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Contact Angles and Surface Tension of Germanium-Silicon MeltsPrecise knowledge of material parameters is more and more important for improving crystal growth processes. Two important parameters are the contact (wetting) angle and the surface tension, determining meniscus shapes and surface-tension driven flows in a variety of methods (Czochralski, EFG, floating-zone, detached Bridgman growth). The sessile drop technique allows the measurement of both parameters simultaneously and has been used to measure the contact angles and the surface tension of Ge(1-x)Si(x) (0 less than or equal to x less than or equal to 1.3) alloys on various substrate materials. Fused quartz, Sapphire, glassy carbon, graphite, SiC, carbon-based aerogel, pyrolytic boron nitride (pBN), AIN, Si3N4, and polycrystalline CVD diamond were used as substrate materials. In addition, the effect of different cleaning procedures and surface treatments on the wetting behavior were investigated. Measurements were performed both under dynamic vacuum and gas atmospheres (argon or forming gas), with temperatures up to 1100 C. In some experiments, the sample was processed for longer times, up to a week, to investigate any changes of the contact angle and/or surface tension due to slow reactions with the substrate. For pure Ge, stable contact angles were found for carbon-based substrates and for pBN, for Ge(1-x)Si(x) only for pBN. The highest wetting angles were found for pBN substrates with angles around 170deg. For the surface tension of Ge, the most reliable values resulted in gamma(T) = (591- 0.077 (T-T(sub m)) 10(exp -3)N/m. The temperature dependence of the surface tension showed similar values for Ge(1-x)Si(x), around -0.08 x 10(exp -3)N/m K, and a compositional dependence of 2.2 x 10(exp -3)N/m at%Si.
Document ID
20010059349
Acquisition Source
Marshall Space Flight Center
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Croell, A.
(Freiburg Univ. Germany)
Kaiser, N.
(Freiburg Univ. Germany)
Cobb, S.
(NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Huntsville, AL United States)
Szofran, F. R.
(NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Huntsville, AL United States)
Volz, M.
(NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Huntsville, AL United States)
Rose, M. Franklin
Date Acquired
August 20, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 2001
Subject Category
Solid-State Physics
Meeting Information
Meeting: ICCG-13
Location: Kyoto
Country: Japan
Start Date: July 30, 2001
End Date: August 4, 2110
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Work of the US Gov. Public Use Permitted.

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