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By Emmanuel P. Papadakis

Ultrasonic velocity measurements have been made to study the preferred orientation in cube-textured copper. Methods applicable to thin specimens were employed since the specimens were necessarily of sheet material. The measured velocities in various directions in the sheet differed from the corresponding values in single-crystal copper by 1 to 6 pet. The distribution of the deviations indicated that the align-ment of the (001) planes with the rolling plane was better than the alignment of the [100]and [010] directions with the rolling and transverse directions. Ultrasonic pole figures (velocity us orientation) are shown to be useful in the study of preferred orientation. THIS paper describes one set of experiments in a continuing study of preferred orientation in worked metals. This study has been undertaken to investigate the fundamental properties of metals when used as propagation media for ultrasonic waves. Many such materials are of current or potential use in ultrasonic delay lines. Fundamental studies on ultrasonic propagation parameters such as velocity, attenuation, and diffraction (beam spreading) are of importance in the design of delay lines, in the development of nondestructive testing methods, and in the study of materials themselves. Preferred orientation in worked poly-crystalline metals influences all three above-mentioned parameters, and hence is of particular importance. When polycrystalline metals are subjected to mechanical working, they develop textures dependent upon their crystal structure and the symmetry of the working operation.' The texture consists in the alignment of the crystallographic axes of the grains in preferred directions with respect to the symmetry axes of the working operation. Since the grains are elastically anisotropic, the elastic moduli of worked metals are anisotropic. Hence the velocities of elastic waves in worked metals depend on the directions of propagation and polarization. The worked metal may be thought of as taking on the elastic symmetry of a single crystal: so it possesses the same number of independent elastic moduli as the crystal class it simulates. In general, a worked metal does not adopt the crystalline symmetry of its own grains. For instance, most rolled sheet becomes effectively orthorhombic while all bar stock and wire develop hexagonal symmetry. However, certain metals with cubic crystal structure develop a cube texture upon rolling and annealing.= Nearly perfect alignment of [100]-type directions with the rolling direction, transverse direction, and rolling-plane norma1 can be achieved in certain fcc metals and alloys. These cube-textured rolled metals provide an excellent opportunity to test preferred orientation by means of elastic waves, since a worked metal with 100 pct cube texture would have elastic moduli identical to the moduli of its constituent metal. It is the purpose of this paper to present the results of an investigation upon cube-textured copper. Ultrasonic waves were used. The methods of measurement and the experimental results on the effective moduli will be given. The ultrasonic measurements will be shown to complement X-ray pole figures for the determination of preferred orientation in worked metals. EXPERIMENT To study cube - textured material, it was necessary to use thin-sheet material since a severe reduction in gage (95 to 99 pct) is necessary to produce cube texture. Special ultrasonic methods were needed to investigate the thin material at megacycle frequencies. A) Materials. The cube-textured material tested was a copper alloy containing 1 pct Zn. Specimens already measured for Young's modulus4 by Alers were kindly supplied by him. The specimens were slabs 3.00 by 0.25 in. cut from sheet 0.047 in. thick. The orientations of the long axes of the specimens with respect to the rolling direction were taken in 15-deg steps from 0 to 90 deg. B) Measurements. Two distinct experiments were performed to measure the phase velocity in these specimens. One measured the shear wave velocity for propagation in the 0.25-in. direction and polarization in the 3.00-in. direction. The other measured the velocity of both shear and longitudinal waves propagating in the thickness direction in the sheet. 1) Plate-Mode Measurements. The velocity of the zeroth-order shear mode5 was measured in the 0.25-in. direction in each strip. The specimens were ground thinner over half their length to assure that the first-order shear mode would be cut off below 6 Mc per sec, leaving the zeroth-order nondispersive shear mode as the only propagating mode. Piezoelectric ceramic transducers of 5 Mc per sec resonant frequency poled in their long direction were solder-bonded to the edges of the thin part of the slabs as in Fig. 1 after these edges had been made flat and parallel by fine grinding. These transducers produced waves polarized in the 3.00-in. direction and propa-

Jan 1, 1967

By Richard D. Hagni

The United States is dependent upon foreign sources for more than 93% of its bauxite and alumina supply. Domestic production of bauxite, which comes from Alabama, Georgia and Arkansas, is limited to those bauxite ores containing less than about l ½ % iron. Bauxites with higher iron contents are generally not utilized because they cause problems in bauxite calcining and especially because they produce undesirable brick discoloration and cracking. In order to improve beneficiation and expand the utilization of high-iron or ferruginous bauxites, a mineralogical and textural study has been conducted on selected samples from the Eufaula, Alabama, bauxite district. Reflected light microscopic, petrographic, and X-ray techniques have shown that a variety of iron minerals are present, including hematite, goethite, lepidocrosite, siderite, pyrite, marcasite, and ilmenite. Although the iron minerals may be locally concentrated into concretions and pisolites, most occur as very fine grains that are disseminated and show a variety of intergrowths. Mineralogical and textural observations indicate that the fine-grained iron mineral grains may be amenable to high gradient magnetic separation.

Jan 1, 1981

By Jorge Black F

El presente texto señala la importancia del proceso del seguro de accidentes de trabajo -en tanto beneficia a terceras personas según mandato expreso de una ley. Por tal motivo, se aborda la historia de la ley de antecedentes de accidentes de trabajo, como las modificaciones de estas a través de las principales reformas establecidas en el artículo 315, 316 y 317 entre otras. Asimismo se declara que solo las compañías aseguradoras tienen la potestad de manejar y satisfacer la función de asegurados y obreros, como mantener una organización que signifique garantía de servicio.

Aug 20, 1963

By K. L. Ludeke, A. D. Day

For many reasons, it appears that deep rooted, perennial shrubs offer potential for improved stabilization and provide maintenance free vegetative cover to harsh sites where perennial grasses have not been successful. The major objective was to select various shrub species of arid plants for initial soil stabilization of disturbed mining areas. The very fact that a drought-adapted shrub has a massive root system that can use moisture from a greater volume of mineral waste soil materials suggests that arid environment disturbed soils may be vegetatively stabilized using desirable forage shrubs. A secondary effort is underway to assemble information and plant materials of promising species from many arid regions of the world for reclamation of mined lands. Surprisingly, many of the better plants for arid sites are quite high in protein content. With proper management, breeding, and selection, they may prove to be very desirable livestock feed when mined lands are used in range land areas. Advancements in arid land solid waste stabilization hold favorable promise for many industries that mine and mill in arid regions for effective reclamation of disturbed areas. Particularly exciting is the possibility of establishment of high density maintenance free vegetative cover of climax vegetation that reclaims the disturbed area back to its original land use. Due to high shrub productivity, stabilization potential, nutritional quality, and reclamation success, greater use should be made of shrubs in disturbed land reclamation associated with mining and milling operations in harsh aril environments.

Jan 1, 1986

By Naoko Shimazaki, Andre Xavier

Over 10 million tourists have visited Vietnam in 2016. Travel and tourism accounted for 9.3% of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2014. At the same time, as with many other resource-rich developing countries, Vietnam has been developing its extractive resources sector as a means of promoting the country’s social and economic development. In 2015, mining was the third largest contributor to GDP, and accounted for 8% of Vietnam’s gross domestic product. Vietnam is the third largest mineral producer in SE Asia. Although it produces zinc, nickel, bauxite, and manganese, coal mining is its most developed sector. The country has over two hundred coal mines, and total reserves of approximately 6 billion tons. Quang Nihn Province, where the World Heritage Site Ha Long Bay is located, is a very important tourism destination. It is also a coal-rich region where mining extraction and processing have been active since the early 20th century. Vietnam is signatory of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The country is aware of the importance and the challenges involved in managing the extractive sector in a way that does not undermine its tourism industry and yet that contributes to the country’s sustainable development. To this end Vietnam is taking actions towards implementing more advanced coal-mining extraction and processing techniques. The country is furthermore promoting a responsible mining sector, and is investing in programs that foster environmental protection and sustainable tourism. This paper examines the case of the Ha Long Bay region and the project involved in relocating the Hong Gai coal preparatory factory from a seafront area to a mountainside area. This paper provides a preliminary review of the initiatives adopted by the government of Vietnam to address the existing challenges that have resulted from a focus on promoting the country’s socio-economic development through the exploration of its rich coal endowment. Furthermore, it also describes Vietnam’s legal and policy frameworks. In conclusion this study identified that Vietnam has drafted a National Action Plan to implement the Sustainable Development Goals. The country is also taking an integrated approach to implementing the SDGs agenda and that it is assigning responsibility to a variety of ministries to achieve SDGs’ specific targets. Furthermore the country is changing policies and the legal framework in order to facilitating the execution of the work of agencies that are responsible for implementation, regulation and enforcement. In this respect, the approval of the National Action Plan on Sustainable Development Goals is another important step in that direction. While the decision of supplying its internal market with high quality coal helps minimize negative environmental impacts in Vietnam, exporting low quality coal to other countries does not help resolve the problem of CO2 emissions globally. With respect to the 2030 Agenda, this may be considered a temporary solution since to achieve the SDG goals, Vietnam will have to consider other sources of cleaner energy in order to align with the Sustainable Development Goals # 7 on affordable and clean energy.

Jan 1, 2017

By N. J. Grant, C. F. Flo, F. B. Cuff

An investigation of the Ti-Cr system has shown the presence of a complete series of solid solutions in the ß phase, with a minimum in the solid us near 50 pct Cr. An intermetallic compound, TiCr2, forms during cooling from the ß solid solution. There is a eutectoid reaction at the low chromium side of the system. IN view of the recognition of the potentialities of titanium and its alloys as important structural materials there has arisen a need for a systematic investigation of various titanium binary diagrams. Of these, the Ti-Cr system was of particular interest because of the improved properties imparted to titanium by small chromium additions. A literature survey disclosed a partial constitution diagram that had been suggested by Vogel and Wenderott,¹ This diagram, shown in Fig. 1, is the result of work done on the Fe-Cr-Ti ternary system. Alloys containing less than 43 pct Cr were not investigated. In addition to this, a study of alloys in the Ti-Cr system was reported by McPherson and Fontana.² Adenstedt3 furnished a number of dilato-meter curves obtained from specimens containing 5, 10, and 15 pct Cr. Very recently, McQuillan4 submitted a proposed diagram covering the complete range of compositions between titanium and chromium. This diagram was in general agreement with the one described here. Experimental Procedure Sponge titanium (99.7 pct) and electrolytic chromium (Bureau of Mines analysis: 99.03 pct Cr, 0.40 pct Fe, 0.53 pct O2) were used for the initial determination of the system. Subsequent refinement of points, particularly for the low chromium side of the diagram, was accomplished by using iodide titanium and high purity chromium (National Research Corp. analysis: 0.050 pct C, 0.045 pct O2). The Ti-Cr alloys were prepared by melting 25 g charges in an enclosed, water-cooled copper crucible using a movable tungsten electrode. The atmosphere was helium, prepurified by first passing it through a drying agent and then through sponge titanium heated to 850°C. Particular care was taken to avoid any large scale segregation resulting from insufficient mixing of the components. Each charge was melted and kept molten for approximately 1 min, allowed to cool, inverted, remelted, and kept molten for an additional minute. In order to ascertain the amount of impurity pickup (oxygen and nitrogen) during the melting procedure, three iodide titanium specimens were melted in sequence and then checked for increased hardness. The specimens in the as-cast condition showed a relatively large hardness increase over the hardness of the as-received iodide titanium. The scattering on these readings was large. However, after the specimens had been homogenized at 840 °C for 2 hr and slowly cooled, the measured increase in hardness over the as-received titanium was small with a corresponding decrease in scatter. The reason for this hardness change is that in heat treating these specimens below the transformation temperature (885°C) there was a conversion from the as-cast structure to the more nearly equilibrium structure of the annealed specimen. The alloys were analyzed for chromium content and although the actual percentage was invariably low the deviation from the nominal composition never exceeded 0.6 pct Cr.

Jan 1, 1953

By Donald D

A number of standard tests are conventionally carried out to characterise strength properties of rock. The values of the parameters obtained are often affected by planes of weakness or defects in rock structure. For the purpose of mine design, the range in values or the class of the strength (obtained from a number of tests) is generally more important than a precise value (obtained from a single or limited number of tests). Research has been conducted to establish a relationship between an indentation index and the strength of the intact rock material from the Eastern Goldfields of Western Australia. The Tamrock Raise Boring Index (RB-i) test, which is quick and easy to perform, was selected as the indentation test. The results show that, for heterogeneous, strong to very strong rock, there is a good correlation between the indentation index and the uniaxial compressive strength and tensile strength.

Jan 1, 1996

By D. Bugarin, V. Kecojević, A. Cvjetić, N. Stanić, M. Gomilanović, L. Žujović, T. Stanković

In addition to unfavourable weather and working conditions, incidents and injuries in the mining industry are not uncommon. Factors such as extreme weather conditions, heavy machinery, and unstable terrain make mining a high-risk occupation. To mitigate these risks, there is a growing need for ongoing improvements in employee safety protocols and training programmes. This paper presents a conceptual framework aimed at enhancing the safety training of employees working in surface mining operations. The proposed solution integrates virtual reality and “serious games” as innovative tools to improve safety awareness and preparedness among mine workers. Specifically, a serious game was developed in two versions: a desktop application and a fully immersive virtual reality experience, both using the Unity3D game engine. These applications are designed to simulate real-life mining environments and address various workplace safety scenarios, offering employees an interactive and engaging way to practice their responses to potential hazards. The use of serious games and virtual reality allows for a deeper level of engagement in training, helping workers to retain critical safety information while reducing the risks associated with traditional on-site training methods.

Jul 3, 2026

By Christopher Mark

Australia and the United States both have large, modern underground coal mining industries. Many companies have invested in both countries, and there is growing awareness that technological developments in one country can rapidly affect the other. Yet the ability of technology to pass between the countries depends on comparability of ground conditions. Many Australian observers believe that their ground conditions are significantly poorer than typical U.S. conditions, but some U.S. professionals are not convinced. The author recently visited 10 Australian longwall mines and two room-and-pillar mines. Each mine visit included determination of the Coal Mine Roof Rating, roof support installed, pillar design, and an in-depth discussion of ground control experience. The Australian conditions observed are compared with an extensive data base from U.S. mines. The paper also offers observations on geotechnical data collection, monitoring, and the roles of the mine inspectorate and research community.

By Philip A. Bucci

The Florida phosphate industry successfully uses froth flotation to concentrate phosphate in: the particle size range of approximately 28 to 150 mesh. However, as recently as 1965, coarse particles in the range of 14 to 28 mesh generally had not been beneficiated by conventional flotation methods at recoveries high enough to be considered adequate. It has been customary to upgrade this coarse material; by "agglomerate flotation" or "skin flotation" using belts, tables or spirals. While these devices have proved commercially effective, their capacities are much lower than those of froth flotation cells. To determine whether coarse phosphate material could be recovered successfully by froth flotation, Armour Agricultural Chemical Company began a series of pilot and plant tests; in April 1965. Objective of the tests was to compare over-all performance of a froth flotation cell design relatively new to the phosphate industry with results from the belt circuit at the Bartow, Fla., plant.

Jan 1, 1966

By JOHN DUNFIELD

Good quality sphagnum peat bogs occur across Canada in areas of ample rainfall and cool, temperate climates. Early peat production techniques were restricted primarily to hand digging blocks of peat and piling them up to be dried by sun and wind. Suburban de velopment in the 1950s and the concomitant spread of home gardening triggered a dramatic growth in peat demand; labour costs rose in the same period. Peat production techniques had to alter accordingly. The three mechanical inno vations attempted were hydraulic mining, mechanical block digging and vacuum harvesting. Of these, the last method pro ved the most successful in Canada and is used to harvest 80% of Canadian peat production. Escalating transportation costs are the most important feature affecting future development of the Canadian peat industry.

Jan 1, 1984

By Isaias Moreira de Freitas

Componentes de alto custo como rodas ferroviárias estão em pleno desenvolvimento a fim de aumentar o desempenho em operação. Para isso, diversos materiais microligados têm sido testados para obter melhores propriedades mecânicas e metalúrgicas. Esses materiais estão fortemente sujeitos a fraturas devido às solicitações térmicas e mecânicas durante o trabalho. Muitas dessas fraturas frágeis são ocasionadas por propagação de trinca, impacto, fadiga ou alguma falha metalúrgica. Essas fraturas e riscos operacionais vêm aumentando gradativamente com as maiores cargas transportadas. Portanto, novos materiais e processos produtivos devem ser exaustivamente testados a fim de garantir alto desempenho e confiabilidade. O objetivo deste trabalho é avaliar as propriedades dos materiais atuais e de diferentes composições de aços microligados de rodas ferroviárias de vagões, fabricadas pelos processos de fundição e forjamento. As amostras foram submetidas a ensaios metalográficos, mecânicos e de tenacidade à fratura. Foram avaliadas rodas convencionais, microligadas ao vanádio e microligadas ao nióbio. Nas rodas forjada e fundida, foram observadas propriedades de tração e dureza similares, e superioridade para o microligado em relação ao aço convencional. As rodas forjadas apresentaram melhor resistência ao impacto e a tenacidade a fratura, destacando-se a microligada ao nióbio.

Aug 16, 2017

By Singh RN

The Bulli Coal Seam, located in the Illawarra Coalfield of New South Wales, has a long and varied history of sudden outbursts. From available information this problem has resulted in twelve fatalities over the last one hundred and one years, with over five hundred separate outburst incidents being identified. These incidents have varied in severity and intensity from the discharge of 1 to 2 tonne of coal, with a slight increase in gas emission, to the discharge of 200 to 400 tonne of coal with some 6,000 m3 of gas being liberated and large items of mining equipment being pushed 1 to 2 metres down the roadway.Geological features associated with these outbursts can be mapped on a regional and mine by mine basis, to provide some indication or warning. Similarly changes in gas content and gas composition can also be determined on a regional and mine by mine basis. However sudden geological changes (such as a 6.5 metre seam displacement within 15 metres) variations in gas content (such as 6 m3/tonne to 15 m3/tonne) and changes in gas composition (from 95% CH4 to 90% CO2) all within one mine does make the prediction or forecasting of outburst incidents exceedingly difficult.

Jan 1, 1998

By T. Moyo

"The oxidative leaching of chalcopyrite in ammoniacal solutions has been evaluated using electro-analytical techniques and controlled bulk leaching studies. The anodic dissolution process has been established to be a sevenelectron transfer process under nitrogen in ammonia–ammonium sulphate solutions and ammonia–ammonium carbonate solutions, which suggests that the sulphur is oxidized to thiosulphate and the copper and iron released as Cu+ and Fe2+ in these systems. The deportment of Fe2+ and S2O3 2- is affected by choice of the ammonium salt used in the leaching process. In the perchlorate salt, only five electrons are transferred, supporting formation of different sulphur species as proposed for the sulphate and carbonate salts. Scanning electron microscopy and energydispersive spectroscopic analysis of the mineral surface after leaching indicate presence of an iron–sulphur surface layer completely free of copper in the sulphate system, an iron-rich surface layer in the perchlorate solutions, and absence of surface layer build-up in carbonate solutions. XRD analysis of a bulk leach residue from leaching in ammoniaammonium sulphate solutions showed the surface layer to be mostly amorphous (90%). The crystalline content (10%) is composed of 95% polymorphs of anhydrous iron oxide hydroxide FeO(OH). Choice of ammonium salt and the hydrodynamic environment of leaching have been shown to influence the presence or absence of the surface product, as well as its nature. IntroductionHydrometallurgical processes for copper extraction provide a viable route to recover the metal from mixed and low-grade ores, as well as overcome the environmental challenges faced by the traditional pyrometallurgical processes. Chalcopyrite is not only the most abundant of the copper sulphides, but also the most stable, making it recalcitrant to hydrometallurgical processes. Hence, hydrometallurgical processing of chalcopyrite continues to be an attractive area of research due to the vaguely understood surface chemistry of the mineral in different aqueous media. Different routes for hydrometallurgical treatment of chalcopyrite can be followed. These include thermal treatment prior to leaching, direct leaching and direct electrochemical leaching (Venkatachalam, 1991). Direct leaching of chalcopyrite can be carried out in various solution systems, as reviewed by Roman and Benner (1973) and Venkatachalam (1991). Ammoniacal solutions are attractive and effective lixiviants that form stable amine complexes with some base metal cations while rejecting iron. Leaching of chalcopyrite in ammoniacal solutions in the presence of an oxidant is possible due to the stabilization of copper (I) and copper(II) by ammonia at elevated pH levels. In oxygenated ammonia solutions, it has been suggested that chalcopyrite dissolves according to Equation [1] (Beckstead and Miller., 1977a):"

Jan 1, 2016

The kinetics of chlorination of alumina and bauxite with CO/CI2 mixtures were studied in the range 300-1100°C. The temperature of prior calcination is critical in determining the reaction rates. An optimum chlorination temperature in the range 600°C-750°C was demonstrated such that there is no increase in reaction rates with increasing temperature. This lack of rate sensitivity to rising temperature is largely a function of the influence of gaseous diffusion gradients in the porous alumina together with a progressive decrease in surface area.

Jan 1, 1976

By K Dagdelen

A vehicle proximity warning system is being developed using GPS and wireless local area networks to improve safety of off-highway trucks in open pit mines. After two an a half years of research, software development, and laboratory testing, field tests were carried out at operating limestone quarries and open pit mining operations to evaluate GPS accuracy and overall system effectiveness under rugged operating conditions. This article describes the progress made on this NIOSH funded project and discusses the GPS accuracy tests and overall system tests that were carried out during 2001 at the Morenci open pit copper mine in Arizona.

Jan 1, 2003

This paper describes the planning mechanism and implementation of a progressive rehabilitation programme at Hunter Valley Mine in the Upper Hunter Valley of New South Wales. Hunter Valley Mine is a large open cut coal mine which produces approximately 7.0 million tonnes of coal (run of mine) annually for export. This production level involves the movement of some 60 million tonnes of waste and coal each year.The rehabilitation programme at Hunter Valley Mine has been developed to provide a combination of pasture, based on improved pasture species and timber belts to enhance the visual characteristics of the rehabilitated landform, whilst creating amenity in the form of shade for livestock.The operational philosophy for the rehabilitation programme is that of progressive rehabilitation. The best time to undertake rehabilitation is now.' As a result, planning for the rehabilitation programme is continuous, so that all site works are completed in time for vegetation establishment during the critical periods each year.

Jan 1, 1992

By D. J. MacKinnon, Kazi E. Haque

Ammonia present in a variety of mine/mill waste waters was almost completely oxidized to nitrogen by chloride mediated electro-oxidation. A closed circuit operation of preconcentration of ammonia on a suitable adsorbent (e.g. zeolite or a resin) followed by brine stripping of ammonia and electrolysis of the strip liquor seems to have sound technical, economic and environmental merits. The removal of ammonia, cyanide, cyanate or thiocyanate from a mine/mill waste water (e.g. gold mill), either individually or collectively, is also feasible by chloride mediated electro-oxidation technique. Further R&D investigations are necessary for the development of a closed circuit operation for the removal of ammonia, cyanide and thiocyanate; and also to obtain technical data for process cost estimates

Jan 1, 1996

By J. Cech

Discussion is presented of a decision-making support method for the spacing of ore passes along a long vein orebody and the division of the orebody into convenient stopes for future mining operations. The method was tested on a Slovak siderite deposit and also on some hypothetical cases with the objective of obtaining more general results

Jun 18, 1905

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