Open Access

ARTICLE

Electromagnetic Stirring in Crystal Growth Processes

Nancy Ma¹, John S. Walker²

1 Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, North Carolina State University, Campus Box 7910, Raleigh, NC 27695,USA
2 Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Illinois, 1206 West Green St., Urbana, IL 61801, USA

Fluid Dynamics & Materials Processing 2006, 2(2), 119-126. https://doi.org/10.3970/fdmp.2006.002.119

Abstract

For semiconductor crystal growth from a melt, stirring due to the interaction of a steady electric current and a steady magnetic field can lead to a more uniform distribution of the additives in the crystal. This paper treats the electromagnetic stirring in a cylinder with a weak uniform axial magnetic field and with an electric current between an electrode in the center of the top of the cylinder and an electrode at the vertical wall of the cylinder. The magnitude and distribution of the stirring are studied as functions of the aspect ratio of the cylinder and of the strength of the electromagnetic body force. All of the steady axisymmetric flows considered here are stable with respect to small perturbations.

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