• Journal of the Korean Crystal Growth and Crystal Technology
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.174-186
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• 2004

Striations are growth-induced inhomogeneities which hamper the applications of solid-solution crystals and of doped crystals in numerous technologies. Thus the optimized performance of solid solutions often can not be exploited. The inhomogeneity problem can be solved in specific cases by achieving a distribution coefficient one in growth from melts and from solutions. Macrostep-induced striations can be suppressed by controlling the growth mode, by achieving growth on facets thereby preventing step bunching. Thermal striations are commonly assumed to be caused by convective instabilities so that reduced convection by microgravity or by damping magnetic fields was and is widely attempted to reduce such inhomogeneities. Here it will be shown that temperature fluctuations at the growth interface cause striations, and that hydrodynamic fluctuations in a quasi-isothermal growth system do not cause striations. The theoretically derived conditions were experimentally established and allowed the growth of striation-free crystals of $KTa_{1-x}Nb_xO_3$"KTN" solid solutions. Hydrodynamic variations from the accelerated crucible rotation technique ACRT did not cause striations as long as the temperature was controlled within $0.03^{\circ}$ at $1200^{\circ}C$ growth temperature. Alternative approaches to solve or reduce the segregation and striation problems in growth from melts and from solutions are discussed as well.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.771-783
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• 1995

A simplified model for the so-called ACRT(accelerated crucible rotation technique) Bridgman crystal growth was considered in order to investigate the principal effects of the periodic variation of angular velocity. Numerical solutions were obtained for Ro=0.5, Ra=4.236*10$_{6}$ and E=2.176*10$^{-3}$ . The effects of spin-up process combined with natural convection was investigated as a preliminary study. The spin-up time scale for the present problem was a little larger than that observed for homogeneous spin-up problems. Numerical results reveal that over a time scale of (H$^{2}$/.nu..omega.$_{f}$)$^{1}$2/ the forced convection due to the formation of Ekman layer predominates. When the state of rigid body rotation is attained, natural convection due to buoyancy emerges as the main driving force and them the steady-state is approached asymptotically. Based on our preliminary results with simple spin-up, several fundamental features associated with variation of rotation speed are successfully identified. When a periodic variation of angular velocity was imposed, the system response was also periodic. Due to effect of mixing, the heat transfer was enlarged. From the analysis of time-averaged Nusselt number along the bottom surface the effect of a periodic variation of angular velocity on the interface location could be indirectly identified.d.