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The purpose of the Mercury Iodide Crystal Growth (MICG) experiment is the growth of near-perfect single crystals of mercury Iodide (HgI2) in a microgravity environment which will decrease the convection effects on crystal growth. Evaporation and condensation are the only transformations involved in this experiment. To accomplish these objectives, a two-zone furnace will be used in which two sensors collect the temperature data (one in each zone).
The circuit diagram for a temperature controller for use with very fast-acting (low thermal mass) furnace systems is presented and its features described. The operation of the slow response temperature controller is discussed.
The vaporization reactions, vapor pressures, and thermodynamics of potassium sulfide and potassium sulfite were studied for purposes of providing fundamental data for the seed cycle in magnetohydrodynamic electric power generation. Rate of effusion studies, supported by tube furnace experiments, X-ray powder diffraction, mass spectrometry and appropriate chemical analyses and tests, revealed that potassium sulfite disproportionates at high temperatures to form potassium sulfide and potassium sulfate. Potassium sulfide was observed to vaporize incongruently, the initial vapors beng predominantly potassium atoms, with minor species being S2 and various K-S molecules. The ratio of K/S2 in the vapor is very large initially and decreases steadily with prolonged heating. Several materials were evaluated for purposes of containing K2S/K2SO3 at temperatures or = 800 C: Pt, Mo, W, quartz, machinable glass, BN, high density graphite, pyrolytic coated graphite, and alumina. Of these, only alumina was observed to be chemically inert to both K2S but reacted with K2SO3. The other materials were not suitable for either substance. Thermodynamic calculations based on measured vapor pressures and approximate free energy functions are described. Results from isothermal total mass loss experiments and from thermogravimetric experiments are also included.
A preliminary assessment of the feasibility of accommodating the on-orbit R&D requirements for electroepitaxial crystal growth using the Orbiter middeck, the Materials Experiment Assembly or the Get-Away Special cans was performed. The study is based on the proposed electroepitaxial growth of single crystals of gallium arsenide (GaAs). Baseline R&D requirements, synthesizing furnace and facility conceptual design requirements, accommodation requirements, preliminary compatibility assessments are established. The systems engineering approach employed for the individual assessments is outlined.
A method is being developed to obtain creep data on foil gage metals at elevated temperatures using an automated data acquisition system in conjunction with a mechanically counter balanced extensometer. The automated system components include the Hewlett-Packard (HP) 9845A desktop computer, the HP 3455A digital voltmeter and the HP 3495A scanner. Software for test monitoring and data collection was developed; data manipulation, including curve plotting was done with a HP regression analysis software package. Initial creep tests were conducted on .003 in. thick foil specimens of Ti-6A1-4V at temperatures of 800 F and 1000 F and at stress levels of 25 ksi and 45 ksi. For comparison, duplicate tests were run on .049 in. thick specimens sheet of the same alloy. During testing, the furnace and specimen temperature, bridge voltage, strain and load output were automatically monitored and recorded at predetermined intervals. Using the HP regression analysis program, recorded strain output was plotted as a function of time. These resultant creep curves indicate that, under similar conditions of temperature and stress, foil gage specimens exhibit a higher creep rate than sheet specimens.
Chemical etching for automatic processing of integrated circuits is discussed. The wafer carrier and loading from a receiving air track into automatic furnaces and unloading onto a sending air track are included.
Liquid diffusion masks and liquid dopants to replace the more expensive CVD SiO2 mask and gaseous diffusion processes were investigated. Silicon pellets were prepared in the silicon shot tower; and solar cells were fabricated using web grown where the pellets were used as a replenishment material. Verification runs were made using the boron dopant and liquid diffusion mask materials. The average of cells produced in these runs was 13%. The relationship of sheet resistivity, temperature, gas flows, and gas composition for the diffusion of the P-8 liquid phosphorus solution was investigated. Solar cells processed from web grown from Si shot material were evaluated, and results qualified the use of the material produced in the shot tower for web furnace feed stock.
The most developed process for silicon crystal growth is the Czochralski (CZ) method which was in production for over two decades. In an effort to reduce cost of single crystal silicon for photovoltaic applications, a directional solidification technique, Heat Exchanger Method (HEM), was adapted. Materials used in HEM and CZ furnaces are quite similar (heaters, crucibles, insulation, etc.). To eliminate the cost of high purity argon, it was intended to use vacuum operation in HEM. Two of the major problems encountered in vacuum processing of silicon are crucible decomposition and silicon carbide formation in the melt.
Commercially available metallurgical grade (MG) silicon has high B and P content which is not reduced significantly by directional solidification. By choosing high purity raw materials for an experimental Submerged Electrode Arc Furnace, most of the impurities are reduced to 10 ppmw. Directional solidification of upgraded metallurgical grade (UMG) silicon by the Heat Exchanger Method (HEM) has produced 16 cm x 16 cm cross section ingots with nearly single crystal structure. The main problem encountered during directional solidification was SiC impurities dispersed through the structure. Solar cells fabricated from UMG silicon that was directionally solidified twice by HEM have shown up to 12.33% (am1) conversion efficiency.
The quality of semiconductor crystals grown by the vertical Bridgman technique is strongly influenced by the axial and radial variations of temperature within the charge. The relationship between the thermal parameters of the vertical Bridgman system and the thermal behavior of the charge are examined. Thermal models are developed which are capable of producing results expressable in analytical form and which can be used without recourse to extensive computer work for the preliminary thermal design of vertical Bridgman crystal growth systems. These models include the effects of thermal coupling between the furnace and the charge, charge translation rate, charge diameter, thickness and thermal conductivity of the confining crucible, thermal conductivity change and liberation of latent heat at the growth interface, and infinite charge length. The hot and cold zone regions, considered to be at spatially uniform temperatures, are separated by a gradient control region which provides added thermal design flexibility for controlling the temperature variations near the growth interface.
Modeling in the development of low stress configurations for wide web growth is presented. Parametric sensitivity to identify design features which can be used for dynamic trimming of the furnace element was studied. Temperature measurements of experimental growth behavior led to modification in the growth system to improve lateral temperature distributions.
The objective of this program is the investigation and evaluation of the capabilities of the ion implantation process for the production of photovoltaic cells from a variety of present-day, state-of-the-art, low-cost silicon sheet materials. Task 1 of the program concerns application of ion implantation and furnace annealing to fabrication of cells made from dendritic web silicon. Task 2 comprises the application of ion implantation and pulsed electron beam annealing (PEBA) to cells made from SEMIX, SILSO, heat-exchanger-method (HEM), edge-defined film-fed growth (EFG) and Czochralski (CZ) silicon. The goals of Task 1 comprise an investigation of implantation and anneal processes applied to dendritic web. A further goal is the evaluation of surface passivation and back surface reflector formation. In this way, processes yielding the very highest efficiency can be evaluated. Task 2 seeks to evaluate the use of PEBA for various sheet materials. A comparison of PEBA to thermal annealing will be made for a variety of ion implantation processes.
The MEA-2 A facility was used to test the effect of the low gravity environment on suppressing convective mixing in the growth of Pb(1-x)Sn(x)Te crystals. The need to eliminate convection, the furnace characteristics and operation that will be required for successful experimental implementation, and to the level that is presently known, the measured physical properties of the Pb(1-x)Sn(x)Te system were discussed. In addition, a brief background of the present and potential utilization of Pb(1-x)Sn(x)Te is given. Additional experiments are anticipated in future MEA-A, improved MEA and other dedicated materials processing in space flight apparatus.
The present conference on planetary and lunar science considers theoretical models for the composition of the Venus crust, the lunar crust, the prediction of phase relationships in planetary mantles, the volumetric analysis of complex lunar craters, grazing impacts on Mars, the determination of lunar structure by means of electrical conductivity and seismic experiments, results of studies on the Apollo 16 site rocks, as well as Apollo 14, 15 and 17 lunar glasses and regoliths, and carbon components and isotopic compositions of chondritic meteorites. Also discussed are iron meteorites, interplanetary dust and tektites, and such theoretical and experimental issues as refractory condensates and chondrules from solar furnace experiments, molecular synthesis through the irradiation of silicates, and the adsorption of excess fission Xe.
A relatively simple one-dimensional thermal model of the Bridgman growth process has been developed which is applicable to the growth of small diameter samples with conductivities similar to those of metallic alloys. The heat flow in a translating rod is analyzed in a way that is applicable to Biot numbers less than unity. The model accommodates an adiabatic zone, different heat transfer coefficients in the hot and cold zones, and changes in sample material properties associated with phase change. The analysis is applied to several simplified cases. The effect of the rod's motion is studied in a three-zone furnace for a rod sufficiently long that end effects can be neglected; end effects are then investigated for a motionless rod. Finally, the addition of a fourth zone, an independently controlled booster heater between the main heater and the adiabatic zone, is evaluated for its ability to increase the gradient in the sample at the melt interface and to control the position of the interface.
Development efforts have been undertaken to improve the processing and structural efficiencies of advanced cold-formable beta Ti alloys, using the standard, hot-formed and rivetted construction of Ti-6Al-4V sheet structures as a basis for comparison. Ti-15V-3Cr-3Al-3Sn (Ti-15-3) beta alloy is formable, brazable and weldable in the solution-treated condition, and after aging displays mechanical properties suitable for postulated service in the -65 to 600 F temperature range. A novel methodology using cold-formed Ti-15-3 stringers and Ti-6Al-4V face sheets that are joined by means of an out-of-furnace isothermal brazing process, followed by low temperature aging, can reduce production costs by as much as 28 per cent. Structural efficiency has been demonstrated in room and elevated temperature crippling tests of small skin-stringer assemblies.
Silicon dicarbide was first observed in 1926 in spectra of cool carbon stars. The carrier of these bands around 5000 A was tentatively identified as SiC2 by Kleman (1956) who produced similar spectra by inserting silicon into the graphite tube of a King furnace heated to over 2500 K. This identification was strengthened by subsequent mass spectral studies which showed SiC2 as a major molecular component of vaporized silicon carbide. The present investigation is concerned with calculations which were initiated in an attempt to understand more recent astronomical observations of unidentified lines in the millimeter-wave region of the spectrum. The calculations were designed to determine the ground state equilibrium structure and to obtain vibrational and rotational constants. Calculations for estimating the positions and structure of low-lying electronic states were also performed. Self-consistent field (SCF) calculations were performed assuming a closed-shell electronic structure analogous to that in C3. Calculations were conducted for symmetric CSiC, and asymmetric SiCC forms.
Thermogravimetric, metallographic, and X-ray studies of a model alloy, Ni-(17 a/o)Al-(10 a/o)Mo+W, oxidized in dry air at 600-1200 C and in air with 10 ppm NaCl gas at 900 C, are reported. The alloy was melted under Ar and pretreated in flowing H2 for 24 h at 1300 C. Polished 1.3 x 1.3 x 0.2-cm specimens were washed and degreased prior to oxidation in a quartz tube within a furnace for up to 120 hr. The oxidation activation energy of the alloy is determined to be about 30 kcal/mole. The specimens oxidized at 900 C and hotter exhibited oxidized and nitrided phases covered by complex NiMoO4, NiWO4, and NiAl2O4 scales and a porous, nonprotective outer layer of NiO. The oxidation behavior is found to be determined by the formation and growth of the scale, especially the (Mo,W)O2 component. Al2O3 scale layers were not formed, and further runs with pure O2 or Ar-(20 percent)O2 ruled out an explanation of this phenomenon based on aluminum nitride formation. The oxidation was accelerated by the addition of NaCl gas, a finding attributed to the reaction of NaCl with external locally protective Al2O3 scales and with the internal(Mo, W)O2 layers.