• Journal of the Korean Crystal Growth and Crystal Technology
• /
• v.12 no.6
• /
• pp.272-282
• /
• 2002

Mercurous bromide ($Hg_{2}0Br_{2}$) crystals hold promise for many acousto-optic and opto-electronic applications. This material is prepared in closed ampoules by the physical vapor transport (PVT) growth method. Due to the temperature gradient between the source and the growing crystal region, the buoyancy-driven convection may occur. The effects of thermal convection on the crystal growth rate was investigated in this study in a horizontal configuration for conditions ranging from typical laboratory conditions to conditions achievable only in a low gravity environment. The results showed that the growth rate increases linearly with Grashof number, and for 0.2 $\leq$ Ar (transport length-to-height, L/H)$\leq$1.0 sharply for Ar=5 and $\Delta$T=30 K. We have also shown that the magnitude of convection decreases with the Ar. For gravity levels of less than $10^{-2}$g the non-uniformity of interfacial distribution is negligible.

• Journal of the Korean Crystal Growth and Crystal Technology
• /
• v.34 no.2
• /
• pp.48-54
• /
• 2024

During the Hg₂Br₂ physical vapor transport process with self-diffusion, it is concluded that for 10^-3g₀≤ g ≤ 1g₀ the thermal buoyancy driven convection is dominant in the vapor phase; at the gravitational level of g = 10^-4g₀, the transition region from the convection to diffusion occurs; for 10^-6g₀ ≤ g ≤ 10^-5g₀, the diffusion mode is predominant. The total molar flux of Hg₂Br₂ decays exponentially with the decreasing of one tenth of gravitational magnitude. For 10℃ ≤ ΔT ≤ 50℃, the total molar flux increases linearly and directly with the temperature difference between the source and crystal regions.

• Journal of the Korean Crystal Growth and Crystal Technology
• /
• v.14 no.2
• /
• pp.50-57
• /
• 2004

Mercurous Bromide ($Hg_2Br_2$) crystals hold promise for many acousto-optic and opto-electronic applications. This material is prepared in closed ampoules by the physical vapor transport (PVT) growth method. We investigate the effects of solutal convection on the crystal growth rate in a horizontal configuration for diffusive-convection conditions and purely diffusion conditions achievable in a low gravity environment. Our results show that the growth rate is decreased by a factor of one-fourth with a ten reduction of gravitational acceleration near y = 2.0 cm. For 0.1 $g_O$ the growth rate pattern exhibits relatively flat which is intimately related to diffusion-dominated processes. The growth rate nonuniformity is regardless of aspect ratio across the interfacial positions from 0 to 1.5. Also, the effect of a factor of the ten reduction in the gravitational acceleration is same to both Ar = 5 and 2. The enlargement in the molecular weight of B from 50 to 500 by a factor 4 causes a decrease in the maximum growth rate by the same factor, indicative of the effect of solutal gradients.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
• /
• v.57 no.2
• /
• pp.289-300
• /
• 2019

We have conducted a preliminary numerical analysis to understand the effects of double-diffusive convection on the molar flux at the crystal region during the growth of mercurous bromide ($Hg_2Br_2$) crystals in 1 g and microgravity (${\mu}g$) conditions. It was found that the total molar fluxes decay first-order exponentially with the aspect ratio (AR, transport length-to-width), $1{\leq}AR{\leq}10$. With increasing the aspect ratio of the horizontal enclosure from AR = 1 up to Ar = 10, the convection flow field shifts to the advective-diffusion mode and the flow structures become stable. Therefore, altering the aspect ratio of the enclosure allows one to control the effect of the double diffusive natural convection. Moreover, microgravity environments less than $10^{-2}g$ make the effect of double-diffusive natural convection much reduced so that the convection mode could be switched over the advective-diffusion mode.

• Journal of the Korean Crystal Growth and Crystal Technology
• /
• v.29 no.3
• /
• pp.107-114
• /
• 2019

A computational analysis has been carried out to get a thorough and full understanding on the effects of convective process parameters on double-diffusive convection during the growth of mercurous bromide ($Hg_2Br_2$) crystals on earth and under ${\mu}g$ conditions. The dimensional maximum magnitude of velocity vector, ${\mid}U{\mid}_{max}$ decreases much drasticlly near Ar = 1, and, then since Ar = 2, decreases. The ${\mu}g$ conditions less than $10^{-2}g$ make the effect of double-diffusion convection much reduced so that adequate advective-diffusion mass transfer could be obtained.

• Journal of the Korean Crystal Growth and Crystal Technology
• /
• v.33 no.3
• /
• pp.110-115
• /
• 2023

During the Hg₂Br₂ physical vapor transport process, with increasing the partial pressure of component B, P_B from 40 Torr to 200 Torr, a unicellular convective flow structures move from the crystal growth region to the center region in the vapor phase. The boundary layer flow is dominant for P_B = 40 Torr, and the core region flow is dominant for P_B = 200 Torr. The flow in the vapor phase shows a three-dimensional convective flow structure with a single cell (unicellular) for P_B = 40 Torr and 200 Torr, exhibits an asymmetrical flow with respect to the x, y central axis under the horizontally oriented configuration with an aspect ratio (length-to-width) of 3 and linear conducting walls. The critical temperature difference between the source and crystal region is about 30 K. The total molar flux of Hg₂Br₂ increases with the temperature difference until the total molar flux reaches the critical value. At the critical total molar flux, the total molar flux abruptly decreases.

• Journal of the Korean Crystal Growth and Crystal Technology
• /
• v.32 no.1
• /
• pp.16-24
• /
• 2022

A computational study of combined thermal and solutal convection (double diffusive convection) in a sealed crystal growth reactor is presented, based on a two-dimensional numerical analysis of the nonlinear and strongly coupled partial differential equations and their associated boundary conditions. The average Nusselt numbers for the source regions are greater than those at the crystal regions for 9.73 × 10³ ≤ Gr_t ≤ 6.22 × 10⁵. The average Nusselt numbers for the source regions varies linearly and increases directly with the thermal Grashof number form 9.73 × 10³ ≤ Gr_t ≤ 6.22 × 10⁵ for aspect ratio, Ar (transport length-to-width) = 1 and 2. Additionally, the average Nusselt numbers for the crystal regions at Ar = 1 are much greater than those at Ar = 2. Also, the occurrence of one unicellular flow structure is caused by both the thermal and solutal convection, which is inherent during the physical vapor transport of Hg₂Br₂. When the aspect ratio of the enclosure increases, the fluid movement is hindered and results in the decrease of thermal buoyancy force.

• Journal of the Korean Crystal Growth and Crystal Technology
• /
• v.14 no.4
• /
• pp.160-168
• /
• 2004

We investigate the effects of solutal convection on the crystal growth rate in a horizontal configuration for diffusive-convection conditions and purely diffusion conditions achievable in a low gravity environment for a nonlinear thermal gradient. It is concluded that the solutally-driven convection due to the disparity in the molecular weights of the component A $(Hg_2Br_2)$ and B (CO) is stronger than thermally-driven convection for both the nonlinear and the linear thermal profiles, corresponding to $Gr_t= 8.5{\times}10^3,\; Gr_s = 1.05{\times}10^5$. For both solutal and thermal convection processes, the growth rates for the linear thermal profile (conducting walls) are greater than for the nonlinear case. With the temperature humps, there are found to be observed in undersaturation for diffusive-convection processes ranging from $D_{AB}$ = 0.087 to 0.87. For the vertical configurations, the diffusion mode is so much dominated that the growth rate and interfacial distribution is nearly regardless of the gravitational accelerations. Also, the diffusion mode is predominant over the convection for the gravity levels less than 0.1 $g_0$ for the horizontally oriented configuration.

• Journal of the Korean Crystal Growth and Crystal Technology
• /
• v.33 no.4
• /
• pp.145-152
• /
• 2023

The average Nusselt numbers in the source and crystal region for the variation of thermal Grashof number (Gr_t) in the range of 2.31 × 10⁴ ≤ Gr_t ≤ 4.68 × 10⁴ are obtained through numerical simulations. It is shown the average Nusselt number in the crystal region is more than twice as large as the average Nusselt number in the source region. The average Nusselt number in the source region shows an increasing tendency with increasing the thermal Grashof number, Gr_t, while the average Nusselt number in the crystal region shows a decreasing tendency with increasing thermal Grashof number, Gr_t. For the variation of the solutal Grashof number (Gr_s) in the ran ge of 3.28 × 10⁵ ≤ Gr_s ≤ 4.43 × 10⁵, the average Sherwood number in the source region and crystal region tends to decrease as the solutal Grashof number, Gr_s increases. The average Sherwood number in the crystal region is about four times greater than the average Sherwood number in the source region.