Current Status of Alloy Semiconductor Crystal Growth Project under Microgravity

Abstract

The purpose of “Alloy Semiconductor” crystal growth project is to make clear the factors for crystal growth of a high-quality bulk alloy semiconductor by investigating (1) solute transport in liquid and (2) surface orientation dependence of growth kinetics under microgravity and terrestrial conditions. The temperature gradient furnace Gradient Heating Furnace (GHF) onboard “Kibo” is used for the growth of an InxGa1-xSb bulk crystal which is a potential substrate material of optoelectronic devices such as thermo-photo-voltaic cells and gas sensors, since the band gap and the lattice constant of the crystals are tuned by adjusting the composition. The current status of the space experiment project will be reported in the presentation.