30 Years of Crystal Growth Under Microgravity Conditions in Freiburg: An Overview of Past Activities

Abstract

In the framework of this overview, the past four decades of research activities from the Freiburg Crystallography in the field of crystal growth in microgravity (µg) environments is presented. Crystal growth from the melt and solution phases of different materials was investigated onboard various manned and unmanned µg platforms such as parabolic flights, shuttle missions, satellite missions, and sounding rocket flights. The focus of material research in Freiburg was and is still in semiconducting materials; elemental semiconductors like Si, Ge, and GeSi as well as various compound semiconductors like InP, GaAs, and CdTe. The objectives of the single experiments, the results, and their further application and utilizations are summarized in this overview.

Mixed Oscillation Flow of Binary Fluid with Minus One Capillary Ratio in the Czochralski Crystal Growth Model

“…These convections are coupled with a thermal effect, which directly leads to the sharp change of the crystal interface. After that, a series of experiments and simulations were conducted to qualify the coupling effect of the thermal and solutal-capillary effect in the silicon-germanium mixture [40,41]. Abbasoglu et al [42] pointed out that the concentration profiles is closely related with the temperature through the radial segregation.…”