Elimination of Solute Banding in Indium Antimonide Crystals by Growth in a Magnetic Field

Abstract

Samples of tellurium-doped indium antimonide that exhibited solute banding when solidified in a horizontal boat under ordinary conditions showed no bands when solidified in the presence of a vertical dc magnetic field. The effect of the field was to damp the thermal convection in the molten sample to the point of suppressing turbulence, thereby eliminating the temperature fluctuations in the liquid that cause the bands.