Experiment of solidification with thermocapillary convection in a liquid layer

To produce high-quality materials, a large number of studies have been carried out for the solidification and melting process of metals and semiconductors in both terrestrial and space environments. The previous studies focused mainly upon the solidification and melting processes themselves. In the real system, however, one cannot neglect effects of convection in molten materials, such as natural and thermocapillary convections, upon the resultant quality of the materials. This study aims to investigate experimentally the effect of the thermocapillary convection upon the directional solidification in a liquid layer with the free surface. Especially, the solidification morphology is emphasized.