RAPID SOLIDIFICATION PROCESSING OF INDIUM GALLIUM ANTIMONIDE ALLOYS

Abstract

Solidification from the melt is an essential step in nearly all conventional processes to produce bulk materials for industrial applications. Rapid quenching from the liquid state at cooling rates of 102 to 106K/s or higher has developed into a new technology for processing novel materials. InxGa1 - xSb a ternary III-V compound semiconductor was synthesized by using the rapid spinning cup (RSC) technique. Several compositions of these alloys were batched and cast into ingots in evacuated sealed quartz tubes. These ingots were then melted and ejected onto a rapidly rotating copper disk. This resulted in the generation of flakes or powders depending on the rpm of the disk. Microstructural characterization of the flakes and powders was performed using XRD, SEM and TEM. Efforts were also made to measure the bulk resistivity of the annealed flakes to see the effect of annealing on ordering of the phases.