Bulk Growth of InGaSb Alloy Semiconductor under Terrestrial Conditions: A Preliminary Study for Microgravity Experiments at ISS

Abstract

As a preliminary experiment for the growth of InGaSb alloy crystals under microgravity at International Space Station (ISS), bulk crystal was grown under terrestrial condition using the same gradient heating furnace (GHF). Czochralski grown GaSb <111>B single crystal was used as a seed and feed crystals for the growth of InGaSb bulk crystals. During the growth, heat pulses were intentionally introduced periodically to create the growth striations. From the striations, the growth rate of the grown crystal was estimated. The results show that the growth rate was gradually increased from the beginning of the growth and became stable. On the other hand the In composition of the grown crystal decreased along the growth direction. From the In composition, the temperature gradient in the solution was estimated and it was almost the same of that fixed during the growth.

Effect of rotating magnetic field intensity on structure and electrical and optical properties of GaInSb crystal grown with travelling heater method

“…Take the data of table 3 to draw figure 5(b), showing intuitively the action of RMF intensity on In element axial segregation, which also decreases with RMF intensity increase. Among all the ingots, ingot S3 has the minimal axial segregation, 0.038 mol% mm −1 , and the radial one, 0.031 mol% mm −1 , both of which are much smaller than the axial segregation 0.154 mol% mm −1 reported by Arivanandhan et al [23], and the radial segregation 0.192 mol% mm −1 and the axial segregation 0.211 mol% mm −1 reported by Gadkari [16].…”

“…In particular, the segregation of In was significantly inhibited. Compared with the reported results [12,13,17,19,20,22,23], it may be said that a good progress has been made in reducing solution segregation.…”

“…Arivanandhan et al [23] prepared GaInSb single crystals via seed feeding technology in a microgravity environment, improved the solid-liquid interface, and suppressed the In axial segregation, which reduced by 0.13 mol% mm −1 .…”

Effect of rotating magnetic field on temperature field and flow field of Ga1−x In x Sb crystal growth with traveling heater method

“…Ga 1−x In x Sb crystals have been prepared with Czochralski method (CZ), 6,7) Bridgman method, [8][9][10] Traveling heater method (THM), [11][12][13][14] and vertical directional solidification (VDS) 15) etc. Tsaur 6) et al prepared Ga 1−x In x Sb crystal with CZ technique, which had obvious axial segregation.…”

Crystal Growth of Ternary Alloy Semiconductor and Preliminary Study for Microgravity Experiment at the International Space Station

“…To understand the growth mechanisms, experiments performed under the microgravity in space are useful, because microgravity can suppress the natural convection. Therefore, we have prepared InGaSb crystal growth experiments named "Alloy semiconductor project" 3) that will be performed in the Japanese module "Kibo" on the International Space Station (ISS), in order to make clear (1) the effect of the natural convection and diffusion on the alloy semiconductor crystal growth and (2) the effect of surface orientation on the growth mechanism.…”