The direction of growth of the surface of a crystal in contact with its melt

• Published in: Journal of crystal growth Vol. 29; no. 1; pp. 1 - 11
• Main Authors: Surek, T., Chalmers, B.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 01.01.1975
• ISSN: 0022-0248; 1873-5002
• DOI: 10.1016/0022-0248(75)90041-X

A new experimental technique is described for studying the relationship between the direction of growth of a crystal surface and the meniscus at the solid-liquid-vapor junction. An important application of the technique is to determine the required conditions, as given by the angle Ø 0 between the meniscus and the growth axis, for crystal growth with a uniform cross-section. The experiment involves the analysis of radially frozen zones in thin wafers which are held in a horizontal plane. The method is applied to single crystal silicon wafers, and gives Ø 0 = 11 ± 1° for the melt growth of silicon; preliminary results for germanium give Ø 0 ⋍ 8°. Observations taken under conditions of decreasing or increasing crystal dimension in silicon are in conflict with the existing theories. The accuracy of the present experiments is deemed to exceed that of techniques for measuring Ø 0 by direct observation. Several modifications and improvements in the experimental and analytical procedures are proposed.