Automatic Control System for the High Pressure CdTe Crystal Growth Furnace

Abstract

CdTe and (CdZn)Te bulk single crystals have been widely used as substrates for MBE and LPE epitaxy of infrared (HgCd)Te as well as gamma- and X-ray detectors. The Cd1-xZnxTe (x = 0.04-0.1) single crystals with diameter up to 100 mm and height at most 40 mm were prepared in our laboratory in a vertical arrangement by gradual cooling of the melt (the Vertical Gradient Freezing method). Achievement of excellent crystal quality required full control of Cd pressure during the growth process and application of high Cd pressures (up to 4 bar) at growth temperature. An electronic control system was designed to control both temperature and internal pressure of two zones CZT crystal growth furnace by using two high performance PID controllers/setpoint programmers. Two wire current loop serial communication bus was used for the data exchange and computer control of the furnace electronics setup. Control software was written to supervise the crystal growth process and to collect all important data and parameters.

Keywords

• CdZnTe
• PID cascade control
• CdTe
• Cd pressure control
• crystal growth