A horizontal travelling heater method (THM) for growing cylindrical crystals from a partially filled solution zone has been investigated for the first time. By applying ampoule rotation, the whole cross section of the crystal is successively brought into contact with the liquid solution, which is effectively stirred by forced convection. This approach was used to grow single-crystalline Hgt_xCd.,.Te ingots from a Te-rich solution zone. The structural perfection and metallurgical homogeneity are equivalent to vertically-grown THM material.
Hgl -,Cd,Te and Cdl -,Zn,Te single crystals were grown by the travelling heater method (THM), applying two different techniques of artificially stirring the solution zone. Accelerated crucible rotation (ACRT) was used in a vertical growth arrangement and compared a technique with constant rotation around the horizontal axis of the ampoule. The dominant hydrodynamic mechanisms of both methods are described by the rotating disc model and are suggested to be almost identical with respect to the growth conditions at the interface. Convective flow is effectively enhanced adjacent to the growing crystal, where the matter transport is regarded as the rate-limiting step of solution growth. Inclusion density analysis by IR microscopy was used to characterise the crystals of Cdl-,Zn,Te grown at different rates. It was shown that forced convection allows an increase in the crystal growth rate from a few mm day-', typical of natural convection regimes, to more than 10 mmday-' with ACRT or horizontally rotating THM.
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