History of Indium Corporation and the Development of Indium for Commercial Use
Indium Tin Oxide: For Flat-Panel, Touch-Screen Technologies
Indium-Tin Oxide (ITO) Used in Flat-Panel Displays
Gold-Indium (AuIn) Alloys for High-Reliability Braze Solutions
Process Capability: Cpk and Cpu in Relation to Purity of Compounds from Indium Corporation
Indium is Abundant!
Indium Used for Pigment
The Hard Facts on Soft Metal
Emerging Applications for Liquid Metal
Indium - Making a New Pigment Possible
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Indium metal is extracted primarily from indium-bearing zinc or tin ores and purified to various grades utilizing state-of-the-art statistical process controlled refining technologies.
Indium Corporation produces and refines indium in the USA, Korea, and China.
Indium metal is also used in combination with various semiconducting oxides, where it plays its most valuable role as a transparent conductor. ITO (indium-tin oxide) is used on nearly every flat panel display and touchscreen in use today. In fact, IGZO (combining indium, gallium, and zinc oxides) is the future material of choice for forming the pixel switching transistors in next-generation displays.
Other forms of indium (such as pellets or shot) can be used to form similar active layers when utilizing evaporative methods of deposition.
Indium, the 49th element, was discovered in Germany in 1863. In 1934, Indium Corporation of America was the first to begin commercial development of indium, and is still the leading refiner, fabricator, and marketer of this versatile silver-white metal. Indium is used in a wide variety of applications, based on its unique attributes.
| Structure | |
|---|---|
| Crystal structure | Face-Centered Tetragonal: at 25°C, a = 0.32525 nm and c = 0.49465 nm |
| Mass Characteristics | |
|---|---|
| Atomic weight | 114.82 |
| Density: | |
| C | gm/cc |
| 20 | 7.30 |
| 164 | 7.026 |
| 194 | 7.001 |
| 228 | 6.974 |
| 271 | 6.939 |
| 300 | 6.916 |
| Volume Change on freezing, 2.5% contraction | |
| Electrical Properties | |
|---|---|
| Electrical resistivity: | |
| C | nΩ-m |
| 3.38 K — Super Conducting |
|
| 20 | 84 |
| 154 | 291 |
| 181 | 301 |
| 222 | 319 |
| 280 | 348 |
| Electrochemical equivalent | Valence 3, 396.4 µg/C |
| Electrode potential | InDeg/→ In3+ + 3e, 0.38V |
| Thermal Properties | |
|---|---|
| Melting point | 156.6 C |
| Boiling point | 2080 C |
| Coefficient of thermal expansion | Linear, 24.8µm/m‡K at 20 C |
| Specific Heat: | |
| C | J/kg‡K |
| 25 | 233 |
| 127 | 252 |
| 156.63 (solid) | 264 |
| 156.63 (liquid) | 257 |
| 227 | 256 |
| 327 | 255 |
| 427 | 254 |
| Latent heat of fusion | 28.47 kJ/kg |
| Latent heat of vaporization | 1959.42 kJ/kg |
| Thermal conductivity | 83.7 W/m‡K at 0 C |
| Vapor pressure: | |
| C | kPa |
| 1215 | 0.1013 |
| 1421 | 1.013 |
| 1693 | 10.13 |
| 2080 | 101.3 |
| Magnetic Properties | |
|---|---|
| Magnetic susceptibility | Volumetric: 7.0 x 10-6mks |
| Nuclear Properties | |
|---|---|
| Stable isotopes | 113, 115 |
| Thermal neutron cross section. For 2.2 km/s neutrons: | absorption, 190 ± 10b; scattering, 2.2 ± 0.5b |
| Mechanical Properties | |
|---|---|
| Tensile strength | |
| K | MPa |
| 295 | 1.6 |
| 76 | 15.0 |
| 4 | 31.9 |
| Compressive strength | 2.14 MPa |
| Hardness | 0.9 HB |
| Elastic modulus at 20 C | 12.74 GPa in tension |
| Poisson’s ratio at 20 C | 0.4498 |
When indium is included in solder compositions, many advantages are realized. Compared to conventional tin-lead solders, indium alloys exhibit lower crack propagation and improved resistance to thermal fatigue. Indium will reduce gold scavenging that can occur with tin-based solder on gold or gold-plated parts. Its ductility will allow some materials with different coefficients of thermal expansion to be joined together. In spite of the metal’s softness, it can strengthen materials it is alloyed with.
The unique properties of indium make it an ideal bonding material, especially when bonding non-metals such as quartz, glass, and glazed ceramics. Indium can also be cold welded to itself. It easily deforms under pressure and will fill voids between two surfaces, even at cryogenic temperatures.
Indium is also the basis for many low melting point fusible alloys. These alloys are often used to hold products, such as eyeglass lenses or turbine blades, while the products are being worked on. Then the alloy can be removed with minimal heat, keeping the product from being damaged. Indium is also used with gallium to create alloys that are liquid at room temperature.
Thin films of indium-tin oxide (ITO) on clear glass or plastic function as transparent electrical conductors and/or infrared reflectors. Typical uses of thin films of ITO include LCD flat panel displays, touch screen CRT’s, EL lamps and displays, EMI shields, solar panels and energy efficient windows. Aircraft and automobile windshields are coated with ITO for demisting and deicing. Other indium chemicals are used in alkaline batteries, replacing toxic mercury compounds.
High-purity indium (99.9999 and 99.99999) is used in III-V compound semiconductors such as laser diodes.
The Indium Corporation is confident of the sustained indium metal supply.
There has been concern expressed that the world may face an indium shortage given the rising price environment experienced this year. The Indium Corporation believes that the temporary imbalance between supply and demand will be corrected and that sufficient indium is available to meet forecasted demand.
In 1934 the Indium Corporation began extracting, refining, purifying and fabricating indium. Seventy years later indium is still "Our Product, Our Symbol, Our Name." Over the years we have significantly increased our refining and recycling capacity which has ultimately increased the global supply.
Short-term shortages have periodically occurred because global production and usage are so finely balanced. However, these shortages have historically been corrected by increasing refining capacity and, ultimately, supply.
The documents below contain data from the U.S. Geological Survey. The data shows that indium is available. Indium exists in the earth’s crust in quantities approximately three times that of silver (which is currently extracted at 60x the rate of indium). While extraction efficiency is greater for silver, the relative abundance and current extraction rates of indium versus silver are still a telling story.
According to the U.S. Geological Survey statistics, the worldwide output of indium metal has increased 7X since 1980. We believe that this trend will continue and supply will expand to meet demand.
The indium supply has been bolstered by continued improvement in recycling programs. In the rapidly growing LCD market, greater than 85% of non-deposited indium is reclaimed and returned to the supply chain.
We believe the currently-observed price fluctuations are primarily due to a time lag between emerging demand and available supply. As has been observed in previous cycles, the Indium Corporation believes higher prices will draw forward additional supplies which will alleviate any scarcity.
Indium metal’s unique properties make it a critical component for many products, and the Indium Corporation is committed to, and confident of, meeting the indium needs of its partners.
If you have questions about the indium supply or applications for indium metal, alloys or chemicals, please contact Sara Brancalion.
1 http://minerals.usgs.gov/ds/2005/140/silver.pdf
2 http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/mcs/2013/mcs2013.pdf
No other metal is as versatile as indium metal. In its various forms it can be used for:
The versatility of indium extends to many forms. Indium Corporation has developed the processes necessary to optimize the manufacturability of indium and its alloys into all of these forms:
The unique characteristics of indium metal make it an ideal solution for many soldering and sealing applications. As a wire, pure indium provides an excellent hermetic seal since it fills the imperfections in the mating surfaces. Pure indium also remains malleable at cryogenic temperatures so that sealing applications operating in harsh conditions are not compromised.
Contact us today to discuss your application and how our wire can work for you.
