Growth and Characterization of Bulk GeSi Solid Solutions

In this work we have grown and characterized several GeSi samples in order to investigate the effects that Silicon concentration, applied magnetic field, and liquid encapsulation have on crystalline quality. Characterization techniques include NDIC microscopy and microprobe spectroscopy. Two samples were grown with a Silicon concentration of approximately 3% and are compared to previous growths having a Silicon fraction of approximately 5%. Growth conditions for one of these samples was varied with the presence of an external applied magnetic field to investigate the possibility of magnetic field damping. A comparison between these two ingots, and with previously grown material, revealed no clear improvement in sample crystalline quality. Three additional samples were grown using a CaCl2 liquid encapsulation technique that produced GeSi material with improved structural quality over previous samples. Comparisons to prior non-encapsulation grown material, details of our methodology, and suggestions for further improvements are discussed.