THERMOPHYSICAL PROPERTY MEASUREMENTS ON MOLTEN SEMICONDUCTORS USING 10-S MICROGRAVITY IN A DROP SHAFT

The effectiveness of 10-s microgravity on thermophysical property meas urements on molten materials, such as molten semiconductors, is discus sed. The thermal conductivity of molten InSb was successfully measured under microgravity conditions on board the German sounding rocket TEX US and in a drop shaft in Hokkaido, Japan. Surface tension measurement s using an oscillating drop method was attempted in low gravity using a parabolic flight of the NASA KC-135 aircraft. Combined levitation an d microgravity, which can provide a contamination-free and undercooled condition, is recommended as a novel approach to obtain missing therm ophysical property data on undercooled melts of semiconductors.