Thermal properties of molten InSb, GaSb, and InxGa1−xSb alloy semiconductor materials in preparation for crystal growth experiments on the international space station

• The thermal properties of InGaSb were investigated in preparation for the crystal growth experiment on the ISS.
• Viscosity of InGaSb was evaluated in order to enhance the accuracy of numerical simulations.
• Wetting property, and evaporation rate were investigated to determine the affinity of the sample configurations.

The thermal properties of InSb, GaSb and InxGa1−xSb, such as the viscosity, wetting property, and evaporation rate, were investigated in preparation for the crystal growth experiment on the International Space Station (ISS). The viscosity of InGaSb, which is an essential property for numerical modeling of crystal growth, was evaluated. In addition, the wetting properties between molten InxGa1−xSb and quartz, BN, graphite, and C-103 materials were investigated. The evaporation rate of molten InxGa1−xSb was measured to determine the affinity of different sample configurations. From the measurements, it was found that the viscosity of InxGa1−xSb was between that of InSb and GaSb. The degree of wetting reaction between molten InxGa1−xSb and the C-103 substrate was very high, whereas that between molten InxGa1−xSb and quartz, BN, and graphite substrates was very low. The results suggest that BN and graphite can be used as materials to cover InSb and GaSb samples inside a quartz ampoule during the microgravity experiments. In addition, the difference of the evaporation rate of molten InxGa1−xSb, GaSb, and InSb was small at low, and large at high temperature.