Diffusion in Indium Near the Melting Point

Abstract

Diffusion coefficients for the systems Tl204–In and In114–In have been measured in the solid state and in the neighborhood of the melting point. The measurements were made in both polycrystalline masses and in single crystals. For the polycrystalline samples a rapid, but not discontinuous, rise in the diffusion co-efficient occurred about 0.5°C below the melting point. For the Tl204–In system in a single crystal the rise in D occurs just below the melting point. This indicates grain boundary melting in the polycrystalline sample. For the In114–In diffusion in a single crystal the rapid rise still occurred well below the melting point, indicating that increasing lattice disorder also contributes to the increase in D.