Synthesis and Growth of CrSi2 Crystals from a Zn Solution–Melt during Spontaneous Crystallization in Noninertial Systems in Conditions of Space Station and in Terrestrial Conditions

• Published in: Physics of the solid state 2020, Vol.62 (1), p.34-37
• Main Authors: Kalashnikov, E. V., Gurin, V. N., Nikanorov, S. P., Derkachenko, L. I., Yagovkina, M. A.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Chromium; Crystal growth; Crystallization; Crystals; Phase Transitions; Physics; Physics and Astronomy; Silicon; Solid State Physics; Space stations; Unit cell
• ISSN: 1063-7834; 1090-6460
• DOI: 10.1134/S106378342001014X

The effect of the terrestrial gravitation field on crystal growth from a solution–melt during spontaneous crystallization is considered, taking into account that the space station (SS) and a laboratory at the Earth, in which the crystallization processes occur, are a noninertial system. It is shown that the specific feature that distinguishes the crystal growth in the terrestrial conditions is the pressure in the melt caused by the supporting force (the Newton third law). This pressure is absent at SS, and this fact leads to an increase in the unit cell of the melt that undergoes the first-order phase transition. As a result, the crystals grown at the SS have larger sizes than the same crystals grown in terrestrial conditions. They also exhibit an excess stress, the value of which is equal to the support pressure, which is absent at the SS. This situation is compared to the experimental data on growing CrSi 2 crystals from a solution–melt in Zn of the Cr–Si–Zn system.