zone refining

zone refining [′zōn ri′fīn·iŋ]

(metallurgy)

A technique to purify materials in which a narrow molten zone is moved slowly along the complete length of the specimen to bring about impurity segregation, and which depends on differences in composition of the liquid and solid in equilibrium. Also known as zone purification.

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Zone refining

One of a number of techniques used in the preparation of high-purity materials. The technique is capable of producing very low impurity levels, namely, parts per million or less in a wide range of materials, including metals, alloys, intermetallic compounds, semiconductors, and inorganic and organic chemical compounds. In principle, zone refining takes advantage of the fact that the solubility level of an impurity is different in the liquid and solid phases of the material being purified; it is therefore possible to segregate or redistribute an impurity within the material of interest. In practice, a narrow molten zone is moved slowly along the complete length of the specimen in order to bring about the impurity segregation.

Impurity atoms either raise or lower the melting point of the host material. There is also a difference in the concentration of the impurity in the liquid phase and in the solid phase when the liquid and solid exist together in equilibrium. In zone refining, advantage is taken of this difference, and the impurity atoms are gradually segregated to one end of the starting material. To do this, a molten zone is passed from one end of the impure material to the other, as in illustration a, and the process is repeated several times. The end to which the impurities are segregated depends on whether the impurity raises or lowers the melting point of the pure material; a lowering of the melting point is more common, in which case impurities are moved in the direction of travel of the molten zone. The effect of multiple zone passes (in the same direction) on impurity content along the material is illustrated in illustration b. See Metallurgy