半导体材料的微重力生长

Microgravity Growth of Semiconductor Materials

空间微重力环境提供了一个独特平台,以改进地面材料性能、深入理解被地面重力掩盖的晶体生长现象。半导体空间材料科学的主要进展有:(1)基于对组分均匀的完美半导体的追求,人们对于晶体生长机理,特别是对流、溶质传输及组分分凝的相互作用,有了更加深入的理解;(2)基于空间实验结果,人们澄清了非接触Bridgman生长的内在机理,并将之用于指导空间及地面实验;(3)提出了新的微重力晶体生长技术并成功用于组分均匀半导体合金材料的制备。回顾了以上方面的研究进展,并对半导体空间材料科学的未来挑战进行了展望。

The microgravity environment aboard the space provides a unique platform to synthesize materials with improved properties as compared with their terrestrial counterparts, and allows an in-depth understanding of crystal-growth-related phenomena that are masked by gravity on the earth. The main achievements in the microgravity growth of semiconductors are listed below： （1）the seeking of perfect crystals with chemical homogeneity benefits a profound understanding on the crystal growth process, typically on the relationships among the convective flows, solute transport and chemical segregation; （2）based on the microgravity experiments, the underlying mechanism of detached Bridgman growth was clarified and used to guide the space- and ground-based crystal growth processes; （3）new crystal growth schemes were proposed and implemented successfully to grow chemically homogeneous semiconductor alloys under microgravity. In this review, the main progresses in these aspects are summarized and the future challenges are discussed.