Rapid solidification studies of a model alloy system

Silicon-germanium alloys are found to be simple model systems for studying the effects of melting temperature changes on the liquid-solid interface dynamics during pulsed laser melting. The melting temperature of these alloys can be continuously varied from 1210 to 1685 K. An alloy of Si50Ge50 is shown to closely model the melting kinetics of amorphous silicon. By tailoring the melting temperature versus depth with multilayer structures, the effects of superheating, undercooling, and thermal conductivity on the solidification dynamics have been studied.