On Sunday, December 6, 2020, 04:19:13 PM PST, grarpamp <grarpamp@gmail.com> wrote: Yet another interesting potential application. How is the takeup on validation research, test runs, production methods, etc? I just started informing people associated with the Gallium Nitride LED industry a couple of days ago. The big companies are Nichia, Osram, Samsung Electronics, and Everlight https://www.imarcgroup.com/led-bulb-manufacturing-plant The substitution will be quite simple. Just put in the relevant isotope instead of the natural-mix of isotopes.
Is isotope separation going to run into nuke centrifuge dual use issues? Zinc is currently centrifuged in relatively limited quantities for use as a corrosion-inhibitor for nuclear reactors. The problem is (was) that the lightest zinc isotope, Zn-64, reacts with a thermal neutron to form Zn-65, which emits dangerous gamma rays. So, decades ago they began separating out the Zn-64 from the other zinc isotopes. I think the market for this is about 2 tons per year. It's called "depleted zinc". ie: How will bulk manufacturing of pure glass, silicon, etc be different... These blue LEDs are made with gallium nitride crystals. The critical issue is the p+ (hole) doping, which has been done using magnesium atoms. The problem is that most magnesium atoms don't create a 'hole', but a few do. Similarly, Zinc does a weak job because only 4.1% of natural isotope zinc is Zn67. Most are other isotopes.