Tin Telluride

High Purity SnTe

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Tin is a Block P, Group 14, Period 5 element. The electronic configuration is [Kr] 4d¹⁰ 5s² 5p². In its elemental form tin's CAS number is 7440-31-5. The tin atom has a radius of 140.5.pm and it's Van der Waals radius is 217.pm. Tin compounds sprayed onto glass are used to produce electrically conductive coatings. These have been used for panel lighting and for frost-free windshields. Most window glass is now made by floating molten glass on molten tin (float glass) to produce a flat surface. Crystalline tin-niobium alloy is superconductive at very low temperatures. This promises to be important in the construction of superconductive magnets that generate enormous field strengths but use practically no power. Tin is the basis for many eutectic alloys and the discovery by early man that copper could be better formed and crafted if tin were added producing the first bronze and launching what we refer to as the "Bronze Age" and the first Neolithic metal tools, cooking utensils, and jewelry produced from rudimentary bronze.

Tellurium is a Block P, Group 16, Period 5 element. The electronic configuration is [Kr] 4d¹⁰ 5s² 5p⁴. In its elemental form tellurium's CAS number is 13494-80-9. The tellurium atom has a radius of 143.2.pm and it's Van der Waals radius is 206.pm. Tellurium is a p-type semiconductor, and shows greater conductivity in certain directions, depending on alignment of the atoms. It is grown in crystalline form with other elements such as indium telluride. Its conductivity increases slightly with exposure to light which makes many tellurides candidates for solar energy applications. . Tellurium improves the machinability of copper and stainless steel, and its addition to lead decreases the corrosive action of sulfuric acid on lead and improves its strength and hardness. Tellurium is used as a basic ingredient in blasting caps, and is added to cast iron for chill control. Tellurium is used in ceramics.

American Elements semi conducting materials are crystal structures produced from ultra high purity starting materials synthesized by our high purity production facility which includes several large electric muffle furnaces, a tube furnace for hydrogen reduction, 50 gallon glass-lined Pfaudler reactors supported by our analytical laboratory containing X-ray diffraction, SEM, AA, BET surface area, and ICP Spectrometry for trace metals analysis. See a discussion of American Elements Ultra High Purity and Analytical capabilities. See Crystal Growth for processes used to fabricate semiconductor materials, which include:

• Crystal "pulling" by the Czochaiski method for production of semiconductor materials
• Flux growth and gradient freeze
• Directional solidification of fluorites using both the Bridgman-Stockbarger and float zoning techniques