How do I Use Tantalum As a Mineral?

Tantalum Capacitors

• 1

  Compress tantalum powder around a tantalum wire. Heat to 1200 degrees C using direct current in a vacuum chamber, which is a process called sintering.

• 2

  Submerge the sintered pellet in a weak acid solution and run voltage through it to form a layer of tantalum oxide (Ta2O5). This is the dielectric layer.

• 3

  Submerge the tantalum pellet in an aqueous manganese nitrate solution. Bake at 250 degrees Celsisu. Dip in liquid graphite. Dip in liquid silver. Coat with carbon. This is the cathode layer.

• 4

  Solder lead wire to the cathode. Dip the pellet in epoxy resin and cure in an oven to set.

Glass Coating

• 5

  Expose tantalum powder to oxygen at a temperature of 1000 degrees Celsius to produce tantalum oxide (Ta2O5).

• 6

  Compress tantalum oxide in a vacuum chamber while applying direct current to achieve a temperature of 1200 degrees Celsius, resulting in a sintered block.

• 7

  Place the glass to be coated in a vacuum chamber with the sintered tantalum oxide block and heat to 175 degrees Celsius at 0.0001 Torr.

• 8

  Evaporate the tantalum with an electron beam at 3 angstroms per second. This will form the tantalum oxide film on the glass.

Tantalum Alloys

• 9

  Melt tantalum and other metals to be alloyed at 1200 degrees Celsius in a vacuum or inert gas chamber. This will prevent oxidation.

• 10

  Mix the molten metals and cool slowly. Place in a vacuum chamber and reduce pressure to 0.001 Pa.

• 11

  Heat the alloy to 1650 degrees Celsius inside the vacuum chamber. This process, called annealing, strengthens and homogenizes the metal for further processing.