Thermal modeling of Bridgman crystal growth using a boundary element approach

• Published in: Journal of crystal growth 1992-03, Vol.118 (1), p.193-203
• Main Authors: Young, Gregory L., McDonald, Karen A., Palazoglu, Ahmet, Ford, William
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0022-0248; 1873-5002
• DOI: 10.1016/0022-0248(92)90064-P

The boundary element method (BEM) is used to obtain the temperature field and the shape and position of the solid/liquid interface for bulk crystalline growth in a 3-zone Bridgman furnace. The model of two-dimensional heat transfer in a rectangular shaped crystal considers conduction in the crystal and the melt with Newton's law cooling governing the boundaries outside the adiabatic zone. The end of the crystal and melt zones are assumed to be perfectly insulated. In this study, the effects of the ratio of thermal conductivities, furnace temperature symmetry parameter, Peclet number, Biot number, and the dimensionless adiabatic zone length are investigated. The temperature symmetry parameter and ratio of thermal conductivities determine the interface shape and position when the furnace is stationary. An increase in the Peclet number moves the interface closer to the cold zone and increases the curvature of the interface. The Biot number influences the sensitivity of the interface shape and position with variations in the Peclet number; smaller Biot numbers result in an interface that is more sensitive to changes in Peclet number. Increasing the adiabatic zone length reduces the curvature of the interface but does not affect the relative position of the interface within the adiabatic zone.