Effects of the Mushy Zone on the Temperature Field and the Flow Field During GaInSb Crystal Growth with the Traveling Heater Method

Abstract

There is a solid phase and liquid phase coexistence zone (mushy zone) between the solid phase zone and the liquid phase zone during the ternary compound crystal growth, which is usually clearly displayed in the pseudo-binary phase diagram and can affect the heat transfer and fluid flow within the melting zone. However, it has almost always been neglected in the previous numerical simulation works. To investigate the effects of the mushy zone on the temperature and the melt flow fields during the crystal growth, the GaInSb crystal growth process with the traveling heater method (THM) was numerically simulated. The results indicate that the mushy zone significantly affects the height of the melting zone (H_M), the curvature of the growth interface (δ_R), the axial temperature gradient at the growth solid-liquid interface front, and the flow velocity of the melt in the melting zone during the crystal growth process. As the phase transition temperature interval (ΔT, the temperature difference between the liquidus and solidus in the pseudo-binary phase diagram) increased from 0 K to 1 K, the H_M increased by 3.01%, the δ_R increased by 80.86%, the axial temperature gradient at the growth interface front increased by 111.11%, and the maximum velocity of the melt in the melting zone decreased by 5.05%; as the ΔT increased from 1 K to 7 K, the H_M increased by 33.91%, the axial temperature gradient at the growth interface front increased by 42.11%, and the δ_R decreased by 37.31%; the maximum velocity of the melt in the melting zone decreased by 10.64%.