EFFECT OF ELECTRIC-CURRENT ON THE LPE GROWTH OF INP

We studied how an electric current affects LPE growth, when the Peltier effect was absent and convection and the local temperature gradient were neglected. The amounts of InP grown or dissolved while passing AC and DC currents through a solution were measured and compared with the amount without current. We found that the effects did not depend on the direction of the current. This indicates that solute electromigration is not significant when the current density is 50 A/cm2. Two other current effects were present. The apparent diffusion coefficient was increased by the current. The increase is greater with AC than with DC. Second, nucleation is stimulated by the electric current when the solution is supersaturated. We found that the AC current accelerated LPE growth more than the DC current.