Dear
Robert,
It
sounds like the alloy did not get correctly mixed prior to the
melting. I understand it
has to be done in a good metallurgy lab setup, with inert atmosphere,
and both very well-mixed powdered metals have to be take to the
highest melting point so that good even alloying occurs.
It was obviously something we could not do ourselves.
Would
encourage you to see if you can get a really decent piece of that
alloy made. Understand, I
never did the experiment because I never had the material.
The notion was to apply the voltage (sharp rise time, as you
used) for less than a millisecond, and then switch the source away,
leaving the not-yet-relaxed electrons excited.
It
might also help to discuss this much further with a really good
metallurgist who also knows electrodynamics.
Anyway,
will hope for your success. Thanks
for filling me in.
Cheers,
Tom
Dear
Tom,
I hope you are feeling better. I tested the Al/Fe alloy yesterday,
unfortunately without any success. I.e. I could not discern any
difference in relaxation time in relation to a piece of copper. The
piece of alloy I have has probably been melted together without any
temperature considerations (though in inert atmosphere), that is,
since Aluminum and Iron aren't very compatible in this sense, a lot of
different alloy phases are present in the material. Some phases where
the concentration is more like 95%/5% and some where there is a lot
more Aluminum.
One alternative is to diffusion melt very fine grain powder of Al and
Fe at a few centigrades below Al's melting temperature for a couple of
hours and let the Fe atoms diffuse into the Al matrix slowly. That
way, possibly, a single phase alloy could be had with correct
concentration.
Or, maybe my measuring approach is erroneous. I simply measure the
voltage of a resistor in series with the alloy, and in this way I have
not seen any difference in current response between the alloy and
copper. I've hit it with a 10V square wave with approx. 80ns rise
time.
If you don't have time to reply to this, I understand. I just thought
you would like to know. Incidentally, would you like to have the analysis
report on my little piece of this alloy ? (perhaps I could send you a
piece of the alloy itself?).
Best regards,
Robert