Application of rotating magnetic fields to crystal growth under microgravity (experiments on FOTON-M3)

Several doped and alloyed crystals such as Ge-Ga and Ge-Si were processed during the international FOTON-M3 spaceflight mission in September 2007. The growth furnace was equipped with a rotating magnetic field (RMF) with induction and frequency up to 3 mT and 100 Hz, respectively. The main goals of the experiments were to study the influence of the RMF on the crystal growth under microgravity. The first results obtained tinder microgravity are presented and discussed with respect; to the ground reference experiments and numerical simulations.