空间微重力环境中的晶体生长研究进展

Progresses in Crystal Growth Under Microgravity in Space

随着信息技术和生物技术的发展,人们对于结构完整、性能完美的高品质光电子晶体和蛋白质晶体的需求愈加迫切。地面重力条件下存在自然对流,它显著地影响热量和溶质的输运过程以及晶体/溶液界面边界层特性,进而影响晶体的品质和性能。空间微重力环境提供了纯扩散晶体生长的理想条件,在此条件下有可能生长出高性能的单晶体。在过去30多年的微重力实验中,科学家通过搭载卫星、飞船和空间站等航天器,开展了一系列空间晶体生长研究。本文综述几种主要晶体的实验研究进展,内容包括:半导体晶体、特殊功能晶体、非线性光学晶体、蛋白质晶体和食盐晶体。

The crystals with high quality and perfect property are more and more required following the progress of the information and biological technologies.Under the gravity field on earth,we have the natural convection,which greatly influences the transport process of both the heat and the solute as well as the crystal/solution boundary characteristics,and therefore,the crystal quality and property.The space microgravity environment provides an ideal condition for a pure diffusion crystal growth,to grow perfect single crystals.The space crystal growth was extensively studied with the microgravity experiments over the three decade in satellite,spaceship,space laboratory and space station.This paper summarizes the progresses related with several leading crystals,such as semiconductor,special function crystal,non-linear optical crystal,protein crystal and galley salt crystal.