Abstract
AlSb is a low-cost, high-band-gap semiconducting material, yet largely limited in its potential due to difficulty in the synthesis of single-phase AlSb. The present work compares different processing routes in their potency to produce bulk and nanocrystalline AlSb. Vacuum arc melting has been successfully employed, for the first time, to synthesize single-phase bulk AlSb. Owing to high vapor pressure of Sb, an optimum amount of excess Sb (3%) needs to be added to achieve single-phase line compound AlSb. Two methods, viz. mechanical alloying of elemental powders and mechanical milling of cast alloy, have been used to synthesize nanocrystalline AlSb. Nanocrystalline AlSb could be produced after ball milling the cast alloy; however, prolonged milling results in the appearance of Sb along with a non-stoichiometric Al-Sb-O oxide. Mechanical alloying of Al and Sb does not lead to appearance of single-phase AlSb, and the mixture largely consists of starting material and amorphous products. Therefore, the effectiveness of a synthesis route in producing single-phase AlSb is governed by the tendency of oxygen pickup during the processing.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
P. Qiu, J. Yang, X. Huang, X. Chen, and L. Chen, Effect of Antisite Defects on Band Structure and Thermoelectric Performance of ZrNiSn Half-Heusler Alloys, Appl. Phys. Lett., 2010, 96, p 10–13
T.B. Massalski, H. Okamoto, P.R. Subramanian, L. Kacprzak, and W.W. Scott, Binary Alloy Phase Diagrams, American Society for Metals, Metals Park, OH, 1986
R.L. Sarkar and S. Chatterjee, Electronic Structure and Optical Properties of AlP, AlAs, and AlSb, Phys. Status Solidi., 1979, 94, p 641–647
A.B. Djurišić, Y. Chan, and E.H. Li, Progress in the Room-Temperature Optical Functions of Semiconductors, Mater. Sci. Eng. R Rep., 2002, 38, p 237–293
T. Singh and R.K. Bedi, Growth and Properties of Aluminium Antimonide Films Produced by Hot Wall Epitaxy on Single-Crystal KCl, Thin Solid Films, 1998, 312, p 111–115
J. He, L. Wu, L. Feng, J. Zheng, J. Zhang, W. Li, B. Li, and Y. Cai, Structural, Electrical and Optical Properties of Annealed Al/Sb Multilayer Films, Sol. Energy Mater. Sol. Cells, 2011, 95, p 369–372
M. Stjerndahl, H. Bryngelsson, T. Gustafsson, J.T. Vaughey, M.M. Thackeray, and K. Edstrom, Surface Chemistry of Intermetallic AlSb-Anodes for Li-Ion Batteries, Electrochim. Acta, 2007, 52, p 4947–4955
L. Baggetto, M. Marszewski, J. Górka, M. Jaroniec, and G.M. Veith, AlSb Thin Films as Negative Electrodes for Li-Ion and Na-Ion Batteries, J. Power Sources, 2013, 243, p 699–705
C.J. Smithells, W.F. Gale, and T.C. Totemeier, Smithells Metals Reference Book, Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann, Burlington, 2004
E.F. Steigmeier and I. Kudman, Thermal Conductivity of III-V Compounds at High Temperatures, Phys. Rev., 1963, 132, p 508–512
M. Leroux, A. Tromson-Carli, P. Gibart, C. Vérié, C. Bernard, and M.C. Schouler, Growth of AlSb on Insulating Substrates by Metal Organics Chemical Vapour Deposition, J. Cryst. Growth, 1980, 48, p 367–378
T. Shibata, J. Nakata, Y. Nanishi, and M. Fujimoto, A Rutherford Backscattering Spectroscopic Study of AlSb Oxidation Process in Air, Jap. J. Appl. Phys., 1994, 33, p 1767–1772
T. Gandhi, K.S. Raja, and M. Misra, Room Temperature Electrodeposition of Aluminum Antimonide Compound Semiconductor, Electrochim. Acta, 2008, 53, p 7331–7337
S. Inbakumar and A. Anu kaliani, Optical and Structural Analysis of Plasma-Treated and Annealed Al–Sb Bilayer Thin Films, Ionics, 2009, 15, p 191–195
C. Wichasilp, T. Thongtem, S. Thongtem, Solid-State Fabrication of Nanostructured AlSb by Electron Beam Heating Process, in Nanoelectronics Conference, 3rd International 86 (2010)
D.M. Trichês, S.M. Souza, C.M. Poffo, J.C. De Lima, T.A. Grandi, and R.S. De Biasi, Structural Instability and Photoacoustic study of AlSb Prepared by Mechanical Alloying, J. Alloys Compd., 2010, 505, p 762–767
H. Honda, H. Sakaguchi, Y. Fukuda, and T. Esaka, Anode Behaviors of Aluminum Antimony Synthesized by Mechanical Alloying for Lithium Secondary Battery, Mater. Res. Bull., 2003, 38, p 647–656
F. Popa, I. Chicinas, and O. Isnard, AlSb Intermetallic Semiconductor Compound Formation by Solid State Reaction After Partial Amorphization Induced by Mechanical Alloying, Intermetallics, 2017, 93, p 371–376
R. Kassing, P. Petkov, W. Kulisch, C. Popov, Functional Properties of Nanostructured Materials, Vasa (2005)
W. Xie, S. Zhu, X. Tang, J. He, Y. Yan, V. Ponnambalam, Q. Zhang, S.J. Poon, and T. Tritt, Synthesis and Thermoelectric Properties of (Ti, Zr, Hf)(Co, Pd)Sb Half-Heusler Compounds, J. Phys. D Appl. Phys., 2009, 42, p 235407
E. Rausch, B. Balke, T. Deschauer, S. Ouardi, and C. Felser, Charge Carrier Concentration Optimization of Thermoelectric p-Type Half-Heusler Compounds, APL Mater., 2015, 3, p 041516
K. Zbitnew and J.C. Woolley, The Quaternary Alloy System Alx Ga y In1−x−y Sb, J. Appl. Phys., 1981, 52, p 6611–6616
D.R. Gaskell, Introduction to the Thermodynamics of Materials, Taylor & Francis, London, 2003
A. Takeuchi and A. Inoue, Classification of Bulk Metallic Glasses by Atomic Size Difference, Heat of Mixing and Period of Constituent Elements and Its Application to Characterization of the Main Alloying Element, Mater. Trans., 2005, 46, p 2817–2829
M. Vaidya, A. Prasad, A. Parakh, and B.S. Murty, Influence of Sequence of Elemental Addition on Phase Evolution in Nanocrystalline AlCoCrFeNi: Novel Approach to Alloy Synthesis Using Mechanical Alloying, Mater. Des., 2017, 126, p 37–46
C. Suryanarayana, Mechanical Alloying and Milling, Prog. Mater Sci., 2001, 46, p 1–184
A.K. Srivastav, J. Basu, S. Kashyap, N. Chawake, D. Yadav, and B.S. Murty, Scripta Materialia Crystallographic-Shear-Phase-Driven W 18 O 49 Nanowires Growth on Nanocrystalline W Surfaces, Scr. Mater., 2016, 115, p 28–32
N. Chawake, N.T.B.N. Koundinya, S. Kashyap, A.K. Srivastav, D. Yadav, R.A. Mondal, and R. Sankar, Materials Characterization Formation of Amorphous Alumina During Sintering of Nanocrystalline B2 Aluminides, Mater. Charact., 2016, 119, p 186–194
Q. Zeng and I. Baker, Magnetic Properties and Thermal Ordering of Mechanically Alloyed Fe – 40 at% Al, Intermetallics, 2006, 14, p 396–405
M.M. Moshksar and M. Mirzaee, Formation of NiAl Intermetallic by Gradual and Explosive Exothermic Reaction Mechanism During Ball Milling, Intermetallics, 2004, 12, p 1361–1366
L.P.H. Jeurgens, W.G. Sloof, F.D. Tichelaar, and E.J. Mittemeijer, Thermodynamic Stability of Amorphous Oxide Films on Metals: Application to Aluminum Oxide Films on Aluminum Substrates, Phys. Rev. B., 2000, 62, p 4707–4719
N.S. Stoloff, Iron Aluminides: Present Status and Future Prospects, Mater. Sci. Eng. A, 1998, 258, p 1–14
W.H. Tuan, The Effect of Al2O3 Addition on the Milling Behavior of NiAl Powder, J. Mater. Eng. Perform., 1998, 7, p 613–616
H. Huang, P. Virtanen, T. Tiainen, and Y. Ji, Synthesis of γ-TiAl Based Alloy by Mechanical Alloying and Reactive Hot Isostatic Pressing, J. Mater. Eng. Perform., 1998, 7, p 784–788
P. Erhart, D. Åberg, and V. Lordi, Extrinsic Point Defects in Aluminum Antimonide, Phys. Rev. B, 2010, 81, p 195216
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Karati, A., Vaidya, M. & Murty, B.S. Comparison of Different Processing Routes for the Synthesis of Semiconducting AlSb. J. of Materi Eng and Perform 27, 6196–6205 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11665-018-3630-1
Received:
Revised:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11665-018-3630-1