[p2p-research] List of articles on Indium/Gallium Supplies

[marc fawzi]

It's really not an attack on anyone's work.

I am just SURPRISED and PUZZLED by the claim that several key
technologies vital to telecom, high frequency electronics and weapon
systems will have to be replaced in the next 15 years.

1 - GaAs FETs (Gallium Arsenide Field Effect Transistors which are
everywhere in telecom equipment, cell phones and sll high-frequency
electronics, including HDTV broadcast equipment and TVs)

2 - GaAS IR laser diodes in all DVD players and in military electronics

3- GaN FETs as the basis for post-silicon microchips that can continue
to uphold Moore's law (there are other more exotic alternatives to
silicon but not sure if the fab processes are as well developed, so I
would have some concern or at least questions to answer if Gallium was
indeed running out, i.e. how will we continue to uphold Moore's law
realistically speaking in the next 25 years?)

4 - Indium (as ITO) in all LCD displays  (I am less concerned with
availability of Indium for LCD displays since organic LEDs are the
future of flat panel displays an they are already here and in
production in a growing flat panel displays)

5 - Indium in new generation solar cells, including radiation hardened
ones used in satellites (I'm  quite concerned here because hundreds of
millions of dollars have gone into developing InGaN, InN, and InGaP
based solar panels specifically for more efficient solar cells and
besides photosynthesis I have no clue if there is a replacement for
Indium on the horizon)

In other words, if the claim that we're running out has any truth to
it, it would wreck havoc on telecom, HDTV, high efficiency solar cells
and weapon systems production.

The next step in this debate is to get the analysis and the data used
in the analysis from those who are promoting the conclusion that we
are running out of gallium (and indium although the latter would be a
much more confined disruption), whomever they had gotten it from in
the first place.

It's not a big deal to look at an analysis and consider it carefully.
It may be the story of the century and would make first page on Wired
and IEEE Times if it's true.

Marc




On Tue, Feb 24, 2009 at 9:02 PM, M. Fioretti <mfioretti at nexaima.net> wrote:
> On Fri, Feb 20, 2009 11:54:35 AM -0800, marc fawzi wrote:
>
>> We had ample debate but (after asking twice) no one has provided a
>> link to the paper that says gallium/indium supplies are at risk of
>> being depleted in the short term.
>
> It just occurred to me that the right thing to do, or one of them at
> least, would have been to contact directly A. Reller (the author of
> that paper) and ask _him_ to put the paper online and/or comment to
> the pages posted here which attak his thesis. I'm really sorry I
> didn't think of this sooner.
>
> Reller's email address is armin.reller, at physik.uni-augsburg.de.
> I've already written to him privately and will report here any
> feedback, but obviously you're all encouraged to do the same.
>
> Ciao,
>                Marco F.
>                http://mfioretti.net
> --
> Your own civil rights and the quality of your life heavily depend on how
> software is used *around* you:            http://digifreedom.net/node/84
>
> _______________________________________________
> p2presearch mailing list
> p2presearch at listcultures.org
> http://listcultures.org/mailman/listinfo/p2presearch_listcultures.org
>