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Updated: Jan 26, 2026

Thermocapillary Convection Space Experiment on the SJ-10 Recoverable Satellite
Published on: March 11, 2020
Homogeneous InGaSb crystal grown under microgravity using Chinese recovery satellite SJ-10
Jianding Yu1,2, Yuko Inatomi3,4,5, Velu Nirmal Kumar3
11State Key Laboratory of High Performance Ceramics and Superfine Microstructure, Shanghai Institute of Ceramics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 1295 Dingxi Road, Shanghai, 200050 PR China.
Abstract:
Microgravity crystal growth experiment for the growth of In0.11Ga0.89Sb was performed at the Chinese recoverable satellite through the space program SJ-10. This experiment is aimed to understand the melt formation and growth kinetics of In Ga1- Sb solid solution with higher indium composition, because their segregation coefficient was higher than the crystals with lower indium compositions. The target composition and uniformity were achieved with higher growth rate under microgravity, whereas the uniformity in composition was not achieved under normal gravity. The growth and dissolution were affected mainly by the steady state equilibrium in the melt composition because of the convection under normal gravity. The non-steady state equilibrium in the melt composition under microgravity helped to achieve a higher growth rate and compositional homogeneity at higher indium composition of In Ga1- Sb solid solution.
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