Hostname: page-component-7b7567c8c-fvjsw Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-11-15T09:18:28.456Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

High-Purity Germanium Crystal Growing

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 February 2011

W. L. Hansen
Affiliation:
Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720
E.E. Haller
Affiliation:
Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720Department of Materials Science, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, U.S.A.
Get access

Abstract

The germanium crystals used for the fabrication of nuclear radiation detectors are required to have a purity and crystalline perfection which is unsurpassed by any other solid material. These crystals should not have a net electrically active impurity concentration greater than 10l0 cm−3 and be essentially free of charge trapping defects.

Such perfect crystals of germanium can be grown only because of the highly favorable chemical and physical properties of this element. However, ten years of laboratory scale and commercial experience has still not made the production of such crystals routine. The origin and control of many impurities and electrically active defect complexes is now fairly well understood but regular production is often interrupted for long periods due to the difficulty of achieving the required high purity or to charge trapping in detectors made from crystals seemingly grown under the required conditions.

The compromises involved in the selection of zone refining and crystal grower parts and ambients is discussed and the difficulty in controlling the purity of key elements in the process is emphasized. The consequences of growing in a hydrogen ambient are discussed in detail and it is shown how complexes of neutral defects produce electrically active centers.

Information

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1983

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable