Published online by Cambridge University Press: 28 February 2011
We have done experimental and theoretical studies of the origins of facet formation at the solid-liquid interface in laser-beam-melted silicon films. Two laser beams were used to produce a molten zone with a closely controlled thermal profile in a thin single-crystal film of silicon, and the liquid-solid interface was observed in situ. A transition to a faceted structure was found to occur under conditions of near thermal equilibrium. The solidliquid interface was also studied theoretically by means of molecular dynamics simulations, incorporating pair- and three-body terms in the interaction potential. Similarly to the experimental system, the solid-melt interface in the simulated system breaks up into facets defined by (111) planes. The melt region in the vicinity of the faceted planes exhibits a certain degree of ordering due to the influence of the crystalline potential.