Chao Zhou , Zhengxuan Lu , Chen Li , Yuanhao Lu , Haochao Li , Lei Dong , Shanming Ke , Shuk-Yin Tong
{"title":"Optimization of SiC single crystal growth via numerical simulation: Enhanced mass transport with graphite ring and block design","authors":"Chao Zhou , Zhengxuan Lu , Chen Li , Yuanhao Lu , Haochao Li , Lei Dong , Shanming Ke , Shuk-Yin Tong","doi":"10.1016/j.jcrysgro.2025.128283","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jcrysgro.2025.128283","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The silicon carbide (SiC) single crystal, serving as a critical material for high-power and high-temperature semiconductor devices, has consistently encountered the significant challenge of balancing growth rate with crystal quality during its fabrication process. This study employs finite element analysis within the STR Virtual Reactor simulation environment to examine the impact of optimizing the crucible’s internal structure through the introduction of a graphite ring and graphite blocks on mass transport and crystal quality. Simulation results demonstrate that the graphite ring can effectively suppress the recrystallization phenomenon on the surface of SiC raw powders, optimize gas-phase transport pathways, and consequently reduce the formation of carbon inclusions and defects. Although the graphite ring slightly decreases the growth rate, the incorporation of a cylindrical graphite block compensates for this reduction by enhancing thermal flux and thereby accelerating the growth process. The combined application of these two structural designs effectively optimizes mass transport while maintaining the growth rate, offering new insights into crucible design optimization and providing a novel technical approach for the large-scale production of high-quality SiC single crystals.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":353,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Crystal Growth","volume":"668 ","pages":"Article 128283"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2025-06-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144271718","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Effect of water-cooled jacket emissivity on the melt-crystal interface and oxygen in the Czochralski silicon crystal growth","authors":"Zeqi Zhong, Jiancheng Li, Chao Qi, Dengnian Li, Zaoyang Li, Lijun Liu","doi":"10.1016/j.jcrysgro.2025.128282","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jcrysgro.2025.128282","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In the process of monocrystalline silicon growth by Czochralski method, water-cooled jacket has gradually become an important component widely used in the industry to increase the crystal pulling rate. Although increasing the emissivity of the crystal and the heat shield side of the water-cooled jacket can further increase the pulling rate, it will change the flow, heat transfer, melt-crystal interface deformation and oxygen transport, which affects the stable growth and the oxygen content of the silicon crystal. In this study, a global 2D numerical model was established to study the effect of the emissivity of the water-cooled jacket on flow, heat transfer, the deflection and oxygen content of melt-crystal interface. The results show that increasing the emissivity of the crystal side of the water-cooled jacket and reducing the emissivity of the heat shield side can achieve simultaneous control of the deflection and oxygen content of melt-crystal interface. This study provides a theoretical reference for optimizing the water-cooled jacket to achieve a stable low-oxygen growth of silicon crystal.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":353,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Crystal Growth","volume":"667 ","pages":"Article 128282"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2025-06-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144255072","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Surface mound formation and growth via step destabilization under a direct current electric field on (001) strontium titanate single crystals","authors":"Yutaro Katsuyama, Shunta Inagaki, Tomoharu Tokunaga, Takahisa Yamamoto","doi":"10.1016/j.jcrysgro.2025.128281","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jcrysgro.2025.128281","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The specific heat-treatment conditions are crucial for facilitating surface-diffusion processes that lead to the reconstruction of surface structures in oxide single crystals. This reconstruction gives rise to a step-terrace structure, which is characterized by steps with heights equivalent to the unit cell and atomically flat terraces. A method using a power spike (i.e., a flash event) generated under an applied electric field above the threshold value has emerged as a promising approach for promoting such surface reconstruction. In this study, we performed Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) to examine the (001) surface structure of a strontium titanate single crystal treated with a flash event induced by a Direct Current (DC) electric field. We observed the formation of a step-terrace structure on the (001) surface even with a short holding time of 1 min under the flash event (initial voltage of 300 V/cm at a limiting current of 35 mA). However, a surface mound with a height of approximately 5.5 nm also formed on the surface, the height of which increased with holding time. SEM and AFM observations of the same surface location revealed that the formation of the surface mound is due to the formation of anti-bands as well as the bunching of surface steps, which is caused by their destabilization under the DC electric field. To avoid the formation of surface mounds, we suggest using an alternating electric field to trigger the flash event, which does not destabilize the steps.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":353,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Crystal Growth","volume":"667 ","pages":"Article 128281"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2025-06-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144240920","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Engineering 2D surface patterns with the VicCa model","authors":"Marta A. Chabowska, Magdalena A. Załuska-Kotur","doi":"10.1016/j.jcrysgro.2025.128245","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jcrysgro.2025.128245","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>We employed the VicCA model to investigate the influence of step-edge potential on nucleation and pattern formation, aiming to gain deeper insights into island formation and growth. Our study explores fractal structures governed by general cellular automaton (CA) rules, as well as compact structures shaped by density-dependent attachment mechanisms. We demonstrate that modifications to the CA framework have a significant impact on surface patterning, emphasizing the critical role of adatom attachment rules and the substantial effect of potential well depth on the resulting surface morphology.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":353,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Crystal Growth","volume":"667 ","pages":"Article 128245"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2025-06-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144240923","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"An assessment of germane and tin tetrachloride for GeSn epitaxy","authors":"J.M. Hartmann, T. Marion","doi":"10.1016/j.jcrysgro.2025.128280","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jcrysgro.2025.128280","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>We have screened at 325 °C chamber pressures, precursor flows and H<sub>2</sub> carrier flows to overcome some of the limitations encountered when growing GeSn layers with a GeH<sub>4</sub> + SnCl<sub>4</sub> + H<sub>2</sub> chemistry (e.g. a reduced Sn content compared to Ge<sub>2</sub>H<sub>6</sub>, a definite lack of uniformity at 400 Torr and so on). Layers grown at 300 Torr and 400 Torr were smooth and of high crystalline quality provided that GeH<sub>4</sub> and SnCl<sub>4</sub> flows were high and low enough, respectively. Meanwhile, layers grown at 100 Torr and 200 Torr were milky and of lesser quality. The best tradeoff in terms of GeSn growth rates, Sn contents and layer uniformity, which was vastly improved, was reached at 300 Torr. A halving of the H<sub>2</sub> carrier flow yielded even higher growth rates and Sn concentrations. Over the 301 °C–349 °C range, we succeeded in depositing, at 300 Torr, layers with growth rates that were similar to that with our reference Ge<sub>2</sub>H<sub>6</sub> + SnCl<sub>4</sub> process (at 100 Torr). Activation energies associated to the growth rate increase with the temperature were slightly higher with GeH<sub>4</sub> than with Ge<sub>2</sub>H<sub>6</sub> (12–13 kcal. mol.<sup>−1</sup> versus 10 kcal. mol.<sup>−1</sup>). Meanwhile, Sn contents did not drop as fast, as the temperature increased, with GeH<sub>4</sub> than with Ge<sub>2</sub>H<sub>6</sub> (−1.1 %/10 °C versus −1.6 %/10 °C slopes). The highest Sn content achievable with our curent GeH<sub>4</sub> process conditions was otherwise not as high than with Ge<sub>2</sub>H<sub>6</sub>, however (10.3 % versus 14.2 %). Switching to temperatures lower than 301 °C to reach even higher Sn contents was unfortunately not an option with our current GeH<sub>4</sub> + SnCl<sub>4</sub> + H<sub>2</sub> process, as layers were islanded, then.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":353,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Crystal Growth","volume":"667 ","pages":"Article 128280"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2025-06-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144230188","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Dengnian Li, Changzhen Wang, Chao Qi, Jiancheng Li, Zeqi Zhong, Yao Yang, Zaoyang Li, Lijun Liu
{"title":"Effect of inner crucible structure on oxygen transport and distribution in the continuous-feeding Czochralski growth of silicon crystal","authors":"Dengnian Li, Changzhen Wang, Chao Qi, Jiancheng Li, Zeqi Zhong, Yao Yang, Zaoyang Li, Lijun Liu","doi":"10.1016/j.jcrysgro.2025.128278","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jcrysgro.2025.128278","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Oxygen is one of the critical impurities in silicon crystal. Excessive oxygen leads to increased defects and reduced efficiency of solar cells. Therefore, reducing oxygen concentration is a key issue in silicon crystal. In this study, a global 2D model for the continuous-feeding Czochralski silicon crystal growth was established, considering the complex shapes of the corner and bottom of inner crucible, instead of using the simplification of cylindrical partition. Based on the model, numerical simulations were performed to investigate the effects of inner crucible diameter, corner shape, and bottom shape on flow, heat transfer and oxygen transport. The results indicate that the structure of inner crucible significantly affects the oxygen transport. With the decrease of inner crucible diameter, the oxygen at crystallization interface increases; with the increase of curvature radius of inner crucible corner, the oxygen at crystallization interface decreases; with the increase of curvature radius of inner crucible bottom, the oxygen at crystallization interface increases. The findings can provide guidance for the optimization of inner crucible structure for reducing oxygen concentration.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":353,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Crystal Growth","volume":"667 ","pages":"Article 128278"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2025-06-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144240922","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Zuodong Yang , Wei Si , Fanzheng Meng , Ning Wang , Guangjing Jiang , Yuan Zong , Ling Zhao , Gance Dai
{"title":"Analysis and optimization of surface quality of polysilicon in a 45-pair rods reduction furnace","authors":"Zuodong Yang , Wei Si , Fanzheng Meng , Ning Wang , Guangjing Jiang , Yuan Zong , Ling Zhao , Gance Dai","doi":"10.1016/j.jcrysgro.2025.128279","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jcrysgro.2025.128279","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>To obtain dense polysilicon, the deposition rate of polysilicon needs to match the surface migration rate of silicon atoms. For this purpose, a numerical model has been established to simulate the deposition rate and the surface temperature of the polysilicon rods in a 45-pair rods reduction furnace. Meanwhile, the distributions of dense and non-dense polysilicon on the rod surface have been obtained based on the production data from the same reduction furnace. Further, by combining the numerical results and production data, a ratio <em>Φ</em> of deposition rate to temperature has been proposed. The results reveal that <em>Φ</em> of 8.0 × 10<sup>-</sup><sup>7</sup> kg·m<sup>-</sup><sup>2</sup>·s<sup>-</sup><sup>1</sup>·K<sup>-</sup><sup>1</sup> can be considered as a threshold to ensure the generation of dense polysilicon. Moreover, using the established numerical model, the operation conditions have been optimized. On the basis of existing operation conditions, reducing the surface temperature of the rods by 10 % and the trichlorosilane (TCS) feed rate by 10 % is beneficial for the generation of dense polysilicon. The results show that the proportion of non-dense polysilicon can be decreased to 2.3 % with a 4.3 % reduction in the deposition rate under the optimized operation conditions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":353,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Crystal Growth","volume":"667 ","pages":"Article 128279"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2025-06-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144230189","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Shijian Xiong , Hua Liu , Jianwei Cao , Linjian Fu , Dejun Li
{"title":"Multimodal perception fusion control for Czochralski crown growth in a full-scale furnace","authors":"Shijian Xiong , Hua Liu , Jianwei Cao , Linjian Fu , Dejun Li","doi":"10.1016/j.jcrysgro.2025.128277","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jcrysgro.2025.128277","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The existing controllers are stuck in simulation, lack of applicability for nonlinearity uncertainty, and time variation of Czochralski crown growth. To address the problem, a multimodal perception fusion control (MPFC) method was developed to predict the pulling speed, thereby effectively controlling diameter of the crown growth. To enhance the generalizability, MPFC integrates cross-modal knowledge mining and crystal growth kinetics to ensure the quality of crown growth and minimize the invalid output of the controller. MPFC achieved high accuracy on the test dataset, with an R-squared of 0.87 and a root mean square error (RMSE) of 3.64. MPFC was compared with ResNet + temporal convolutional network, proportional-integral-derivative controllers, and physics-informed neural networks using RMSE. Furthermore, its high accuracy, adaptability, and generalizability were validated through control simulations and experiments in a full-scale furnace under a wide range of initial states. MPFC is a robust method for industrial crown growth, enabling precise diameter control and maximized survival rates.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":353,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Crystal Growth","volume":"667 ","pages":"Article 128277"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2025-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144230187","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Epitaxial growth of FAPbI3 thin films on MAPbBr3 single crystals via vapor phase deposition with suppressed halide ion migration","authors":"Zihao Liu , Daisuke Nakamura , Masato Sotome , Tomonori Matsushita , Takashi Kondo","doi":"10.1016/j.jcrysgro.2025.128275","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jcrysgro.2025.128275","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Achieving epitaxial heterostructures of metal halide perovskites (MHPs) remains a significant challenge due to the high mobility of halide ions and the dissolution of underlayer perovskites in solution processes. Here, we demonstrate the vapor-phase epitaxial growth of FAPbI<sub>3</sub> thin films on MAPbBr<sub>3</sub> single-crystal substrates by co-evaporation of FAI and PbI<sub>2</sub>. The use of different A-site cations (FA<sup>+</sup> for the thin film and MA<sup>+</sup> for the substrate) effectively suppressed interfacial halide ion migration, enabling the formation of a stable iodine-rich perovskite layer. Structural analyses including X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and spectroscopic ellipsometry confirm the epitaxial nature and compositional stability of the films. Reciprocal space mapping reveals a relaxed epitaxial relationship with nanometer-scale grain domains. Importantly, the heterostructure maintained its crystallinity over 70 days without the formation of δ-phase FAPbI<sub>3</sub>, highlighting enhanced long-term stability. These findings offer insights into controlling interdiffusion in MHP epitaxy and open pathways for developing next-generation perovskite-based heterostructures.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":353,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Crystal Growth","volume":"667 ","pages":"Article 128275"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2025-05-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144254996","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Ziting You , Chenger Wang , Tianpeng Zhang , Jinqiu Yu
{"title":"Whether Cs3Cu2I5 crystal is a fast-decaying scintillator?","authors":"Ziting You , Chenger Wang , Tianpeng Zhang , Jinqiu Yu","doi":"10.1016/j.jcrysgro.2025.128276","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jcrysgro.2025.128276","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The zero-dimensional perovskite Cs<sub>3</sub>Cu<sub>2</sub>I<sub>5</sub> crystal has been widely investigated as a novel high performance scintillator in recent years. However, there is an obvious contradiction on the scintillation decay time (microsecond-scale vs. nanosecond-scale) in different reports, which causes confusion on the intrinsic properties of the crystal as well as its application potentials. In order to dispel the confusion, Cs<sub>3</sub>Cu<sub>2</sub>I<sub>5</sub> single crystals were grown by both the vertical Bridgman and aqueous solution methods and their scintillation properties were investigated and compared. Despite differences in crystal quality, all samples grown by both methods exhibit a dominant slow-decaying component with an average decay time of about 880 ns, without significant difference in the timing property. This result is consistent with most of the previous reports, indicating that Cs<sub>3</sub>Cu<sub>2</sub>I<sub>5</sub> crystal is more probably a slow-decaying scintillator, contrary to recent claims of fast-decaying behavior. The slow decaying characteristic is also consistent with its self-trapped excitons (STE) luminescence mechanism.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":353,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Crystal Growth","volume":"667 ","pages":"Article 128276"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2025-05-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144204034","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}