European-Russian joint experiments on semiconductor crystal growth aboard the Foton-M3
- Paper number
IAC-08.A2.3.5
- Author
Dr. Alexander Senchenkov, Design Bureau of General Machine-Building (KBOM), Russia
- Coauthor
Mr. Alexander Egorov, Design Bureau of General Machine-Building (KBOM), Russia
- Coauthor
Prof. Igor V. Barmin, Center for Ground-Based Space Infrastructure Facilities Operation, Russia
- Coauthor
Dr. Olf Paetzold, Institut für NE-Metallurgie und Reinststoffe, TU Bergakademie Freiberg (TU BAF), Germany
- Coauthor
Ms. Annia Greif, Institut für NE-Metallurgie und Reinststoffe, TU Bergakademie Freiberg (TU BAF), Germany
- Coauthor
Prof. Arne Croell, Kristallographisches Institut, University of Freiburg (KI FU), Germany
- Coauthor
Dr. Michael Fiederle, Freiburger Material Forschungszentrum, University of Freiburg (FMF), Germany
- Coauthor
Dr. Peter Sickinger, Kayser-Threde GmbH (KT), Germany
- Coauthor
Dr. Alina Mitric, Kristallographisches Institut, University of Freiburg (KI FU), Germany
- Year
2008
- Abstract
The flight of the automatic FOTON-M3 satellite, on which a large program of research experiments was performed, took place in September, 2007. Among others, 11 experiments on crystal growth, including 6 joint European-Russian experiments on crystal growth of semiconductors have been carried out on the technological POLIZON-M facility. The experiments were performed both with the elementary semiconductor germanium, and with solid solutions (germanium-silicon, cadmium-zinc-tellurium), interesting from the point of view of applications. All these crystals were grown by the method of directional crystallization from the melt (Bridgman method). In all cases one of the experiment tasks was to study the influence of the unique conditions of space flight (absence of hydrostatic pressure and suppression of thermal convection) on the physical properties of the crystals. Therefore in several experiments a container designed to promote crystal growth without contact to the walls (“Detached Bridgman”), has been applied. Furthermore, in the experiments with germanium mass transfer control in the melt during crystal growth in space was investigated, and also the influence of the convection mode (stationary and non-stationary) on the distribution of a dopants and the properties in the bulk of the crystal. For this purpose crystal growth was carried out with a rotating magnetic field and axial low-frequency vibrations. In the experiment with the Ge-Si solid solution the dependence of the interface morphological stability on growth rate was studied. For this purpose, during growth of the crystal, the translation speed of the container was changed three times. In the experiments with the CdZnTe solid solution the melt structure control ahead of the crystallization front by means of overheating or by application of a rotating magnetic field was studied. All experiments have been performed successfully and crystals have been grown under space conditions. Two of them have the characteristic shape with large areas of contactless (detached) growth, which cannot be obtained under terrestrial conditions without the application of pressure. Features of the interaction of the melt with the container walls in other experiments are under investigation. After the flight, reference crystals have been grown under ground conditions in the same facility using the same timelines, which had been realized in space. In the presentation a description of the experiments, their purposes and tasks, and also features of the actual setup in the FOTON-M3 mission are shown. First results of the flight and reference crystals investigation are presented as well.
- Abstract document
- Manuscript document
IAC-08.A2.3.5.pdf (🔒 authorized access only).
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