Method of manufacturing a single crystal of a III-V compound

A method of manufacturing a semiconductor monocrystal of a III-V compound, which compound consists of a first, relatively volatile element, and a second, relatively non-volatile, element, said method comprising:

• (a) placing a quantity of a polycrystalline form of said III-V compound together with a significant amount of said second, relatively non-volatile element in a first portion of a closed space in a first heating zone of a furnace,
• (b) placing in a second portion of said closed space, and in a second heating zone of said furnace, a quantity of said first, relatively volatile element sufficiently in excess of the stoichiometric quantity thereof required to react with said amount of said second, relatively non-volatile element to provide a vapor pressure of said relatively volatile element, in said closed space, sufficiently large to counteract the dissociation of said III-V compound at a temperature approximately that of the melting point of said III-V compound,
• (c) raising the temperature of said first heating zone sufficiently to dissolve said polycrystalline semiconductor III-V compound in said second, relatively non-volatile element, but below the melting point of said III-V compound, heating while raising the temperature of said second heating zone to a point sufficiently high to cause the formation and maintenance of a vapor pressure of said first, relatively volatile element in said closed space but insufficient to cause saturation of the resultant solution of said dissolved polycrystalline III-V compound by the compound formed by the reaction of the vapors of the relatively volatile first element with said relatively non-volatile second element present in said solution,
• (d) maintaining the resultant temperature differential between said first and second heating zones until most of said second, relatively non-volatile, element in which said molten polycrystalline III-V compound is dissolved is reacted with said relatively volatile, first element,
• (e) slowly increasing the temperature of second heating zone to bring the temperature of said relatively volatile first element to the melting point of said first element for a time sufficient to cause said first, relatively volatile, element to combine with the remainder of said second, relatively non-volatile element in which said III-V polycrystalline compound is dissolved,
• (f) increasing the temperature of said first heating zone to the melting point of said III-V compound, and
• (g) crystallizing said resultant liquid phase by decreasing the temperature profile of said liquid phase.