Improving Quality of Material by Reducing Its Interaction with Fused Silica Container During Processing

Abstract

During the processing of electronic and optical materials at elevated temperature, the sample has the tendency to interact with the fused silica container and form chemical bonding, the so‐called “wetting”, which makes the surface section of the sample attaching to the ampoule wall. When the sample is cooled down to room temperature after the processing, as the bulk of the sample goes through thermal contraction, the wetting area remains attached to the fused silica wall and, consequently, causes the sample to separate apart which causes cracks and other structural defects. These defects are detrimental to the electronic/optic performance of materials, especially on the applications of high‐quality compound semiconductors. It is demonstrated, in this paper, that by adding a simple procedure of hydrofluoride acid etching of empty ampoule, the wetting of the sample can be reduced during the high temperature processing of crystal growth and, as a result, the structural quality of the semiconductors can be significantly improved.

Crystal Defect Investigation in PVT-Grown ZnSe Under Different Seeding Conditions and Growth Configurations Using Synchrotron X-Ray Topography

“…The growth ampoules were made from 18mm outer dimension (OD), 12 mm inner dimension (ID) fused silica tubing of low H2O content. The ampoules were etched with HF for reducing the surface contact area and eliminating the "wetting" effect (9). The ampoules were loaded with grounded source material, baked and sealed before being placed inside a 3-zone translational furnace.…”