Self-Diffusion in Antimony

Abstract

The self‐diffusion of antimony has been measured in single crystals with the tracer ¹²⁴Sb. The least‐squares fit to the data gives in the direction of the trigonal axis Q_‖=47.1±1.2 kcal/mole and ln(D₀ in cm²/sec)=3.1±0.7, and in the plane perpendicular to the trigonal axis Q_‖=44.4±4.9 kcal/mole and ln(D₀ in cm²/sec)=2.81±2.8. The standard sectioning technique was used except that the very friable nature of the semimetal complicated the procedure at practically every step of the operation. The greatest source for the inaccuracy arose from the ``tails'' on the deep penetration side, noticable for D_‖ and strongly prominent for D_‖. Correlation considerations in the Sb lattice are considered in detail in the Appendix.