In-situ synthesis and crystal growth of high purity InP

High-purity indium phosphide crystals have been produced by an in-situ synthesis and growth process. The in-situ process has several advantages over the two-step process of compounding and growing in separate furnaces. A stoichiometric compound is formed within a few minutes by injecting phosphorus directly into the melt followed by crystal growth of InP without exposure to potential contamination outside the furnace environment. The time required for the in-situ process is a few hours to produce a 1 kg crystal. The authors have investigated the temperature gradients inside the injector during synthesis. A mechanism and apparatus to produce high-purity crystals by the in-situ process are described. Such InP crystals are shown to produce exciton emission peaks in photoluminescence spectra which are not generally found in bulk crystals grown by the two-step process. Since in-situ InP has a low background level of impurities, it is possible to produce semi-insulating material with a low concentration (<5*10/sup 15/ cm/sup -3/) of iron dopant.<>