Clarence Ray Thornton

US Patent:

52563391, Oct 26, 1993

Filed:

Oct 30, 1992

Appl. No.:

7/968882

Inventors:

Clarence G. Thornton - Colts Neck NJ
James F. Harvey - Tinton Falls NJ
Robert A. Lux - Toms River NJ
Robert J. Zeto - Eatontown NJ
Hardev Singh - Robbinsville NJ
Maurice Weiner - Ocean NJ
Terence Burke - Ocean NJ
Lawrence E. Kingsley - Shrewsbury NJ

Assignee:

The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Army - Washington DC

International Classification:

B29C 900

US Classification:

264 10

Abstract:

The present invention describes a method of explosively vaporizing a piece f semiconductor material in a plasma formed by a fast, high voltage current pulse. The semiconductor material may be formed from crystalline, polycrystalline, or amorphous forms of semiconductor material. After the semiconductor material is vaporized, it coalesces as the plasma begins to cool and is deposited in a collection system. The size and composition of the microparticles formed by this process can be controlled by conditioning the plasma in predetermined manners. In particular, impurities can be introduced either in the target material, in gas introduced in the plasma, or in the gas through which the coalescing microparticles travel prior to deposition.