A novel crystal growth technique from the melt: Levitation-Assisted Self-Seeding Crystal Growth Method

Abstract

A novel melt crystal growth technique was developed and applied for growing bulk In2O3 single crystals. In this new method the In2O3 starting material inside an inductively heated metal crucible is subjected to a controlled decomposition in such a way that a certain amount of free metallic indium forms. As a result, the electromagnetic field from an RF coil couples also to the In2O3 starting material, in addition to the metal crucible, which facilitates the melting. Liquid In2O3 has good electrical conductivity so that eddy currents are induced in the melt close to the crucible wall. This in turn induces a counter magnetic field that ultimately leads to levitation of a portion of the molten In2O3. The amount of the levitated material depends on the mutual RF coil–crucible position, their configurations as well as other components of a growth furnace. A consequence of the partial levitation of In2O3 melt is the formation of a liquid neck between the levitated and the quiescent melt portions. This neck is crucial as it acts as a seed during the crystallization process. The neck can be further shaped by controlled overheating or soaking. By cooling down, two single crystals are formed on the opposite sides of the seed. We named this new crystal growth technique “Levitation-Assisted Self-Seeding Crystal Growth Method”. It is in principle applicable to any oxides whose melts are electrically conductive. Thanks to this method we have successfully grown truly bulk In2O3 single crystals from the melt for the first time worldwide.