Experimental study on floating-zone tube growth and comparison with computer simulation
Journal
Journal of Crystal Growth
Journal Volume
165
Journal Issue
4
Pages
447-454
Date Issued
1996
Author(s)
Abstract
Floating-zone (FZ) tube growth of NaNO3 was conducted to study the effect of process parameters and the feasibility of the process. Due to the effect of surface tension, the grown tube size was smaller than the feed. The size reduction became more significant with increasing zone length and decreasing feed tube size. The grown tube size was also sensitive to the pulling speed. Computer simulation was conducted for the experiments, and good agreement was found. In the present study, downward growth was not successful, and the difficulties were illustrated through computer simulation. In all cases, the observed melt/solid interfaces were very convex, and this could be explained through calculated thermocapillary convection. As compared with rod growth, tube growth was more difficult due to its poorer zone stability. Two failure modes of the zone were observed during crystal growth, and they were different from those observed in rod growth.
SDGs
Type
journal article