado School of Mines Golden, Colo. '35 Allen, Paul W., Student, Mass. Inst. of Tech Cambridge, Mass. '35 Allen, R. M., Jr., Student, Virginia Polytechnic Inst., "G" Co Blacasburg, Va. '35 Amberger, K. H., Student, Michigan College of Min. & Tech Houghton, Mich. '35 Andersen, Burton Lee, Student, School of Mines, Univ. of Washington Seattle, Wash. '35 Anderson, Joseph S., Student, Univ. of Texas El Paso, Tex. '35 Anderson, R. C., Student, Univ. of Washington Seattle, Wash. '35 Ansel, Gerhard 627 Clyde St., Pittsburgh, Pa. '34 Anutta, Frederick P., Student, Michigan College of Min. & Tech Houghton, Mich. '35 Apsouri, Constantin N., Graduate Student, Univ. of Arizona Tucson, Ariz. '35 Arakelian, Haig Mark, Student, Mass. Inst. of Tech Cambridge, Mass. '34 Archer, George K 1420 Court Pl., Denver, Colo. '34 Argall, George O., Jr., K. E. House Golden, Colo. '35 Argiielles, Alfredo, Student, Univ. of Texas El Paso, Tex. '35 Atwater, Ralph, Student, South Dakota School of Mines Rapid City, S. D. '35 Austin, Robert B., Miner, Page Mine, Federal Min. & Smelt. CoSpokane, Wash. '34

Jan 1, 1934