Method and apparatus for growing oriented whisker arrays

摘要

A method for growing of oriented whisker arrays on a single-crystalline substrate consists in vapor-phase transport of the material to be crystallized from a solid-state source body of the same composition as the whiskers to the substrate coated with liquid-phase particles that serve as nucleation/catalyzing centers for the whisker growth. The source body has a plane surface that is faced to the substrate and parallel to it so that a vectorly-uniformn temperature field, whose gradient is perpendicular to both the substrate and the source, is created. The vectorly-uniform temperature field is realized by an apparatus with high-frequency heating of specially designed bodies that are arranged in a special position in respect to the high-frequency inductor. Laser and/or lamp heat sources can be also used either separately or in combinations with the high-frequency heater. In the apparatus, the material source is heated, while the substrate takes. heat from the material source. In another case, the substrate is heated, while the material source takes heat from the substrate.