Growth from high-temperature solutions effected by chemical potential gradients

Abstract

The process of crystallization from a thin solution zone under conditions whereby the driving force of growth is the difference in the chemical potentials of the substrate and source has been investigated experimentally in the Si- Al system. It has been shown that significant growth rates can be achieved in compositions with polycrystal and stressed crystal sources. This allows use of the process as the basis for crystal and epitaxial layer growth techniques. Experimental parameter dependencies support the theoretical expressions for the growth rate. The difference in the chemical potential of silicon atoms in single crystals and polycrystals has been determined. The reasons for the occurence of this difference are discussed.