crucible selection rev2.2

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Crucible Selection GuideRev2.2

CrucibleSelectionGuide

360.378.4137 | 360.378.4266 fax | [email protected] | www.Luxel.com | P.O. Box 1879, 515 Tucker Ave., Friday Harbor, WA 98250, USA

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Crucible Selection Guide

Luxelofferstwostandardcruciblesandanexpandinglineofspecialtycrucibles.Allcruciblesarehighpuritymaterialandhaveaprecisiongroundliptoprovideavaporseal,whichpreventscontaminationoftheradiationbaffles.Refractorymetalcruciblelinersareavailabletoensurecompatibilitywiththewidestpossiblerangeofsourcematerials.

CrucibleSelectionThetwoprimaryconsiderationsinselectingacruciblearechemicalandthermalcompatibility.Thereareanumberofresourcesavailableonthewebfordeterminingcruciblechemicalcompatibilityofmostcommondepositionmaterials.Thermalcompatibilityisaconcernwithmaterialsthatmeltduringevaporation.Moltenmaterialsconformtotheshapeofthecrucible.Afterthedepositionwhenthemeltsolidifies,differencesinthermalexpansionratescancausethecrucibletocrack.Inthecaseofmeltingmaterials,therearethreesolutionstoavoidcruciblecracking.Luxeloffersmetallinerswhichcanwithstandthedifferenceinexpansionwithoutcracking.Ifyoudesiretorunthesourcematerialwithoutusingametalliner,onesolutionistousealimitedamountofsourcematerialsothatthebottomofthecrucibleisnotcovered.Asecondapproachwhichdoesnotrequirethemetallineristoensureallmaterialisevaporatedfromthecruciblepriortocooling.Cruciblesshouldnotbefilledgreaterthanfullwithnonsublimingmaterials.

Figure1Left:Standardsizeswithcapacitiesof1,10,and100ccrespectively.Right:Recommendedfilllevelisfull.

StandardCruciblesOurstandardcruciblesarealumina(aboveleft)orquartz(aboveright).OnecrucibleissuppliedwitheachRadakfurnacepurchased.Aluminaisthedefaultcruciblematerialwithquartzavailableuponrequest.StandardcruciblesareavailableforboththeRadakIandRadakIIfurnaces.

Standard SizesRadakIII

RadakII

RadakI

1cc10cc 100cc


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CrucibleLinersSomeapplicationsmayrequiretheuseofaninsertplacedinsidethestandardcrucible.Suchapplicationsincludeevaporatingmaterialsthatwouldreactwiththestandardcruciblematerial,andevaporatingmeltingmaterialsthathaveahighercoefficientofthermalexpansionthanthecruciblematerial.Inthesecases,atoughmetalinsertplacedinsidethestandardcrucibletoformacrucibleliner.Cruciblelinerscontainthemoltenorreactivematerialwithinthestandardcrucible,protectingthefurnace.

Cruciblelinersareavailableinthefollowingmaterials:

Molybdenum Tantalum Tungsten Nickel Specialmaterialsuponrequest

SpecialtyCruciblesSomematerialspresentspecificchallengesthatcannotbeovercomeusingalineralone.Fortheseapplicationswehavedevelopedmaterialspecificcrucibles.

OrganicsOrganicmaterialstendtoevaporateatrelativelylowtemperatures.Ourfurnacesaredesignedtominimizingmaterialbuildupatthelipofthecruciblebyapplyingmoreheattothetopofthecrucible.SomeorganicssuchasALQ3andCopperphthalocyanineareevaporatedatsuchalowtemperaturethatthetemperatureatthelipofthecrucibleisinsufficienttopreventredepositingonthecrucible.Inextremecases,thiscanleadtotheevaporantblockingthemouthofthecrucible.Fortheseapplications,wehavedevelopedalowtemperature,highthermalconductivitycruciblewhicheffectivelyeliminatescruciblechoking.Thiscrucibleisforlowtemperaturematerials

onlyandshouldnotbeusedabove460C.

Figure3:OrganicCrucible

Figure2:Avarietyofcruciblelinersareavailable


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SolarCellProductionMaterialsusedinsolarcellproductionsuchascopperandseleniumrequirespecialconsideration.Duetothermalexpansion,theCumeltwillcausethecrucibletocrackoncooling,whichcandestroythefurnaceuponremeltingthesourceifnotdetected.Toavoidthis,werecommendusingamolybdenumliner.ThemolybdenumlinerfortheRadakIhasa1ccworkingvolume.ThelinerfortheRadakIIhasa6ccworkingvolume.Forhighervolumeproduction,amolybdenumcrucibleisavailablefortheRadakIIbutiscurrentlyacustomorder.

ForSeleniumdeposition,wehavedevelopedaceramiccoatedstainlesssteelcrucible.ThestainlessisbothcompatiblewiththemoltenSeandtoughtowithstandexpansionduringheatingandcooldown.Thiscruciblealsofeaturesareducedaperturetoreducepotentiallydangeroussourcespitting.Formaterialswithahighpropensitytospit,Luxelcanprovidecustomdesignedcruciblebaffleswhichareinstalledoverthecrucibletoeliminatelineofsightbetweensourceandsubstrate.Wewillbehappytodiscussyourapplicationrequirementsanddesignasolutionforyou.

Figure4:CoatedstainlesssteelcruciblewithreducedapertureforSelenium.Customcruciblebafflesforspittingmaterials.

PBNCrucibleLuxeloffersaPyrolyticBoronNitride(PBN)crucible.Thehighpurity(99.9%pure)PBNcrucibleshaveanominal2%taperovertheirlength.

Please see our ever-growing table of crucible recommendations by material!

We have solutions for spitting materials! Call to discuss your application.


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Material Symbol Crucible Liner(ifrequired) MeltC S/D NOTESALQ3 ALQ3 OrganicAluminum Al PBN 660Antimony Sb Alumina 631 S O,TArsenic As Alumina 814 S O,TBarium Ba Alumina Ta 717 O,P,TBariumCloride BaCl2 Alumina Ta,Mo 962Beryllium Be Alumina W 1284Bismuth Bi Alumina W,Ta,Mo 271 TBoronNitride BN Alumina 2973 SCadmium Cd Alumina 321 S P,TCalcium Ca Alumina 810 S OCalciumFluoride CaF2 Alumina Mo,Ta 1418Cerium Ce Alumina 785 HCesiumIodide CsI Alumina 621Chromium Cr Alumina W 1857 SCobalt Co Alumina 1478Copper Cu Alumina Mo 1083Copperphthalocyanine CuPC OrganicDysprosium Dy Alumina Ta 1409Erbium Er Alumina Ta,W 1522 SEuropium Eu Alumina 822 S OGadolinium Gd Alumina 1312Gallium Ga Alumina 30Germanium Ge Alumina 959Gold Au Alumina 1063Holmium Ho Alumina Ta 1470Indium In Alumina 157IndiumTinOxide ITO Alumina 1800 SIron Fe Alumina 1535Lanthanum La Alumina Ta,W 887 OLead Pb Alumina 328 TLithium Li Alumina 179 H,OLithiumFluoride LiF Alumina Ni 845Lutetium Lu Alumina 1656Magnesium Mg Alumina 651 S OMagnesiumFluoride MgF2 Alumina 1261Manganese Mn Alumina 1244 SNeodymium Nd Alumina 1021Nickel Ni Alumina 1455Palladium Pd Alumina 1555 SPhosphorus P Alumina 597 S T,F


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Figure5:Luxelcrucibleandlinerrecommendationsbymaterial

Polonium Po Quartz 254 TPotassium K Quartz 64 FPotassiumBromide KBr Alumina 734PotassiumChloride KCl Alumina Ni 770 SPotassiumIodide KI Alumina 681Praseodymium Pr Alumina Ta 931Rubidium Rb Quartz 38 FSamarium Sm Alumina 1072 OScandium Sc Alumina 1397 OSelenium Se CoatedSS 217 TSilicon Si Alumina Ta 1410SiliconMonoxide SiO Alumina Ta 1702 SSiliconNitride Si3N4 Alumina 1900Silver Ag PBN,Alumina Mo 961Sodium Na Quartz 98 FSodiumFluoride NaF Alumina 993Strontium Sr Alumina Mo,Ta,W 771 O,FSulfur S Quartz 597 S PTellurium Te Alumina Ta,W 450 TTerbium Tb Alumina 1360Thallium Tl Alumina 304 TThullium Tm Alumina 1545 STin Sn Alumina 232TinOxide SnO2 Alumina 1630 STitaniumOxide TiO Alumina W,MoTungstenOxide WO3 Alumina 1473 SVictawet VW AluminaYtterbium Yb Alumina Ta 824 SYttrium Y Alumina 1477Zinc Zn Alumina 419 S P

NOTES:H=HydroscopicfilmsO=OxidizesquicklyinairT=ToxicF=FlammableinairP=PoisonoustovacuumsystemsduetolowstickingcoefficientS=SublimesD=Decomposes


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DisclaimerGiventherangeofmaterialsandpossibledepositioncombinations,allcrucibleshavenotbeentestedforeveryapplication.Luxelhasmanyyearsofexperienceevaporatingnumerousmaterialsandourtechnicianswillhelpguideyouinyourcrucible/linerselectionhowever,itisultimatelytheresponsibilityoftheendusertoverifycompatibilitywiththeirspecificapplication.

CrucibleOptionsbyRadakFurnace RadakI RadakII RadakIIICrucibleSize 1HX0.495OD2cc 2HX0.995OD15cc 3.91HX1.96OD140ccUsableCapacity 1cc 10cc 100ccMaterials Alumina,Quartz,PBN,CoatedStainlessSteel,OrganicLiners Molybdenum,Nickel,Tantalum,Tungsten SpecialRequestonlyLinerCapacity 0.5cc 6cc Fullcapacityliners(sameascrucible)areavailableinMolybdenum

MaximumOperatingTemperaturePleasenotethatthemaximumoperatingtemperatureoftheRadakfurnacewiththeradiationbaffleinstalledis1500C.Certaincruciblesandlinershavemaximumtemperaturesbelow1500C,pleaseseethetablebelow.

MaximumOperatingTemperature(C)

Crucibles

Alumina 1500PBN 1500Quartz 1000CoatedStainless 900Organic 460

Liners

Molybdenum 1500Tantalum 1500Tungsten 1500Nickel 1200

Exceedingthemaximumoperatingtemperatureofthefurnaceorthecruciblewillvoidtheproductwarranty.

crucible selection rev2.2

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