AlSb single-crystal grown by HPBM

Theoretical prognosis for AlSb places this widegap compound among the best materials for room temperature detectors and spectrometers. However, results experimentally obtained with AlSb are somewhat discouraging showing the necessity for improving the compound quality. The main difficulties connected with single-crystal growth are high reactivity of the melt with crucible material and a high volatility of Sb. In order to counteract the latter obstacle, an attempt was undertaken to synthesize and grow AlSb crystals by HPBM under the inert gas pressure of 40 atm. Different crucible materials: aluminum oxide, vitreous carbon, quartz, graphite, beryllium oxide, and zirconium oxide were tested and their comparative analysis was made. The obtained crystals were investigated and some electrophysical properties measured.