Bismuth-indium amalgam, fluorescent lamps, and methods of manufacture

1. A solid lamp fill material for delivering a precise dose of mercury into a fluorescent lamp and for regulating the mercury vapor pressure during operation of the lamp, said material comprising bismuth, indium, mercury, and a metal forming one or more intermetallic phases with the mercury selected from the group consisting of zinc, gold, copper, gallium, titanium, nickel, and manganese, said material having an atomic ratio of indium to bismuth within the range of about 0.4:0.6 to 0.7:0.3.

2. The solid lamp fill material of claim 1 , wherein said metal is selected from the group consisting of zinc, gold, copper, and titanium.

3. The solid lamp fill material of claim 1 wherein said metal is zinc.

4. The solid lamp fill material of claim 1 wherein said metal is manganese.

5. A pellet for delivering a precise dose of mercury into a fluorescent lamp and for regulating the mercury vapor pressure during operation of the lamp, said pellet comprising mercury, bismuth, indium and a metal selected from the group consisting of zinc, gold, copper, gallium, titanium, nickel, and manganese, said pellet having an atomic ratio of indium to bismuth within the range of about 0.4:0.6 to 0.7:0.3.

6. The pellet of claim 5 wherein said metal is selected from the group consisting of zinc, copper, and manganese.

7. The pellet of claim 6 wherein said metal is zinc.

8. The pellet of claim 7 wherein the zinc is in a metastable, non-equilibrium state.

9. The pellet of claim 6 further comprising copper.

10. The pellet of claim 6 wherein said metal is manganese.

11. A plurality of pellets according to claim 5 wherein the pellets are free-flowing.

12. A solid lamp fill material forming a plurality of free-flowing pellets at substantially room temperature, each suitable for delivering a precise dose of mercury into a fluorescent lamp and for regulating the mercury vapor pressure during operation of a lamp, said pellets comprising bismuth and indium for regulating the vapor pressure of the mercury during operation of a lamp, and one or more intermetallic phases of mercury and a fourth metal for preventing agglomeration of the pellets, said fourth metal being selected from the group consisting of zinc, copper and manganese, said material having an atomic ratio of indium to bismuth within the range of about 0.4:0.6 to 0.7:0.3.

13. A pellet comprising mercury, bismuth and indium having an atomic ratio of indium to bismuth within the range of about 0.4:0.6 to 0.7:0.3, and an intermetallic phase of mercury and a metal selected from the group consisting of zinc, gold, copper, gallium, titanium, nickel, and manganese.

14. The pellet of claim 13 comprising an intermetallic phase of mercury and zinc.

15. The pellet of claim 13 comprising an intermetallic phase of mercury and copper.

16. The pellet of claim 13 comprising an intermetallic phase of mercury and manganese.

17. The pellet of claim 13 wherein the atomic ratio of said metal to the combination of indium and bismuth is within the range of about 0.01:0.99 to 0.20:0.80.

18. The pellet of claim 13 wherein the atomic ratio of mercury to the combination of indium, bismuth and said metal is within the range of about 0.01:0.99 to 0.15:0.85.

19. The pellet of claim 13 comprising zinc.

20. The pellet of claim 19 further comprising one or more metals from the group consisting of tin, lead, silver, gold, copper, manganese or gallium, titanium and nickel.

21. The pellet of claim 13 comprising manganese.

22. A pellet for dosing mercury into a fluorescent lamp and for regulating the mercury vapor pressure during operation of the lamp, said pellet comprising bismuth, indium, zinc and mercury, wherein the atomic ratio of indium to bismuth is within the range of about 0.4:0.6 to 0.7:0.3; wherein the atomic ratio of zinc to the combination of indium and bismuth is within the range of about 0.01:0.99 to 0.20:0.80, and wherein the atomic ratio of mercury to the combination of indium, bismuth and zinc is within the range of about 0.01:0.99 to 0.15:0.85.

23. The pellet of claim 22 comprising about 28.8 wt. % indium, 67.4 wt. % bismuth, 0.85 wt.% zinc, and 2.9 wt. % mercury.

24. The pellet of claim 22 wherein the atomic ratio of mercury to zinc is within the range of about 0.25:1 to about 5:1.

25. The pellet of claim 22 wherein the bismuth and indium comprise about 50-98 wt. % of the pellet.

26. An amalgam controlled fluorescent lamp containing one or more pellets for regulating the mercury vapor pressure in said lamp, one or more of said pellets comprising bismuth, indium, mercury, and manganese.

27. A pellet for dosing mercury into a fluorescent lamp, said pellet comprising bismuth, indium, manganese and mercury, wherein the atomic ratio of indium to bismuth is within the range of about 0.4:0.6 to 0.7:0.3; wherein the atomic ratio of manganese to the combination of indium and bismuth is within the range of about 0.01:0.99 to 0.20:0.80, and wherein the atomic ratio of mercury to the combination of indium, bismuth and manganese is within the range of about 0.01:0.99 to 0.15:0.85.

28. The pellet of claim 27 comprising about 29.4 wt. % indium, 67.7 wt. % bismuth, 0.3 wt.% manganese and 2.7 wt. % mercury.

29. The pellet of claim 27 wherein the atomic ratio of mercury to manganese is within the range of about 0.05:1 to about 5:1.

30. The pellet of claim 27 wherein the bismuth and indium comprise about 50-98 wt. % of the pellet.