METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MAKING A MODIFIED AMORPHOUS GLASS MATERIAL

摘要

The method for forming a metallic, dielectric or semiconductor modified amorphous glass material includes the steps of forming a fluid host matrix material on a substrate surface having relative movement thereto, such as a wheel; directing a fluid modifier material in a stream, as from a nozzle toward the substrate surface in a direction such that it converges with the host matrix material; maintaining the temperature of the substrate or wheel between 4.2 DEG K and ambient room temperature while rotating the wheel at a velocity of 1000 to 5000 rpm to obtain a surface velocity of between 1000 to 4000 centimeters per second thereby to obtain rapid quenching of the host and modifier materials as they contact one another at a rate of from 104 to at least 108C per second or more to produce a ribbon of modified amorphous glass material in which the electrical and optical transport properties and the number and type of electronic configurations can be controlled. The modified material can range from an alloy to various degrees of alloying and modification to one in which only modification and doping actions exist. This provides a new method of synthesizing materials in which modifier atoms can be incorporated at various intervals or layers or a bulk material whose surfaces can be distinctly chemically different from the bulk interior can be made by this process. The apparatus can include metal spinning apparati such as reservoirs, nozzles and the wheel for carrying out the method.