Supercooling and nucleation of silicon after laser melting

Journal Article · Mon Jun 13 04:00:00 EDT 1988 · Phys. Rev. Lett.; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.60.2519· OSTI ID:7006345

Stiffler, S R; Thompson, M O; Peercy, P S

Bulk nucleation of crystalline Si at a supercooling of 505 K was observed following pulsed-laser--induced melting of thin films. If the nucleation was homogeneous, the estimated nucleation rate of 10/sup 29/ eventsm/sup 3/ s implies a liquid-Si--crystalline-Si interfacial energy of 0.45 +- 0.02 Jm/sup 2/. In addition, observation of crystalline nucleation bounds the interface energy between amorphous Si and liquid Si to be >0.20 Jm/sup 2/. This laser melting technique is applicable to nucleation studies in a wide variety of materials.

• Research Organization: Department of Materials Science, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853
• OSTI ID: 7006345
• Journal Information: Phys. Rev. Lett.; (United States), Journal Name: Phys. Rev. Lett.; (United States) Vol. 60:24; ISSN PRLTA
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
360602* -- Other Materials-- Structure & Phase Studies
COOLING
ELECTRON MICROSCOPY
ELEMENTS
HEATING
HIGH TEMPERATURE
LASER-RADIATION HEATING
MELTING
MICROSCOPY
NUCLEATION
PHASE TRANSFORMATIONS
PLASMA HEATING
PULSES
SEMIMETALS
SILICON
TEMPERATURE DEPENDENCE
TRANSMISSION ELECTRON MICROSCOPY