Papers by Author: Kazuo Nakajima

Abstract: We performed solution growth of SiC single crystals from Si-Ti-C ternary solution using the accelerated crucible rotation technique (ACRT). It was confirmed that the growth rate exceeding 200 μm/hr was achievable by several ACRT conditions. This high growth rate might be due to the enhancement of the carbon transport from the graphite crucible to the growth interface using the ACRT. Moreover, the incorporation of inclusions of the Si-Ti solvent in the grown crystal was significantly suppressed by using the ACRT. It was thought that the intensive convection near the growth interface resulted in not only the marked increase of SiC growth rate but also the superior homogeneity in the surface morphology. It was concluded that faster stable growth can be accomplished in the SiC solution growth using the ACRT.

Abstract: We carried out the growth of single crystalline silicon carbide (SiC) from Si-C-X (X= Co, Fe) ternary solutions. These ternary solutions are expected to show large carbon solubility compared with Si solvent (self-flux) by means of CALPHAD (CALculation of PHAse Diagrams) method. We investigated the growth rate and the polytype of the grown crystal from the ternary solutions. Then we found that the growth rate from the ternary solutions is much larger than that from the self-flux. The growth rate from Si-C-Co (Si-C-Fe) system was about 6mm/hr (12mm/hr) while that from the self-flux was only 2mm/hr. The grown crystal from the ternary solutions is classified into 6H that takes over the seed polytype.

Abstract: The growth of 6H-SiC crystal from Si-Ti-C ternary solution was conducted under the temperature gradient and the crystalline quality evaluations of the grown crystals were carried out. 6H-SiC(0001) on-axis pvt-grown crystal was used as a seed crystal. Micropipes in the seed crystal were terminated during the solution growth and 28mm􀊷28mm self-standing micropipe-free SiC crystals were obtained. The quality of the grown crystals was investigated by SIMS, high-resolution x-ray diffraction and molten KOH etching. The content of residual impurities in the SiC were very low. The X-ray 􀐢-rocking curves of the solution grown SiC showed single peak with high peak intensity ,while that of the seed crystal showed several peaks due to the misoriented domains. Moreover, it was found that the number of etch-pit in the grown crystal is much less than that in the seed crystal and it decreases with the increase of the growth thickness. These results indicate that the crystalline quality of grown crystal was significantly improved during the solution growth.

Abstract: Single crystals of AlMgB ₁₄ and AlMgB ₂₂ were grown from a high-temperature aluminum metal flux in an Ar atmosphere. The optimum conditions for growing AlMgB ₂₂ and AlMgB ₁₄ were established using the starting mixtures of B/Mg=0.5-1.0 and B/Mg=2.0-6.0. The AlMgB ₁₄ and AlMgB ₂₂ crystals obtained have well-developed {001} and {100} faces, and were black with a metallic luster. The maximum dimensions of these crystals were about 5.2 mm and 4.6 mm, respectively. The values of micro-Vickers hardness of the AlMgB ₁₄ and AlMgB ₂₂ crystals are in the ranges of 23.9±0.6-27.6±0.6 GPa. The oxidation process of AlMgB ₁₄ and AlMgB ₂₂ crystals were studied up to 1473 K by TG-DTA method. The susceptibility of AlMgB14 with an increase at low temperatures does not show any particular features, being indicative of a paramagnetic contribution, which is likely due to impurities. The susceptibility of the AlMgB ₂₂ sample shows no apparent contribution from impurities and also does not have any anomalous behavior.