Speiss is a byproduct of metal extraction, consisting mainly of iron and arsenic. Smelting is the oldest form of metallurgy, involving heating metal ores with additives to separate impurities. Speiss was once discarded but is now used in semiconductor manufacturing and superconductors. Its usefulness means it will continue to be found in electronics and may be used in the first commercially available superconductor.
A speiss is a byproduct of extracting pure copper, lead, or another metal from its impure form. It generally consists primarily of iron and arsenic with trace amounts of other minerals. The mixture of metals of impure origin used is called ore and the science behind this extraction process is called metallurgy. The oldest form of metallurgy involves the “smelting” of minerals for extraction. This technique has been practiced for thousands of years and is still common today.
To smelt metal, a worker combines raw metal ores with additives and heats them to very high temperatures in a blast furnace. The temperature is very carefully controlled and is based on the melting point of the unwanted material in the kiln. When the mix is hot enough, the additives bind to impurities that occur naturally in the mineral. Because these bound chemicals have different weights and boiling temperatures, they naturally separate into different layers within the blast furnace. They can then be removed and the remaining material is a very pure metal.
When the metal and its impurities are in the form of this hot stratified liquid, it is called a molten phase. The speiss, usually iron arsenide, rises near the top during the melt phase and can be removed along with other unwanted layers. The material in some of these layers will be used in another process to extract any remaining useful metals. Some layers will be deleted. Until the last century speiss was commonly discarded, as people believed it served no useful industrial purpose.
This belief changed when speiss was found to be very useful in semiconductor manufacturing. Today, many home electronic devices such as computers, telephones and televisions use semiconductors. They are also an important component of solar cells because they can convert light energy into electrical energy.
Adding speiss to a semiconductor’s transistors allows the semiconductor to be much more conductive. This process is called doping of transistors. Increasing conductivity greatly improves the utility of semiconductors and allows them to be much smaller.
In 2008 it was discovered that speiss iron arsenide can also be used to make more efficient superconductors. Superconductors provide a constant current with almost no energy loss, but can usually only do so at very low temperatures. When a superconductor uses iron arsenide, it can operate at temperatures closer to normal room temperature. The process is still not fully understood by scientists and is currently being researched. Superconductors have no home applications yet, but are used in laboratory settings.
Because speiss is such a common and useful industrial byproduct, it will continue to be found on circuit boards. It’s also likely to power even more electronics as solar panels are increasing in popularity. Given the performance improvements it showed in the research settings, speiss can be used in the first commercially available superconductor.
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