Pure silicon bar made by hot wire process
date: label: date made
content: ca 1940
name: label: maker
content: Olson, C. Marcus
notes: label: Description (Brief)
content: Donor reports this as "a section of a pure silicon bar made by a process that goes under several names. Hot wire; iodide; and Van Arkel come to mind. Silicon is but one of the elements that can be produced by the technique. Massive deposits of boron, germanium, and zirconium are displayed in various exhibits. Without going into great detail the process comprises having an incandescent wire or rod in a closed chamber into which reactive gases are introduced. As a case in point, if a tungsten wire is heated electrically (as in a light bulb) in an atmosphere of silane (SiH4) the gas decomposes to yield silicon and gaseous hydrogen. By supplying the chamber with a steady flow of silane the wire builds up to yield massive crystalline silicon. Whether [this] section ... was obtained by that method or a comparable system we do not know. As a variation one can use Silicon iodide with hydrogen to get the reaction SiI4+2H2 -> Si + 4 HI. Since silane reacts explosively with air at room temperature the iodide method has distinct advantages. Furthermore silane is not readily produced by easy reactions. Having now
label: Description (Brief)
content: described the processes it will be useful to say that the section of crystalline silicon ... was made in a quartz chamber starting with a small diameter bar (prepared in earlier runs) heated by high frequency means. A large microwave unit if you will. The silicon gasses usually employed are SiI4, Si Br4, and Si Cl4, in ascending difficulty."
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Electricity
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: from C. Marcus Olson
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1998.0061.03
label: accession number
content: 1998.0061
label: catalog number
content: 1998.0061.03
objectType: label: Object Name
content: silicon bar
physicalDescription: label: Measurements
content: overall: 1 3/8 in x 1 1/4 in; 3.4925 cm x 3.175 cm